A Study of the Biology of the Wild Rabbit in Climatically Different Regions in Eastern Australia V*. The Use of Aerial Surveys to Map the Distribution of Rabbit Warrens over Large Areas of Semiarid North-western New South Wales

1974 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 17 ◽  
Author(s):  
BS Parker ◽  
K Myers
Keyword(s):  
New South ◽  
Wild Rabbit ◽  
Good Picture ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Aerial Surveys ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Recent Sediments ◽  
North Western ◽  
Arid And Semiarid

Aerial surveys can be used to measure the distribution of rabbit warrens over large areas of arid and semiarid Australia. Clumped patterns of distribution of rabbit warrens found by ground surveys are also detected in aerial surveys, which further show that the highest density of warrens occurs in habitats containing shales or other fine-grained rocks overlain by recent sediments, or those closely related to drainage systems. A good picture of rabbit distribution is obtained when about 25% of the area has been overed by the aircraft. * Part IV, Aust. J. Zool., 1971, 19, 355–70.

A Study of the Biology of the Wild Rabbit in Climatically Different Regions in Eastern Australia VI.* Changes in Numbers and Distribution related to Climate and Land Systems in Semiarid North-Western New South Wales.

1975 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
K Myers ◽  
BS Parker
Keyword(s):  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Severe Drought ◽  
Wild Rabbit ◽  
Large Area ◽  
Noticeable Increase ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Land Systems ◽  
North Western

This paper describes a dramatic fall in rabbit populations in a large area of semiarid north-western New South Wales, due to a severe drought, and the increase in numbers which followed. The reduction in numbers differed markedly in different land systems. The areas which supported rabbit populations throughout the study were limited to the proximity of swamps in sandy habitats, and close to drainage channels in stony habitats; populations became extinct over large areas of sandy habitats. In the stony habitats populations increased very rapidly in the 12 months following the breaking of the drought, whereas in the sandy habitats it took c. 3 y before a noticeable increase. The difference was probably a result of differences in survival, due mainly to the effects of predation and to the availability of open warrens. In sandy habitats drift sand buried untenanted warrens very rapidly. The environment affected not only rabbits but also their main predators, the fox and the cat. No cats and very few foxes were observed in stony habitats. The main activities of both species were confined to refuge areas in sandy habitats. The most significant correlation between indices of rabbit numbers and indices of use of rabbit warrens was the number of active burrows per unit area of habitat.

Fingerprinting windblown dust in south-eastern Australian soils by uranium-lead dating of detrital zircon

Soil Research ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robyn D. Gatehouse ◽  
I. S. Williams ◽  
B. J. Pillans
Keyword(s):  
New England ◽  
New South ◽  
Fold Belt ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
South Eastern ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Murray Darling Basin ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Uranium Lead Dating ◽  
Eastern Highlands

The U-Pb ages of fine-grained zircon separated from 2 dust-dominated soils in the eastern highlands of south-eastern Australia and measured by ion microprobe (SHRIMP) revealed a characteristic age ‘fingerprint’ from which the source of the dust has been determined and by which it will be possible to assess the contribution of dust to other soil profiles. The 2 soils are dominated by zircon 400–600 and 1000–1200 Ma old, derived from Palaeozoic granites and sediments of the Lachlan Fold Belt, but also contain significant components 100–300 Ma old, characteristic of igneous rocks in the New England Fold Belt in northern New South Wales and Queensland. This pattern closely matches that of sediments of the Murray-Darling Basin, especially the Mallee dunefield, suggesting that weathering of rocks in the eastern highlands has contributed large quantities of sediment to the arid and semi-arid inland basins via internally draining rivers of the present and past Murray–Darling River systems, where it has formed a major source of dust subsequently blown eastwards and deposited in the highland soils of eastern Australia.

