Habitat use by platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) in a modified Australian Wet Tropics catchment, north-eastern Queensland

2009 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Milione ◽  
Elaine Harding

The habitat affiliations of platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) were investigated in the upper Barron River and its tributaries, a modified Wet Tropics catchment in north-eastern Queensland, Australia. A habitat assessment was carried out at 46 sites, and a visual monitoring survey was used to determine whether platypus were present at these sites. Habitat assessment of riparian and in-stream parameters included an evaluation of factors known to influence platypus populations: disturbance level, stream depth and width, riparian continuity, the amount of overhanging vegetation, bare soil along banks, large woody debris, weeds, pool and riffle area and substrate types. Sites where platypus sightings occurred were characterised by a minimum channel width of 3.8 m and slow-flowing pools with depths of 0.49–2.0 m. These findings concur with platypus habitat preferences as described in other regions, although some in-stream and riparian factors considered as important components of platypus habitat in other studies (riparian continuity, large woody debris, undercut banks and coarse stream substrate) were not associated with the presence of platypus in this study. This study represents the first investigation of the influence of human-induced habitat modification on platypus affiliations in an Australian Wet Tropics river system.

1998 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 281
Author(s):  
B.A. Ellem ◽  
A. Bryant ◽  
A. O’Connor

Bryant (1993) collected extensive data on the habitat preferences of the platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) measured in 36 pools in the upper Macquarie River system. Platypus presence or absence in these pools was measured on three occasions. Detailed modelling of the factors affecting pool preference was complicated by the scale of response being ordinal due to the inability of the observer to distinguish between repeated sightings of the same animal and several different animals. Initial modelling using logistic regression on a presence/absence index, collapsed from the ordinal response, discounted time of day and seasonal effects. These temporal simplifications allowed a binomial analysis of success rate based on the three visits, which identified an additional habitat factor not identified in the original analysis. Finally, a full ordinal regression of the proportions falling into each ordered category is presented as the ultimate modelling of platypus pooI preferences. The analysis indicated that length and depth of pools and the presence of overhanging vegetation were positively related to the observed presence of platypuses.


2004 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 567-577 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Collen ◽  
E. J. Keay ◽  
B. R. S. Morrison

Abstract. Processing rates, and macroinvertebrate colonisation, of pine needles and birch leaves were studied at eight sites on the river Nethy, a small river system in the Cairngorm region of north-eastern Scotland. Throughout this river system, processing rates were slow for pine (k values 0.0015-0.0034 day-1) and medium to fast for birch (k values 0.0085-0.0331 day-1). Plecopteran shredders dominated both pine and birch leaf packs during the early part of the experiment while chironomids were more important in the latter stages. It is suggested that the slow processing rate of pine needles could adversely affect the productivity of streams, particularly where needles provide the major allochthonous energy source and retentive features are limited. Forest managers should consider this when creating new pinewoods in treeless areas as it will take many years for the trees to reach a size at which they can effectively contribute retentive features, in the form of woody debris, to streams. Keywords: leaf processing, pine needles, shredders, Pinus sylvestris, Betula pubescens, Scotland.


Geomorphology ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 262 ◽  
pp. 91-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Derek J. Martin ◽  
Robert T. Pavlowsky ◽  
Carol P. Harden

2004 ◽  
Vol 52 (2) ◽  
pp. 183 ◽  
Author(s):  
Conrad J. Hoskin ◽  
Patrick J. Couper

Glaphyromorphus clandestinus, sp. nov., is described from granite-slab habitat on Mt Elliot, north-eastern Queensland. This species can be distinguished from its congeners by a combination of the following characters: large size (SVL 72 mm), adpressed limbs of adult separated by noticeably more than the length of the forelimb, 26 mid-body scale rows, and flanks patterned with dark flecks forming a series of longitudinal lines. The distribution, habitat preferences and habits of this species are poorly known. Currently G. clandestinus is known from a single locality where individuals have been found in an exposed area of exfoliating granite, set in a mosaic of rainforest and eucalyptus woodland. The discovery of this species brings to three the number of vertebrate species known to be endemic to Mt Elliot and highlights the evolutionary significance of this southerly outlier to the mountainous rainforest of the Wet Tropics.


Fire Ecology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
David G. Ray ◽  
Gabriel D. Cahalan ◽  
James C. Lendemer

Abstract Background Prescribed fire is increasingly used to accomplish management goals in fire-adapted systems, yet our understanding of effects on non-target organisms remains underdeveloped. Terricolous lichens in the genus Cladonia P. Browne, particularly cushion-forming reindeer lichens belonging to Cladonia subgenus Cladina Nyl., fit into this category, being characteristic of fire-adapted ecosystems, yet highly vulnerable to damage or consumption during burns. Moreover, inherently slow dispersal and growth rates raise questions about how to conserve these taxa in the context of fire-mediated restoration management. This research was undertaken to identify factors that contribute to Cladonia persistence within areas subject to repeated burning and involved tracking the fate of 228 spatially isolated individuals distributed across seven sites previously burned zero to two times. Site selection was determined by edaphic factors associated with a rare inland dune woodland community type known to support relatively high densities of Cladonia. Results Evaluated across all sites, the post-burn condition of Cladonia subtenuis (Abbayes) Mattick samples, categorized as intact (32%), fragmented (33%), or consumed (36%) individuals, approximated a uniform distribution. However, their status was highly variable at the different sites, where from 0 to 70% were assessed as intact and 11 to 60% consumed. Machine-learning statistical techniques were used to identify the factors most strongly associated with fire damage, drawing from variables describing the proximate fuel bed, growth substrate, and fire weather. The final descriptive model was dominated by variables characterizing the understory fuel matrix. Conclusions Areas with highly contiguous fuels dominated by pyrogenic pine needles were most likely to result in consumption of individual Cladonia, whereas those growing in areas with low fuel continuity or in areas dominated by hardwood litter were more likely to persist (intact or as fragments). Further, substrates including bare soil and moss mats afforded more protection than coarse woody debris or leaf litter in settings where fuels were both contiguous and highly flammable. Our findings describe the characteristics of within-site fire refugia, the abundance of which may be enhanced over time through restoration and maintenance treatments including thinning, promotion of mixed-species overstory composition, and periodic burning. Because lichens contribute to, and are considered reliable indicators of forest health, fire-based restoration management efforts will benefit from improved understanding of how these vulnerable organisms are able to persist.


2011 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 750-763 ◽  
Author(s):  
Felipe Rossetti de Paula ◽  
Silvio Frosini de Barros Ferraz ◽  
Pedro Gerhard ◽  
Carlos Alberto Vettorazzi ◽  
Anderson Ferreira

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document