Identification multiplex assay of 19 terrestrial mammal species present in New Zealand

We analysed the main geographical trends of terrestrial mammal species richness (SR) in Argentina, assessing how broad-scale environmental variation (defined by climatic and topographic variables) and the spatial form of the country (defined by spatial filters based on spatial eigenvector mapping (SEVM)) influence the kinds and the numbers of mammal species along these geographical trends. We also evaluated if there are pure geographical trends not accounted for by the environmental or spatial factors. The environmental variables and spatial filters that simultaneously correlated with the geographical variables and SR were considered potential causes of the geographic trends. We performed partial correlations between SR and the geographical variables, maintaining the selected explanatory variables statistically constant, to determine if SR was fully explained by them or if a significant residual geographic pattern remained. All groups and subgroups presented a latitudinal gradient not attributable to the spatial form of the country. Most of these trends were not explained by climate. We used a variation partitioning procedure to quantify the pure geographic trend (PGT) that remained unaccounted for. The PGT was larger for latitudinal than for longitudinal gradients. This suggests that historical or purely geographical causes may also be relevant drivers of these geographical gradients in mammal diversity.

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Aboriginal knowledge of the mammals of the central deserts of Australia

Wildlife Research ◽

10.1071/wr9880009 ◽

1988 ◽

Vol 15 (1) ◽

pp. 9 ◽

Cited By ~ 123

Author(s):

A. A. Burbidge ◽

K. A. Johnson ◽

P. J. Fuller ◽

R. I. Southgate

Keyword(s):

Aboriginal People ◽

Geographic Range ◽

Mammal Species ◽

Terrestrial Mammal ◽

Sudden Loss ◽

The Past ◽

Mammal Fauna ◽

Profound Knowledge ◽

Preferred Habitat ◽

The Subject

More than one-third of the terrestrial mammal species of the central deserts of Australia have vanished in the past 50 years. Few of these have been the subject of even preliminary scientific study, and data as basic as geographic range and preferred habitat are lacking for many species. Aborigines, many of whom lived traditionally in the central deserts until recently, still retain a profound knowledge of the mammals, but this knowledge, too, is fast disappearing. Aboriginal people living in communities scattered through and around the edges of the 1645 000 km2 of the study area, comprising the Great Sandy, Little Sandy, Tanami, Gibson and Great Victoria Deserts and the Central Ranges district, were shown museum skins and asked to provide information about local names, current and past status, and aspects of biology and ecology. Most species, including some thought to have become extinct early this century, persisted in the deserts until 30–50 years ago. New data are presented on former distribution and on the biology and ecology of many species. The mammal fauna of the central deserts was richer and more widespread than generally believed, but the area has suffered a massive and sudden loss of species, probably unparalleled in extent elsewhere in Australia.

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The good, the bad, and the ugly: which Australian terrestrial mammal species attract most research?

Mammal Review ◽

10.1111/mam.12066 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 46 (4) ◽

pp. 241-254 ◽

Cited By ~ 32

Author(s):

Patricia A. Fleming ◽

Philip W. Bateman

Keyword(s):

Mammal Species ◽

Terrestrial Mammal

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Change in the diet of sooty owls (Tyto tenebricosa) since European settlement: from terrestrial to arboreal prey and increased overlap with powerful owls

Wildlife Research ◽

10.1071/wr04128 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 33 (1) ◽

pp. 17 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

Rohan J. Bilney ◽

Raylene Cooke ◽

John White

Keyword(s):