Sexual cycles of pigeons in arid and semiarid Australia

1976 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 331 ◽  
Author(s):  
HJ Frith ◽  
SM Carpenter ◽  
LW Braithwaite
Keyword(s):  
New South ◽  
Biological Significance ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Annual Cycles ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Gonad Size ◽  
The Common ◽  
Autumn And Winter ◽  
North Western ◽  
Arid And Semiarid

The gonad cycles of the crested pigeon Ocyphaps lophotes and the common bronzewing Phaps chalcoptera in inland New South Wales, and the plumed pigeon Geophaps plumifera and the red- plumed pigeon G. ferruginea in central and north-western Australia, have been studied. In each species some males were producing abundant sperm and some females had enlarged ovarian follicles in each month of the year. There was a tendency for fewer birds to be at the maximum stage of spermatogenesis in autumn and winter than in other seasons. The size of the testis was not indicative of its spermatogenic state. There were annual cycles of gonad size in each species; the maxima were the spring and summer. The timing of the cycles did not differ in the two plumed pigeons but in both species the maxima were earlier than in the other species. Male common bronze-wings achieved maximum gonad size earlier than did male crested pigeons. In addition to the annual cycle there were significant biannual effects in males. Except for the male and female of the red-plumed pigeon, in which they may have had some biological significance, these biannual effects were probably only included to improve the accuracy of the curve fitting. There were significant effects of rainfall on the gonad cycle of all species except the common bronzewing; these were consistent with the expected effect of rainfall on the birds' food supply and nutrition. It was concluded that, although the gonad cycles were controlled mainly by changes in photo-period, the abundance of food and the effects of rainfall on it were important in modifying the cycle.

Nematode parasites of free-living rabbits, Oryctolagus cuniculus (L.) in eastern Australia

1966 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 185 ◽  
Author(s):  
JD Dunsmore
Keyword(s):  
Breeding Season ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Nematode Parasites ◽  
South Central ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Regular Sampling ◽  
A Site ◽  
North Western

(1) Trichostrongylus retortaeformis (Zeder, 1800) in wild rabbits in Australia has been studied by more or less regular sampling of rabbit populations in four climatically different areas of eastern Australia. (2) In a semi-arid locality in north-western New South Wales, T. retortaeformis is rarely found; in a subtropical area of south-central Queensland it was found only in small numbers and many rabbits were apparently free of infection. In an area of the Riverina district of New South Wales most rabbits were infected but parasite numbers were rarely high. The highest levels of infection were recorded at a site in a subalpine area of New South Wales. (3) It was possible to build up a detailed picture of the dynamics of T. retortaeformis in rabbits throughout their lives at Snowy Plains, the subalpine site, in which breeding of rabbits is limited to a relatively few months each year. During their first 6-8 months of life (prior to their first breeding season) male and female rabbits carry moderate numbers of T. retortaeformis with the males carrying somewhat more parasites than the females. During the breeding season T. retortaeformis numbers in female rabbits increase very markedly (about tenfold) while numbers in male rabbits are decreasing to a low level (their lowest during the year). Following breeding, worm numbers in female rabbits drop quite rapidly while those in males increase to a similarly moderate level. Apparently a similar cycle of events occurs during each 12 months of a rabbit's life. (4) At Urana, in the Riverina plain region the cycle of events described above for Snowy Plains could not be seen, although T. retortaeformis was found in moderate numbers. This may have been due to infrequent sampling, lack of a defined rabbit breeding season, or some other factor.

Soil and vegetation response to thinning White Cypress Pine (Callitris glaucophylla) on the North Western Slopes of New South Wales, Australia

2006 ◽  
Vol 285 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 245-255 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. T. McHenry ◽  
B. R. Wilson ◽  
J. M. Lemon ◽  
D. E. Donnelly ◽  
I. G. Growns
Keyword(s):  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Vegetation Response ◽  
The North ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Callitris Glaucophylla ◽  
North Western ◽  
Cypress Pine

Evidence of High Sea Level during Isotope Stage 5c in Queensland, Australia

1985 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. W. Pickett ◽  
C. H. Thompson ◽  
R. A. Kelley ◽  
D. Roman
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level ◽  
New South ◽  
Good Condition ◽  
Coastal Dunes ◽  
Intertidal Sediments ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Maximum Period ◽  
High Dune

