Habitat Selection by the Swamp Wallaby, Wallabia-Bicolor, the Red-Necked Wallaby, Macropus-Rufogriseus, and the Common Wombat, Vombatus-Ursinus, in Logged, Burnt Forest Near Bega, New-South-Wales

1988 ◽  
Vol 15 (6) ◽  
pp. 695 ◽  
Author(s):  
D Lunney ◽  
M Oconnell

This study examined the habitat selected by the swamp wallaby, Wallabia bicolor, the red-necked wallaby, Macropus rufogriseus, and the common wombat, Vombatus ursinus. The habitats were unlogged forest and three age classes of logged forest at 16 weeks and 72 weeks after a fire in November 1980 in Mumbulla State Forest on the south coast ofNew South Wales. Habitat selection was determined from decay-corrected dung counts. The dung count for each species varied with the topography and age class of the forest, demonstrating that logging and fire had a marked effect on the habitat selected. The ridges logged during the woodchip-sawlog operation in 1979 and 1980 had little dung, indicating low use as feeding areas. Since these habitats were the most exposed, the conclusion drawn was that they were rarely used by the herbivores. However, ridges logged 10-15 years earlier supported all species because they provided both food and refuge shelter. Recommendations for management of forests subject to logging and fire include the retention of unlogged gully forest and spreading operations through both space and time to minimise population fluctuations.

1986 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 355 ◽  
Author(s):  
CJ Hollis ◽  
CJ Hollis ◽  
JD Robertshaw ◽  
JD Robertshaw ◽  
RH Harden ◽  
...  

The diet of the swamp wallaby Wallabia bicolor was determined by identifying plant fragments from the forestomachs of animals collected at two sites (Diamond Flat and the Styx River State Forest) in forests on the edge of the eastern escarpment of the Great Dividing Range in north-eastern New South Wales. Seventy-seven and 72 genera of plants were recorded in the diets at the two sites respectively. The dietary items were grouped into six categories, the overall occurrence of which ranged frcm forbs (26%), ferns (19%), shrubs (19%), grasses, sedges and rushes (17%) and fungi (15%) to vines (3%). There were broad similarities in the diets of the animals from both sites, though there were some seasonal differences both within and between sites, the most marked being an increase in grasses, sedges and rushes and a decrease in fungi in spring. It is suggested that fungi may be an important source of nitrogen during the other seasons. The wide array of plant species eaten by the swamp wallaby indicates that it is a generalist rather than specialist feeder, and more of a browser than the larger macropodids.


1995 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 333 ◽  
Author(s):  
C Rishworth ◽  
JC Mcilroy ◽  
MT Tanton

Analysis of faeces deposited by common wombats (Vombatus ursinus) in native eucalypt [Eucalyptus spp.] forest and pine (Pinus radiata) plantations of various ages in New South Wales, shows that grasses are the dominant food eaten in both forest types regardless of the varying availability of this type of vegetation. Other vegetation, such as rushes, bark, roots and pine needles, are also eaten, particularly in areas where grasses are less common.


2006 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 101 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. S. Glen ◽  
A. R. Fay ◽  
C. R. Dickman

In the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales the diets of sympatric foxes (Vulpes vulpes) and dogs (Canis lupus) were determined from analysis of oportunitically collected scats. Mammalian prey dominated the diet of both species but foxes had a more diverse diet than dogs. The red-necked pademelon (Thylogale thetis) had the highest occurrence in both predators. the northern brown bandicoot (Isoodon macrourus) was the second most common prey of the fox but did not occur in dog scats. Swamp wallaby (Wallabia bicolor) was more common in dog scats than fox scats.


1806 ◽  
Vol 96 ◽  
pp. 239-266

A fore-knowledge of the wind and weather is an object so very interesting to all classes of men, and the changes in the mercurial barometer affording the means which appear most conducive to it, a system that should with certainty explain the connection between the variations of the mercury and those in the atmosphere under all circumstances, becomes greatly desirable; to seamen, more especially, whose safety and success depend so much upon being duly prepared for changes of wind, and the approaching storm, it would be an acquisition of the first importance: in a more extended view, I may say, that the patriot and the philanthropist must join with the philosopher and the mariner in desiring its comple­tion. So long and widely-extended a course of observation, however, seems requisite to form even a basis for it, that a complete system is rather the object of anxious hope than of reasonable expectation. Much has been done towards it, but so much appears to remain, that any addition to the common stock, however small, or though devoid of philosophical accuracy, I have thought would be received by the learned with candour. With this prepossession, I venture to submit to them some observations upon the movement and state of the mercury upon the coasts of New Holland and New South Wales, the Terra Australis, or Australia, of the earlier charts.