Monitoring System ◽

Vulpes Vulpes ◽

Control Strategies ◽

Large Array ◽

Dietary Overlap ◽

Mammal Species ◽

Critical Weight ◽

Terrestrial Mammal ◽

European Settlement ◽

Fox Control

The current diet of the sooty owl (Tyto tenebricosa) was determined by analysing freshly regurgitated pellets collected beneath their roosting sites in East Gippsland, Victoria. Comparisons were then made with: (i) prehistoric and historic diet from bone deposits found in cave roosts, and (ii) diet of a sympatric owl species, the powerful owl (Ninox strenua). Sooty owls consumed a large array of terrestrial mammal species before European settlement, but only three terrestrial species were detected in their current diet, a reduction of at least eight species since European settlement. To compensate, sooty owls have increased their consumption of arboreal prey from 55% to 81% of their diet. Arboreal species are also a major component of the powerful owl diet and this prey shift by sooty owls has increased dietary overlap between these two species. Predation by foxes (Vulpes vulpes) and other feral species is likely to have reduced the amount of terrestrial prey available to sooty owls since European settlement. Investigation of changes in the diet of sooty owls may offer a unique monitoring system for evaluating the ability of fox-control strategies to influence increases in numbers of critical-weight-range mammals.

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The status of mammals in the North Kimberley, Western Australia

Australian Mammalogy ◽

10.1071/am07001 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 29 (1) ◽

pp. 1 ◽

Cited By ~ 24

Author(s):

A.N. Start ◽

A.A.. Burbidge ◽

N.L. McKenzie ◽

C. Palmer

Keyword(s):

Exotic Species ◽

Fire Regimes ◽

Mammalian Fauna ◽

Mammal Species ◽

Critical Weight ◽

Terrestrial Mammal ◽

The North ◽

European Settlement ◽

The Status ◽

Rocky Habitats

The mammalian fauna of the North Kimberley bioregion has been cited as ?intact? because 1970s and 1980s surveys showed that all terrestrial mammal species known at European settlement were extant. This assumption was tested in 2003/4 by re-surveying 16 of the most diverse sites sampled in earlier surveys of three mainland areas and four islands. Most Critical Weight Range species were re-located at many sites and some were found at sites where they were previously unknown. Most differences between early surveys and this survey are probably artifacts of limited survey intensity. However, the region is not exempt from processes associated with decline elsewhere, particularly effects of changed fire regimes and invasion by exotic species, and species of non-rocky habitats may be more vulnerable. Small granivorous rodents were notably scarce.

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Modelling population persistence on islands: mammal introductions in the New Zealand archipelago

Proceedings of The Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rspb.2006.3662 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 273 (1604) ◽

pp. 2969-2975 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Richard P Duncan ◽

David M Forsyth

Keyword(s):

New Zealand ◽

Important Determinant ◽

Extinction Risk ◽

Population Persistence ◽

Habitat Modification ◽

Mammal Species ◽

Stochastic Population Growth ◽

Low Probability ◽

Climatic Severity ◽

The Relationship

Islands are likely to differ in their susceptibility to colonization or invasion due to variation in factors that affect population persistence, including island area, climatic severity and habitat modification. We tested the importance of these factors in explaining the persistence of 164 introductions of six mammal species to 85 islands in the New Zealand archipelago using survival analysis and model selection techniques. As predicted by the theory of stochastic population growth, extinction risk was the greatest in the period immediately following introduction, declining rapidly to low probability by ca 25 years. This suggests that initially small populations were at greatest risk of extinction and that populations which survived for 25 years were likely to persist subsequently for much longer. Islands in the New Zealand archipelago become colder and windier with increasing latitude, and the probability of mammal populations persisting on islands declined steeply with increasing latitude. Hence, our results suggest that climatic suitability was an important determinant of the outcome of these invasions. The form of the relationship between latitude and persistence probability differed among species, emphasizing that the outcome of colonization attempts is species-environment specific.

