On the Selection of Tree Species by Acanthizidae in Open-forest Near Sydney, New South Wales

1994 ◽  
Vol 94 (4) ◽  
pp. 239-245 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harry F. Recher ◽  
Jonathan D. Majer
1992 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 214 ◽  
Author(s):  
RL Pressey

Information on the features to be protected in a system of conservation reserves is an obvious requirement. The quality of the data base will primarily determine the effectiveness of conservation planning in protecting the full range of natural features in a region. However, the way in which data are used to make decisions on the locations of protected areas is also critical. Rigorous procedures for reserve selection can make the difference between achieving reservation goals or not. Research on reserve selection in New South Wales over recent years has concerned both data bases and procedures for guiding decisions. Reserve planning in many regions is based largely on some form of land classification like vegetation types or land systems. There are good reasons for using such land classes to guide the selection of reserves and to judge their representativeness. Nevertheless, they can have considerable limitations as a basis for protecting all the species in a region. These limitations are reviewed with references to more detailed discussions of particular issues. The paper also reviews a variety of procedures for selecting reserves which have been tested and applied in New South Wales. Some of the recent procedures are conceptually simple but very useful in identifying the requirements of reservation goals and demonstrating the options available to planners for representing particular features. Three principles are proposed which should underpin any attempt at systematic conservation planning.


1981 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 205 ◽  
Author(s):  
RA How

In adjacent areas in north-eastern New South Wales, T. vulpecula occurs in the open forest and woodland and T. caninus occurs in the closed and tall open forest; both species are found in the pine plantation. T. vulpecula has a single breeding season in autumn when all females 1 y old and older reproduce. The young become independent around 175 days old and disperse at up to 2 y old. Mortality is low (15%) among dependent young but considerably higher among independent dispersing individuals. T. caninus also has a single autumn breeding season. The young become independent around 240 days old but disperse after 18-26 months, females moving before males. Mortality is high (56%) among dependent young but less so among subadults. An adult sex ratio of parity is the result of a higher survival among subadult males than females offsetting the reverse in adults. Some 2-y-old and all 3-y-old females reproduce but a few older females fail to breed in certain years. There is evidence that the high mortality of dependent young and failure of older females to breed is associated with offspring of previous years remaining in the population. Adult males and females appear to form a pair-bond. Population parameters of T. vulpecula described from other areas show considerable variation; this flexibility in population strategy explains the species' success in occupying a diversity of habitats and rapidly colonizing new areas.


1987 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 263 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Lunney

Seven species of possums and gliders were found during a survey in logged coastal forests near Bega, New South Wales. A study of the preferences for the various tree species showed that both commercial and non-commercial species must be retained to support the full range of possum and glider species. Spotlight searches were carried out in 6 adjacent felling areas each autumn from 1981 to 1983. Four species (Petaurus breviceps, P. australis, Petauroides volans and Pseudocheirus peregrinus) were seen frequently enough to determine their habitat preferences. There were significantly fewer possums and gliders in logged areas, with a greater effect on some species, e.g. P. volans, than others, e.g. P. breviceps. Fire rendered the logged areas even less habitable, and drought compounded the effects of logging and fire by further reducing numbers. Deep unlogged gullies were found to be crucial refuges from logging, fire and drought. The primary conclusions are that the current logging operation is causing a significant reduction in numbers, and that gullies need to be redefined to include all drainage lines and to remain unlogged.


2000 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Phillips ◽  
John Callaghan ◽  
Valerie Thompson

An assessment of the tree species preferences of koalas inhabiting forest and woodland communities growing on Quaternary deposits in the Port Stephens area, New South Wales, was undertaken between November 1994 and March 1996. Using a plot-based methodology, 3847 trees were sampled, comprising 15 Eucalyptus species and 17 species of non-eucalypt. Evidence of tree use by koalas, specifically the presence of koala faecal pellets, was recorded from beneath 10 Eucalyptus species and 9 species of non-eucalypt. Tree species preferences were determined by analyses of log- likelihood ratios derived from data based on the presence/absence of koala faecal pellets, rather than on gross counts. This approach confirmed significant variation in the levels of utilisation amongst and between different tree species, and that two in particular – swamp mahogany (E. robusta) and drooping red gum (E. parramattensis) – were most preferred. Increases in the levels of use of other tree species were also positively associated with the presence of E. robusta and/or E. parramattensis. Levels of utilisation of E. robusta and E. parramattensis did not alter significantly in response to changes in their respective densities, suggesting that the relative abundance of both was important in terms of understanding the carrying capacity of vegetation communities utilised by koalas. The results have established the success with which an enumerative approach to the interpretation of faecal pellet data can be utilised to clarify the tree species preferences of koalas. Application of the approach for habitat assessment and mapping purposes is also discussed.


