Changes in the distribution of reports of the koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) after 16 years of local conservation initiatives at Gunnedah, north-west New South Wales, Australia

2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 63
Author(s):  
Murray V. Ellis ◽  
Susan G. Rhind ◽  
Martin Smith ◽  
Daniel Lunney
Keyword(s):  
Agricultural Land ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Mail Survey ◽  
Local Conservation ◽  
Actual Distribution ◽  
Phascolarctos Cinereus ◽  
The Core ◽  
South Wales ◽  
The Town

In the early 1990s the koala became the mascot for a revegetation program to control salinity on agricultural land around Gunnedah in New South Wales, and a snapshot of the koala’s distribution in the shire was collected at that time, mainly via a mail survey. After the success of tree plantings in the 1990s, the koala population of the Liverpool Plains became a focus of increasing local conservation efforts, as well as research to explain koala population dynamics. This included a repeat mail survey conducted in 2006, which enabled the comparison of the reported distributions to be undertaken. These two citizen science surveys had different response rates but both produced extensive datasets. By 2006, koalas were reported from a wider extent than in 1990, particularly to the north and east of the town, and in more developed agricultural areas, but with highest densities in areas with more than 25% wooded vegetation. In 1990, koalas were reported mostly from locations that were surrounded by more than 40% wooded vegetation with the core of the distribution being on the basalt hills south of the town of Gunnedah. Koalas were also reported with increased relative frequency in the town, and this formed the core of the reported sightings at that time. There were still no reports from many of the vegetated hilly margins of the shire. The observed changes in the pattern of reporting reflects the actual distribution of koalas intersected with the likelihood of observation and the willingness of people to report koalas, and also identify the areas that may be under-sampled to determine the true habitat breath of koalas in the area.

Combining a map-based public survey with an estimation of site occupancy to determine the recent and changing distribution of the koala in New South Wales

2009 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 262 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Lunney ◽  
Mathew S. Crowther ◽  
Ian Shannon ◽  
Jessica V. Bryant
Keyword(s):  
Private Property ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Site Occupancy ◽  
Mail Survey ◽  
General Distribution ◽  
Phascolarctos Cinereus ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Public Survey ◽  
Recent Developments

The present study demonstrates one solution to a problem faced by managers of species of conservation concern – how to develop broad-scale maps of populations, within known general distribution limits, for the purpose of targeted management action. We aimed to map the current populations of the koala, Phascolarctos cinereus, in New South Wales, Australia. This cryptic animal is widespread, although patchily distributed. It principally occurs on private property, and it can be hard to detect. We combined a map-based mail survey of rural and outer-urban New South Wales with recent developments in estimating site occupancy and species-detection parameters to determine the current (2006) distribution of the koala throughout New South Wales. We were able to define the distribution of koalas in New South Wales at a level commensurate with previous community and field surveys. Comparison with a 1986 survey provided an indication of changes in relative koala density across the state. The 2006 distribution map allows for local and state plans, including the 2008 New South Wales Koala Recovery Plan, to be more effectively implemented. The application of this combined technique can now be extended to a suite of other iconic species or species that are easily recognised by the public.

The protocols for koala research using radio-collars: a review based on its application in a tall coastal forest in New South Wales and the implications for future research.

2006 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 187 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. L. Radford ◽  
J. McKee ◽  
R. L. Goldingay ◽  
R. P. Kavanagh
Keyword(s):  
Best Practice ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Radio Tracking ◽  
Research Committee ◽  
Phascolarctos Cinereus ◽  
Current Form ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Pine Creek

In 1996, guidelines were produced for capture and radio-tracking protocols for koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) research within New South Wales (NSW). An integrated project commenced in 1998 to examine P. cinereus ecology and health status in Pine Creek State Forest. This project utilised intensive clinical and pathological assessment protocols on captured P. cinereus in combination with radio-tracking and ecological investigations. The methods used in this project were referred to the NSW Koala Research Committee (KRC) for review in mid 1999 due to the political profile of the study area. The KRC assessed the project protocols and reviewed the original guidelines incorporating some of the protocols used in the Pine Creek project. The outcome is a new set of protocols for P. cinereus research within NSW which are more explicit and restrictive than those applied to P. cinereus research elsewhere or to research on other species. In their current form the new guidelines require a substantial investment in time, equipment, personnel and finance; factors that may deter or restrict future, comprehensive ecological research on P. cinereus populations. They inadequately provide for some practices we believe important in minimising the invasiveness of P. cinereus capture. We propose amendments to the guidelines in the areas of personnel required, behavioural assessment, capture methods, processing safety and tracking frequency. We suggest that these amendments will render the guidelines more accessible to a broader range of projects, and easier to apply under field conditions while preserving the intent to maintain P. cinereus welfare and research best practice.