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Functional responses of an invasive top predator Mustela erminea to invasive meso-predators Rattus rattus and Mus musculus, in New Zealand forests

Wildlife Research ◽

10.1071/wr10137 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 38 (2) ◽

pp. 131 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Christopher Jones ◽

Roger Pech ◽

Guy Forrester ◽

Carolyn M. King ◽

Elaine C. Murphy

Keyword(s):

New Zealand ◽

Mus Musculus ◽

Feeding Activity ◽

Rattus Rattus ◽

Passage Time ◽

Gut Contents ◽

Functional Responses ◽

Mammal Species ◽

Mustela Erminea ◽

Rodent Prey

Context Management of suites of invasive mammal species can lead to perverse outcomes, such as meso-predator release, or can achieve desirable reductions in the abundance of top-order predators by controlling their prey. Predictive models for predator–prey systems require estimates of predator functional responses, i.e. predation rates as functions of prey density. Aims In New Zealand, estimates of the functional responses of stoats (Mustela erminea) to mice (Mus musculus) and ship (black) rats (Rattus rattus) are required to improve management models for these invasive species. Methods We derived fitted relationships between the presence or absence of mouse or ship-rat remains in stoat guts and corresponding indices of prey abundance in beech and podocarp forests, respectively. To convert field data on stoat-gut contents to minimum kill rates, we used data on feeding activity and estimates of gut-passage time, observed in captive stoats. Key results The most parsimonious fitted curves were Type II functional responses, with a steeper stoat–mouse curve for autumn–winter, indicating a more specialist feeding habit than that in spring–summer. Estimated kill rates of mice per stoat per day reached an asymptote of 1.13 during autumn–winter. Our maximum observed kill rate for spring–summer was 11% less than the extrapolated upper limit of 1.04 mice per stoat per day for New Zealand ecosystems. No asymptote was reached within the limits of the data for the stoat–rat relationship. Conclusions Recent models for trophic interactions between stoats and the primary rodent prey have overestimated kill rates by stoats in forested ecosystems, particularly at very low and very high densities of mice. We show how data on stoat-gut contents can be rescaled to estimate minimum kill rates of rodent prey. Implications The functional-response relationships we have derived can be used to improve modelled predictions of the effects of natural or management-driven perturbations of invasive stoats and their primary rodent-prey populations.

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The Memories of Our Future: The Memories of Maūi

10.26686/wgtn.17020091 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

◽

Shannon Lenihan

Keyword(s):

New Zealand ◽

Oil And Gas ◽

Marine Species ◽

Marine Ecology ◽

Mammal Species ◽

Cetacean Species ◽

Narrative Design ◽

Oil Platforms ◽

Offshore Oil And Gas ◽

Offshore Oil

<p>This thesis proposes a way to re-inhabit and transform the adverse identity of an old offshore oil and gas platform. Located 35 kilometers off the West Coast of Taranaki, New Zealand, the Māui A Platform (also known as MPA) is transformed in this thesis design investigation into an Environmental Centre, a living retreat for ‘children’ (in fact, for adults who will be encouraged in the design to see life through the eyes of children). The intention is to generate knowledge and awareness about the environment. The Māui A and Māui B offshore oil and gas platforms are nearing the end of their economic lifespan. Globally, the current most common decommissioning method of oil platforms involves the use of explosives at the base of the jacket. The structure is then towed to shore and dismantled. The explosives leave scars not only on the landscape the platforms once inhabited; they critically damage the surrounding marine ecology, vast numbers of marine species. This is of severe concern for the marine life and ecosystems surrounding the Māui A & Māui B Platforms as they are located in an extremely sensitive marine area where over 30 percent of the world’s cetacean species inhabit or through which they frequently migrate. Only two of these marine mammal species are not listed as ‘species of concern’ in the New Zealand Threat Classification list. The future of these platforms does not need to cause more adversity to the environment, but rather can regenerate it. By re-purposing rather than exploding and dismantling these structures, this thesis aims to propose a way to re-inhabit the Māui A Platform and transform it into an educational retreat that enables further awareness, reconciliation, restoration, and protection of marine systems, environment, and threatened marine species. This thesis explores opportunities to create a closed circuit system as a means of providing food, fresh water, water treatment and energy for the platform. To achieve this regenerative solution in ways that will resonate with those who visit the Māui A Platform, this project enters the realm of the imagination. The imagination is fundamental to learning - hence the proposition that this design be framed as both mythological and experiential. Narrative design – story telling – is explored as a tool to connect sustainable awareness and consciousness as a means to help educate the beneficiaries of this world – our ‘children’. To encourage the adult visitors to fully recognise that the beneficiaries are indeed our children, the thesis investigation will design the new Environmental Centre through the eyes of the child. As a tool to enhance the historic narrative of the site and context, the design strategically frames traces of important or unnoticed elements or equipment of the Māui A Platform. In order to be understood and engaged with by ‘children’, this project enters the realm of the imagination enabling the design to be both mythological and experiential.</p>