1998 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 9
Author(s):  
R. Goldingay ◽  
G. Daly

Surveys of arboreal and terrestrial mammals were conducted across four State Forests in south-east New South Wales encompassing 80 000 ha. Methods used included spotlighting, Elliott trapping, pitfall trapping, hair-tubing and predator scat analysis. The survey included a plot-based approach and the targeting of areas containing the potential habitat of endangered species. Seven species of arboreal marsupial were detected during spotlighting. The greater glider (Petauroides volans) was significantly more abundant in moist forest compared to dry forest. Its density in moist forest was twice as high in unlogged compared to logged forest and is equivalent to the highest recorded in any forest in NSW. Other arboreal species were less abundant. The yellow-bellied glider (Petaurus australis), which is Threatened in NSW, was detected at only two sites despite the occurrence of suitable habitat throughout the study area. Eight species of native terrestrial mammals were detected. The tiger quoll (Dasyurus maculatus), which is Threatened in NSW, appears to be more common in the southern part of the study area adjoining large areas of National Park, than in other State Forests of south-east NSW. Continued analysis of predator scats is required to determine whether several other species of Threatened terrestrial mammal occur in these forests.


1997 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 235 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dean R. Jerry ◽  
David J. Woodland

Genetic data were collected from eight allopatric populations of the common freshwater catfish, Tandanus tandanus. Catfish sampled from the New South Wales (NSW) mid-northern coastal rivers of the Bellinger, Macleay, Hastings and Manning exhibited fixed allelic differences from T. tandanus from the type locality (Namoi River) at four enzymatic loci (GPI-1*, EST*, UMB-1* and UMB-2*), suggesting that, collectively, catfish from these four river systems constitute an undescribed species of Tandanus. Catfish from the northern coastal rivers of NSW (Tweed, Richmond and Clarence) displayed a complex pattern of population structure that was not fully resolved by the present study. More work is needed on the complex assemblage of populations of eel-tailed catfish in the eastern coastal drainages of Australia.


2000 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 218 ◽  
Author(s):  
P Gibbons ◽  
D. B. Lindenmayer ◽  
S. C. Barry ◽  
M. T. Tanton

We examined factors associated with the occurrence of tree hollows in four eucalypt species from temperate forest in southeastern New South Wales and East Gippsland. A total of 1 256 standing trees and 328 felled trees was examined. The proportion of trees containing hollows with small entrances (2-5 cm) was significantly negatively associated with dbh, while the proportion of trees containing hollows with medium (5-10 cm) and large (>10 cm) entrances was positively associated with dbh. There was a significant, but weak, relationship between hollow depth and minimum entrance width that was improved with the addition to the model of the variables branch diameter and branch health. Trees of all sizes and ages contained hollows, although larger and older trees had a higher probability of doing so. For two tree species (Brown Barrel or Cuttail Eucalyptus fastigata and Messmate E. obliqua), the probability of live trees containing hollows remained below 0.5 for stems less than 180 years of age. Un logged forest supported, on average, 22.0 hollowbearing trees per ha ? 18.5% of which were dead trees. For all values of dbh, trees were more likely to contain hollows if either dead or in poor physiological condition, indicating the potential for hollow development to be accelerated in eucalypts by killing or injuring suitably-sized trees.


2001 ◽  
Vol 28 (5) ◽  
pp. 459 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Lunney ◽  
Alison Matthews ◽  
Jan Grigg

Analyses of the diets of Antechinus agilis and A. swainsonii from Mumbulla State Forest examined possible differences between species, sexes, logging treatment and aspect. Taxa from 15 orders were identified in the diet, and were predominantly terrestrial invertebrates. Overall, the dietary components were similar for each species, but the frequencies taken showed some differences. A. swainsonii ate more Diplopoda, Chilopoda and Blattodea egg capsules, while A. agilis ate more weevils (Coleoptera: Curculionidae). Male A. agilis ate more coleopteran larvae, while females ate more Araneae. This difference in Araneae in the diet between sexes of A. agilis was significant in logged forest but not in unlogged forest. Female A. swainsonii ate more Isoptera than did males. The frequency of occurrence of lepidopteran larvae taken by A. agilis differed across the three age-classes of forest, with more taken in 26–34-year-old regrowth forest and none in unlogged forest. Vertebrate remains – small skinks (Lampropholis spp.) and feathertail glider (Acrobates pygmaeus) – were found only in A. agilis; these occurred infrequently in the diet. These interspecific differences, sex differences and, most importantly, differences between age classes of forest warrant further investigation, particularly those relating to foraging patterns and prey availability.


1981 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 465 ◽  
Author(s):  
CN Johnson ◽  
PG Bayliss

The kangaroo populations of Kinchega National Park respond differently to shifts in pasture productivity, red kangaroos Macropus rufus being mobile and unevenly distributed with respect to soil and vegetation types, by comparison with the more evenly dispersed western grey kangaroos M. fuliginosus and the sedentary and localized euros M, robustus erubescens. Red kangaroo population classes tend to be differentially distributed, so that large males and heavily lactating females predominate on the seasonally preferred pastures, while other classes tend to predominate elsewhere. This finding has several implications for the management of red kangaroos and for our understanding of their resource ecology and mating systems.


1976 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 331 ◽  
Author(s):  
HJ Frith ◽  
SM Carpenter ◽  
LW Braithwaite

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.


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