The impact of fire and dogs on Koalas at Port Stephens, New South Wales, using population viability analysis

2007 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 189 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danial Lunney ◽  
Shaan Gresser ◽  
Lisa E. O'neill ◽  
Alison Matthews ◽  
Jonathan Rhodes
Keyword(s):  
New South ◽  
Local Population ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Population Viability Analysis ◽  
Population Viability ◽  
Phascolarctos Cinereus ◽  
Viability Analysis ◽  
South Wales ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Port Stephens

The Port Stephens Koala Phascolarctos cinereus population has been regarded as one of the strongholds for Koalas in New South Wales. This study applied population viability analysis to investigate the impact of fire and predation by dogs on the viability of the local population. The rapid decline of the modelled Koala population under basic assumptions throws the assumed security of such large populations into question. In all the modelled management scenarios, reducing mortality had more influence than any other factor. Reducing the severity and frequency of large catastrophic fires improved the probability of survival for the population, though the modelled population size still declined sharply. Any management action to improve Koala survival must be accompanied by a reduction in mortality from dog attacks. Fires and dogs will have an ever greater impact on Koala populations as coastal forests become more fragmented and isolated by urban development, and their combined control will be needed to complement land-use planning measures to address habitat loss and fragmentation.

scholarly journals The fossil human skull found at Talgai, Queensland

1918 ◽  
Vol 208 (348-359) ◽  
pp. 351-387 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Black Soil ◽  
Local Conditions ◽  
Human Skull ◽  
South Wales ◽  
The University ◽  
The Town ◽  
Heavy Rains ◽  
Brown Clay

Situated in the Darling Downs of Southern Queensland, in the vicinity of the town of Warwick, are a series of alluvial flats, watered by the tributary creeks of the Condamine River, which is itself a branch of the Darling. One of these creeks, the Dalrymple, winds a tortuous course through the black-soil country, a few miles north of Warwick, and traverses Talgai Station. In the year 1884, after exceptionally heavy rains, the creek came down in strong flood and overflowed the flats to a width of over half a mile. When the floods subsided, it was found that an old water course or “billabong” had been washed out, leaving a channel about ten feet in depth. A fencer who was at work at Talgai at this time, while traversing this freshly washed-out channel, had his attention arrested by what seemed to he a curiously shaped stone in the side of the cut, lying embedded by itself, not at the bottom, but about three feet up the side. It was firmly fixed in the clay, and in dislodging it he formed the opinion that it had not been recently disturbed. When he had freed it, perceiving that it was a skull, he took it to the proprietor of Talgai Station, from whose son it passed into the possession of Mr. E. A. Crawford, of Greenethorpe, New South Wales. This gentleman, in May, 1914, submitted a photograph of it to Prof. Edgeworth David, F. B. S., Professor of Geology in the University of Sydney, who showed it to Prof. J. T. Wilson, F. R. S. He, immediately perceiving the possibilities, expressed a strong desire to have the specimen itself forwarded to Sydney. This having been done, the preliminary investigations were immediately commenced by Profs. David and Wilson, and the results communicated to the British Association for the Advancement of Science in Sydney, in August, 1914(1). Shortly after this, Prof. David made a journey to the site of the discovery. He was fortunate enough to find the original discoverer, who, though a very old man, retained a clear recollection of the circumstances of the find. He visited the locality, and, with a memory still clear as to the local conditions, pointed out to Prof. David, to within a few yards, the spot in the gully where the skull was unearthed. His account of the discovery was as just related, and he was able to identify the formation of red-brown clay, interspersed with nodular concretions of carbonate of lime, as identical with that from the upper portion of which the skull was originally removed.

Temporal, spatial and individual variation in the diet of red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) in central New South Wales

2000 ◽  
Vol 27 (6) ◽  
pp. 593 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. L. Molsher ◽  
E. J. Gifford ◽  
J. C. McIlroy
Keyword(s):  
Individual Variation ◽  
Vulpes Vulpes ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Ovis Aries ◽  
Red Foxes ◽  
Moon Phases ◽  
Temporal Synchrony ◽  
South Wales

This study describes temporal, spatial and individual variation in the diet of 255 red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) collected from agricultural land in central New South Wales from July 1994 to November 1996. Rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus), sheep (Ovis aries), eastern grey kangaroos (Macropus giganteus) and invertebrates were the most important food items overall. Significant seasonal variations, and sex and age differences between foxes occurred in the consumption of some food types. Some temporal synchrony was also evident, with different individuals often eating similar foods on the same night. This may have been related to moonlight. On full moon nights, foxes ate rabbits and small mammals significantly less often than during other moon phases. The management implications of variation in diet are discussed.