2008 ◽  
Vol 65 (4) ◽  
pp. 687-696 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas Rotherham ◽  
Matt K. Broadhurst ◽  
Charles A. Gray ◽  
Daniel D. Johnson

Abstract Rotherham, D., Broadhurst, M. K., Gray, C. A., and Johnson, D. D. 2008. Developing a beam trawl for sampling estuarine fish and crustaceans: assessment of a codend cover and effects of different sizes of mesh in the body and codend. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 65: 687–696. An experiment was carried out in the Clarence River (New South Wales, Australia) to test the hypotheses that fish and crustacean catches in an experimental beam trawl were affected by a codend cover and the sizes of mesh in the body and codend. The cover had no obvious effects on the catches retained in the codend. Similarly, in comparisons between trawl bodies made from 26- and 41-mm diamond-shaped mesh, there were no differences in the assemblages of fish caught, or in the mean numbers entering the codends. For one species of fish (Acanthopagrus australis), however, there were differences in the proportions caught between the trawl bodies across different size classes. There was also some evidence to suggest that mesh size in the body of the trawl influenced the size selection of school prawns (Metapenaeus macleayi). For most finfish, there were no differences in catches between codends made from 20-mm and from 29-mm mesh hung on the bar (i.e. square-shaped mesh). In contrast, mesh size in the codend was important for the size selectivity of school prawns, with smaller carapace lengths at 50% retention in the 20-mm codend. We conclude that use of a 41-mm mesh in the body and a 20-mm square mesh in the codend of the beam trawl would be appropriate for future sampling with this gear in estuaries of New South Wales. A similar experimental approach to ours is needed in adapting the beam trawl to estuaries in other parts of the world, or in developing other types of research trawl.


2006 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 261 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. J. S. Debus

I studied the selection of breeding habitat and nest microhabitat in Scarlet Robins Petroica multicolor and Eastern Yellow Robins Eopsaltria australis, in remnant woodland on the New England Tablelands of New South Wales in 2000?2002. Yellow Robins used breeding territories (n = 10) with significantly higher densities of rough-barked saplings, acacias and other (non-Acacia) shrubs than Scarlet Robin breeding territories (n = 10) and plots lacking Yellow Robins (n = 7). Yellow Robins nested mostly in gully and lower-slope positions, with a southerly aspect, >40 m from the woodland edge, whereas Scarlet Robins nested mostly on upper slopes and ridges, with no preferred minimum distance from the woodland edge. Most Yellow Robin nests (86% of 58) had overhead foliage within 1 m, shielding them from above, whereas over half (58% of 54) of Scarlet Robin nests were in unconcealed positions. Yellow Robin nests had significantly greater density of cover, and the surrounding habitat was more complex, than for Scarlet Robin nests, in 0.13-ha plots centred on the nest. Breeding success and fledgling survival in the Yellow Robin were positively related to the density of acacias, non-Acacia shrubs and rough-barked saplings (but not gum saplings) in breeding territories. Fledging success and juvenile survival in the Yellow Robin were also positively related to habitat complexity around nest-sites (but not distance to nearest cover, or items of cover within 20 m). Scarlet Robins had exposed nests and suffered high nest predation, with too few successful nests for comparison with unsuccessful nests. Habitat conservation for the Yellow Robin should address the complexity of the ground, shrub and sapling layer in woodland remnants; that for the Scarlet Robin may need to address foraging substrate and ecologically based control of nest predators.


1984 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
JA Taylor ◽  
DA Hedges

This paper examines some of the characteristics of trees under which sheep camped during the day and the differences between the shade and the nocturnal camps in a large paddock. Of the five tree species present, Merinos preferred to camp under Augophora floribunda and Brachychiton populneum during the day. The selected trees had a high canopy/bole ratio and either an elevated convex or a convex shaped canopy. Nocturnal camps occurred in an upperslope position and were much larger, better developed and had more sheep faeces per unit area than the shade camps in the paddock. Shade camps occurred downslope of the nocturnal camps and were within the area of the paddock used primarily for grazing.


2006 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-24
Author(s):  
Tamás Pócs ◽  
Heinar Streimann

During a joint field trip organised by H. Streimann in 1999, the authors collected large amount of bryophytes in Queensland, New South Wales, and Victoria states and in the Austral Capital Territory (A.C.T.). Some of them proved to be new state records, or new records for Australia. The list below is the first selection of these records in Hepaticae, with 16 species newly reported from the whole continent.


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