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Drivers of change in the realised climatic niche of terrestrial mammal species

10.1101/2020.03.12.985374 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Di Marco Moreno ◽

Michela Pacifici ◽

Luigi Maiorano ◽

Carlo Rondinini

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Life History ◽

Large Body ◽

Climatic Conditions ◽

Dispersal Ability ◽

Anthropogenic Pressure ◽

Drivers Of Change ◽

Mammal Species ◽

Climatic Niche ◽

Terrestrial Mammal

AbstractThe breadth of a species’ climatic niche is an important ecological trait that allows adaptation to climate change, but human activities drive niche erosion. Life-history traits, such as dispersal ability and reproductive speed, instead allow species to cope with climate change. But how do these characteristics act in combination with human pressure to determine niche change? Here we investigate the patterns and drivers of change in the realised climatic niche of 589 terrestrial mammal species. Our goal is to disentangle the impacts of humans, climate change, and life history. We calibrated the past and present climatic niches of each species by considering past climatic conditions (Mid Holocene) within their pre-human impact distributions, and current climatic conditions within the current distributions. Depending on the relationship between past and current niche, we defined four categories of change: “shrink”, “shift”, “stable”, and “expand”. We found over half of the species in our sample have undergone niche shrink, while only 15-18% of species retained a stable niche. After controlling for biogeography, climatic factors were the strongest correlates of species niche change, followed by anthropogenic pressure and species’ life history. Factors that increased the probability of niche shrink include: overall climatic instability in the area (both intermediate or high), large body mass, long gestation time, highly carnivorous or herbivorous diets, historical land-use change, and current human population density. We identified the conditions under which species are less likely to maintain their niche breadth, potentially losing adaptation capacity under climate change. Species with these characteristics require interventions that facilitate natural dispersal or assisted colonisation, to survive to rapidly changing climates.

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Non-volant mammals, Reserva Particular do Patrimônio Natural (RPPN) Rio das Pedras, municipality of Mangaratiba, state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Check List ◽

10.15560/5.3.577 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 5 (3) ◽

pp. 577 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Flávia Soares Pessôa ◽

Thiago Carvalho Modesto ◽

Hermano Gomes Albuquerque ◽

Nina Attias ◽

Helena De Godoy Bergallo

Keyword(s):

Exotic Species ◽

Atlantic Forest ◽

Threatened Species ◽

Rio De Janeiro ◽

The State ◽

Camera Traps ◽

Mammal Species ◽

Terrestrial Mammal ◽

Hunting Activity ◽

State List

The Atlantic Forest is recognized as a global hotspot for having one of the highest rates of endemism and biodiversity. Its portion in the state of Rio de Janeiro is extremely fragmented and reduced. The present study seeks to get information on the non-volant mammals of RPPN Rio das Pedras in municipality of Mangaratiba, state of Rio de Janeiro. The rapid mammal's survey was accomplished by the use of pitfalls, live traps, transects and camera traps. We recorded 23 non-volant species that represent 13.1 % of Rio de Janeiro’s terrestrial mammal species. Among the recorded species, five are endemic of the Atlantic Forest and three are in the state list of threatened or presumably threatened species. The area presents great mammal richness, but the hunting activity and the presence of exotic species may represent a threat to the local biodiversity and should be controlled.

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