Towards Completion of the Core Spatial Assets for New South Wales—The Angledool Story

1995 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 221-226
Author(s):  
C.J. (Jim) Mitchell ◽  
Donald M. Grant
Keyword(s):  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
The Core ◽  
South Wales

A Community-based Survey of the Koala, Phascolarctos cinereus, in the Eden Region of South-eastern New South Wales

1997 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Lunney ◽  
Carol Esson ◽  
Chris Moon ◽  
Murray Ellis ◽  
Alison Matthews
Keyword(s):  
National Parks ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Dry Forest ◽  
Management Options ◽  
Regional Survey ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Phascolarctos Cinereus ◽  
South Eastern ◽  
South Wales

A community-based postal survey (questionnaire and map) was undertaken in the Eden region of south-eastern New South Wales in 1991–92 to help determine the local distribution of koalas and to obtain information on which to base a regional plan of management for koalas. The 1198 replies from the II 600 households in the region represented all parts of the area surveyed. The survey responses suggest that koalas are rare in the Eden region, and that the number of koalas has been constantly low for the last four decades. The records are scattered both chronologically and geographically. National Parks and Nature Reserves have never been the stronghold of local koala populations, and freehold land, particularly farmland, is not a major reservoir of koalas. Most koalas reported were in, or adjacent to, State Forests, particularly Murrah–Berrnagui and Tantawangalo–Glenbog–Yurammie. These areas appear to contain the core of the surviving koala population of the region. An assessment of the vegetation where koalas were sighted indicated that dry forest is the preferred habitat. The once abundant and widespread local koala population of late last century has been reduced by habitat loss and fragmentation to a few small, isolated populations. This regional survey, which was undertaken by use of a carefully constructed questionnaire, revealed an invaluable source of records and contributed 70% of the records in the database used for this study. This study also laid a basis for assessing koala management options in south-eastern New South Wales.

A playback survey of the koala,Phascolarctos cinereus, and a review of its distribution in the Eden Region of south-eastern New South Wales

2001 ◽  
Vol 64 (4) ◽  
pp. 226-231 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vic Jurskis ◽  
Alan Douch ◽  
Ken McCray ◽  
Jim Shields
Keyword(s):  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Phascolarctos Cinereus ◽  
South Eastern ◽  
South Wales

From Progressivism to Conservatism: The decline of the Town Planning Association of New South Wales in the 1930s1

2009 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 333-349
Author(s):  
Robert Freestone ◽  
Margaret Park
Keyword(s):  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Town Planning ◽  
South Wales ◽  
The Town

Population genetics of the koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) in north-eastern New South Wales and south-eastern Queensland

2016 ◽  
Vol 64 (6) ◽  
pp. 402 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Dennison ◽  
G. J. Frankham ◽  
L. E. Neaves ◽  
C. Flanagan ◽  
S. FitzGibbon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Flow ◽  
Habitat Loss ◽  
Isolation By Distance ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Genetic Data ◽  
Phascolarctos Cinereus ◽  
South Eastern ◽  
South Wales ◽  
North Eastern

Habitat loss and fragmentation are key threats to local koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) populations. Broad-scale management is suboptimal for koalas because distribution models are not easily generalised across regions. Therefore, it is imperative that data relevant to local management bodies are available. Genetic data provides important information on gene flow and potential habitat barriers, including anthropogenic disturbances. Little genetic data are available for nationally significant koala populations in north-eastern New South Wales, despite reported declines due to urbanisation and habitat loss. In this study, we develop 14 novel microsatellite loci to investigate koala populations in north-eastern New South Wales (Port Macquarie, Coffs Harbour, Tyagarah, Ballina) and south-eastern Queensland (Coomera). All locations were significantly differentiated (FST = 0.096–0.213; FʹST = 0.282–0.582), and this pattern was not consistent with isolation by distance (R2 = 0.228, P = 0.058). Population assignment clustered the more northern populations (Ballina, Tyagarah and Coomera), suggesting contemporary gene flow among these sites. For all locations, low molecular variation among (16%) rather than within (84%) sites suggests historical connectivity. These results suggest that koala populations in north-eastern New South Wales and south-eastern Queensland are experiencing contemporary impediments to gene flow, and highlight the importance of maintaining habitat connectivity across this region.

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