The Influence of Land Use and Location on Landholder Attitudes Towards Feral Cat (Felis catus) Management in South-eastern Australia

Human Ecology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brooke P. Deak ◽  
Bertram Ostendorf ◽  
Douglas K. Bardsley ◽  
David A. Taggart ◽  
David E. Peacock
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Felis Catus ◽  
Feral Cat ◽  
South Eastern ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
South Eastern Australia

Regional faunal decline - reptile occurrence in fragmented rural landscapes of south-eastern Australia

2008 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geoff W. Brown ◽  
Andrew F. Bennett ◽  
Joanne M. Potts
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Environmental Gradient ◽  
Population Decline ◽  
Native Vegetation ◽  
Single Individual ◽  
Rural Landscapes ◽  
South Eastern ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
The Status ◽  
South Eastern Australia

Many species of reptiles are sedentary and depend on ground-layer habitats, suggesting that they may be particularly vulnerable to landscape changes that result in isolation or degradation of native vegetation. We investigated patterns of reptile distribution and abundance in remnant woodland across the Victorian Riverina, south-eastern Australia, a bioregion highly modified (>90%) by clearing for agriculture. Reptiles were intensively surveyed by pitfall trapping and censuses at 60 sites, stratified to sample small (<30 ha) and large (>30 ha) remnants, and linear strips of roadside and streamside vegetation, across the regional environmental gradient. The recorded assemblage of 21 species was characterised by low abundance and patchy distribution of species. Reptiles were not recorded by either survey technique at 22% of sites and at a further 10% only a single individual was detected. More than half (53%) of all records were of two widespread, generalist skink species. Multivariate models showed that the distribution of reptiles is influenced by factors operating at several levels. The environmental gradient exerts a strong influence, with increasing species richness and numbers of individuals from east (moister, higher elevation) to west (drier, lower elevation). Differences existed between types of remnants, with roadside vegetation standing out as important; this probably reflects greater structural heterogeneity of ground and shrub strata than in remnants subject to grazing by stock. Although comparative historical data are lacking, we argue that there has been a region-wide decline in the status of reptiles in the Victorian Riverina involving: (1) overall population decline commensurate with loss of >90% of native vegetation; (2) disproportionate decline of grassy dry woodlands and their fauna (cf. floodplains); and (3) changes to populations and assemblages in surviving remnants due to effects of land-use on reptile habitats. Many species now occur as disjunct populations, vulnerable to changing land-use. The status of reptiles in rural Australia warrants greater attention than has been given to date. Effective conservation of this component of the biota requires better understanding of the population dynamics, habitat use and dispersal capacity of species; and a commitment to landscape restoration coupled with effective ecological monitoring.

Least cost land-use changes for targeted catchment salt load and water yield impacts in south eastern Australia

2010 ◽  
Vol 97 (6) ◽  
pp. 811-823 ◽  
Author(s):  
T.L. Nordblom ◽  
B.P. Christy ◽  
J.D. Finlayson ◽  
A.M. Roberts ◽  
J.A. Kelly
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Land Use Changes ◽  
Water Yield ◽  
Salt Load ◽  
South Eastern ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
South Eastern Australia

Ecology of the Feral Cat, Felis catus (L.), in South-Eastern Australia II.* Reproduction

1982 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 111 ◽  
Author(s):  
E Jones ◽  
BJ Coman
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Maturity ◽  
Minimum Weight ◽  
Seminiferous Tubules ◽  
Adult Males ◽  
Feral Cat ◽  
South Eastern ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Monthly Changes ◽  
Monthly Variations ◽  
South Eastern Australia

Reproduction was studied in feral cats collected over a 3-y period from south-eastern Australia. Litters were recorded in all months except April, but most births occurred between September and March; from October to January inclusive, all adult females collected were either pregnant or lactating. On average, females dropped two litters per year, the first in spring and the second in summer or early autumn; mean prenatal litter size was 4.4. For females, sexual maturity was reached at an estimated age of 10-12 months and a minimum weight of 2500 g. For males the onset of sexual maturity, as indicated by a more rapid increase in testes size, commenced at a mean weight of 3200 g and was completed at a mean weight of 3800 g and an estimated age of 12-14 months. The lightest males detected undergoing intial spermatogenesis weighed 2600 g. Adult males showed no significant monthly variations in either combined whole testes weight or percentage of seminiferous tubules containing spermatids or spermatozoa. However, significant monthly changes in combined epididymides weight indicated a low-intensity reproductive cycle.

Earthworm composition, diversity and biomass under three land use systems in south-eastern Australia

2015 ◽  
Vol 88 ◽  
pp. 32-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniela Carnovale ◽  
Geoff Baker ◽  
Andrew Bissett ◽  
Peter Thrall
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Land Use Systems ◽  
South Eastern ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
South Eastern Australia

Bait uptake by feral cats on French Island, Victoria.

2007 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 77 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.J. Johnston ◽  
M.J. Shaw ◽  
A. Robley ◽  
N.K. Schedvin
Keyword(s):  
Fluorescence Microscopy ◽  
Rhodamine B ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Felis Catus ◽  
Control Technique ◽  
Feral Cat ◽  
Feral Cats ◽  
South Eastern ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Broad Scale

Management of feral cat (Felis catus) populations is currently limited by the lack of a control technique that is cost-effective, target-specific and suitable for broad-scale application. This paper describes two non-toxic bait acceptance trials undertaken on French Island in Western Port, Victoria in south?eastern Australia. Moist meat baits were injected with the marker Rhodamine B (RB), and surface distributed along the existing road and firebreak network. Subsequent trapping of feral cats facilitated collection of whiskers, which were analysed using ultraviolet fluorescence microscopy for the presence of RB marking. Twenty-four and forty-seven cats respectively were recovered in each trial with fifty per cent of these individuals found to have consumed at least one bait in either trial. Results are discussed with reference to the development of a felid-specific toxicant baiting technique.

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