Thirty-nine species of scleractinian corals have been recovered from under a high dune on the western (mainland) side of North Stradbroke Island, eastern Australia. The corals are associated with thin intertidal sediments and their good condition implies burial in situ and preservation in a saturated zone. Most likely this occurred as the coast prograded and a large dune advanced into the littoral zone, burying intertidal sediments and coral. The species assemblage indicates a sheltered environment but one open to the ocean without wide fluctuations in salinity. Three species yielded a mean 230Th/234U age of 105,000 yr B.P. which is significantly younger than the nearest Pleistocene corals at Evans Head, New South Wales. The corals provide evidence of a sea stand near present sea level during isotope Stage 5c, which is considerably higher than previously suggested for this period. Their good condition implies that the overlying parabolic dune is of comparable age and formed during that high stand of sea level. Also, the isotope age provides a maximum period for the development of giant podzols in the podzol chronosequences on coastal dunes in southern Queensland.

An Aerial Survey of 3 Game Species of Waterfowl (Family Anatidae) Populations in Eastern Australia

1986 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 213 ◽  
Author(s):  
LW Braithwaite ◽  
M Maher ◽  
SV Briggs ◽  
BS Parker
Keyword(s):  
Surface Waters ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Aerial Survey ◽  
Game Species ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Black Duck ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Central Eastern

Populations of waterfowl of three game species, the Pacific black duck Anus superciliosa, grey teal A. gibberifrons, and maned duck Chenonetta jubata, were assessed by aerial survey in October 1983 within a survey region of 2 697 000 km2 of eastern Australia. The numbers of each species were assessed on all surface waters of over 1 ha, and on a sample of smaller surface waters within 10 survey bands each 30 km wide and spaced at intervals of 2� latitude from 20�30' to 38�30'S. The area within the survey bands was 324 120 km2, which gave a sampling intensity of 12.0% of the land surface area. The area of features shown as wetlands or water impoundments within the survey bands on 1 : 2 500 000 topographic maps was 19 200 km2 or 11.2% of the total area of these features in the survey region. The area of surface waters surveyed was assessed at 465 300 ha. Assessments of populations of each species were tallied for wetlands by grid cells of 6 min of 1� longitude along the survey bands (258-309 km2 depending on latitude). Distributions were then mapped, with log*10 indices of populations in each cell. Distributions of the black duck and grey teal showed a pattern of intense aggregation in limited numbers of cells, that of the maned duck was more evenly distributed. The major concentrations of the Pacific black duck were recorded in northern New South Wales and the south-eastern, western, central eastern and central coastal regions of Queensland; those of the grey teal were in south-western, western and northern New South Wales and central-eastern Queensland; the maned duck was broadly distributed over inland New South Wales with the exception of the far west, inland southern Queensland, and central northern Victoria.

scholarly journals The Tumbarumba Basaltic Gem Field, New South Wales: in relation to sapphire-ruby deposits of eastern Australia

2002 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 215-248 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. L. Sutherland ◽  
I. T. Graham ◽  
R. E. Pogson ◽  
D. Schwarz ◽  
G. B. Webb ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Eastern Australia

Biology of angel sharks (Squatina sp.) and sawsharks (Pristiophorus sp.) caught in south-eastern Australian trawl fisheries and the New South Wales shark-meshing (bather-protection) program

2017 ◽  
Vol 68 (2) ◽  
pp. 207 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. Raoult ◽  
V. Peddemors ◽  
J. E. Williamson
Keyword(s):  
New South ◽  
Growth Curves ◽  
Commercial Fishing ◽  
South Eastern ◽  
Total Length ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Trawl Fisheries ◽  
South Eastern Australia

Two species of angel shark (Squatina australis, S. albipunctata) and two species of sawshark (Pristiophorus nudipinnis, P. cirratus) are frequently caught in south-eastern Australia. Little is known of the biology of these elasmobranchs, despite being caught as secondary target species in large numbers. The present study collected morphometric and reproductive data from sharks caught in shark-control nets, commercial fishing trawlers and research trawlers in south-eastern Australia. All four species had female-biased sexual size dimorphism, but growth curves between sexes did not differ. Male S. australis individuals were fully mature at ~800-mm total length, male P. nudipinnis at ~900mm, and male P. cirratus at ~800mm. Anterior pectoral margins could be used to determine total length in all species. No morphometric measurement could reliably separate Squatina spp. or Pristiophorus spp., although S. albipunctata over 1000-mm total length had larger eyes than did S. australis.

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