Distribution, habitat preferences and management of the yellow-bellied glider, Petaurus australis, on the Bago Plateau, New South Wales: a reassessment of the population and its status

2013 ◽  
Vol 40 (7) ◽  
pp. 599 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter J. Kambouris ◽  
Rodney P. Kavanagh ◽  
Kelly A. Rowley
Keyword(s):  
National Park ◽  
New South ◽  
Habitat Preferences ◽  
Large Population ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Site Occupancy ◽  
Suitable Habitat ◽  
Forest Types ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Endangered Population

Context A population of yellow-bellied glider on the Bago Plateau, near Tumbarumba, was listed as an Endangered Population in 2008 under the New South Wales (NSW) Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995. The listing was based on limited data that suggested that the population is geographically and genetically distinct and its habitat in decline. Aims To review the validity of the endangered-population listing following the collection of new data on its distribution, habitat preferences and responses to logging. Methods Surveys for the yellow-bellied glider were conducted at a subset of sites established in 1995 on the Bago Plateau as well as across parts of the neighbouring Kosciuszko National Park, which had not been surveyed previously. The distribution of suitable habitat throughout these areas was evaluated. Key results The yellow-bellied glider was recorded at 29% of 48 sites resurveyed in 2010, 54% of which were previously occupied in 1995. Most changes in glider occupancy occurred at sites that had not been logged during the intervening period. The gliders preferred forest types dominated by montane gums (Eucalyptus dalrympleana, E. viminalis, E. camphora, E. pauciflora and E. stellulata) and used forest types of montane gums mixed with E. robertsonii or E. delegatensis in proportion to their availability across the landscape. The gliders were not observed to use monospecific stands of E. delegatensis. The yellow-bellied glider was also recorded frequently in Kosciuszko National Park. E. dalrympleana was consistently represented in the distribution of this species across the NSW Snowy Mountains. Conclusions Yellow-bellied glider site occupancy was not related to timber harvesting. Its habitat was not restricted by elevation or confined within Bago and Maragle State Forests by the Tumut River Gorge, Blowering and Talbingo Dams, as previously thought. We estimated that there is a large population of the gliders occupying up to 440 000 ha of contiguous habitat across the broader Snowy Mountains region of NSW, extending also into ACT and Victoria. Implications The listing of the Bago Plateau portion of this population as an endangered population appears inconsistent with relevant listing criteria and requires review.

Association of parma wallabies (Macropus parma) with sedge swamps in Gibraltar Range National Park.

2007 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 111 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Vernes ◽  
T. Cooper
Keyword(s):  
National Park ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Forest Types ◽  
Patchy Distribution ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Sclerophyll Forest

Parma wallabies (Macropus parma) have a patchy distribution on the coast and ranges of central and northern New South Wales from Goulburn northward to the Queensland border. In Gibraltar Range National Park they are found in dry sclerophyll forest with a heath understorey, a departure from their apparent preference for wet forest types. Distance to swamp was by far the best correlate of M. parma distribution.

First confirmed records of the Western Hooded Scaly-foot Pygopus nigriceps from New South Wales

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 102-106
Author(s):  
George Madani
Keyword(s):  
Western Australia ◽  
National Park ◽  
Arid Zone ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
The State ◽  
Suitable Habitat ◽  
Far North ◽  
South Wales ◽  
North Western

ABSTRACT The Western Hooded Scaly-foot Pygopus nigriceps is a widespread pygopod concomitant with the sandy arid zone of inland and western Australia. The limited suitable habitat available and inaccessibility of north western New South Wales means that the occurrence of P. nigriceps has long gone undetected in the state. This is despite ecological work and fauna surveys having been conducted within this area. Here I report two records of P. nigriceps from far north western NSW (Sturt National Park and Winnathee Station), which are the only known confirmed records to date. This brings the number of known pygopods in NSW to 12 species.

Habitat preference, diet and demography of the smoky mouse, Pseudomys fumeus (Rodentia : Muridae), in south-eastern New South Wales

2003 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 89 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fred Ford ◽  
Andrew Cockburn ◽  
Linda Broome
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Preference ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Habitat Choice ◽  
Early Spring ◽  
Suitable Habitat ◽  
Dietary Preference ◽  
Winter Diet ◽  
South Wales ◽  
High Level

The smoky mouse, Pseudomys fumeus, is an endangered rodent for which ecological information is lacking across much of its range. This paper provides the first detailed study of the local diet and habitat preference of P. fumeus since 1980, conducted on the recently discovered Nullica population in New South Wales. Diet and trap-revealed movements were examined in conjunction with 18 characteristics of habitat to determine the factors influencing habitat choice. Multiple logistic regression of habitat variables and capture locations revealed a floristically determined preference for heath habitat characterised by Epacris impressa, Monotoca scoparia, Leptospermum trinervium, Xanthorrhoea spp. and a variety of legumes. Hypogeal fungi and seeds were the most common food items in the diet of P. fumeus. Fungi were most abundant in winter diet, while seeds and fruit became dominant in late spring and summer. The spring and summer preference for ridge-top heath habitats observed in this study is probably the result of this dietary preference. Resident females constituted 71% of the population in early spring. However, there was a severe decline in numbers of female mice during early spring, and resident males also disappeared from the population. Causes of the decline were unclear. Five of eleven males captured during this study were transient, while no transient females were caught. The sudden decline in the study population, combined with the patchy distribution of suitable habitat and high level of male transience, suggests that P. fumeus form a metapopulation in the Nullica region.

scholarly journals Phylogenetic placement of a recently discovered population of the threatened alpine she-oak skink Cyclodomorphus praealtus (Squamata: Scincidae) in Victoria

2021 ◽  
pp. 153-157
Author(s):  
Joanna Sumner ◽  
Margaret L. Haines ◽  
Peter Lawrence ◽  
Jenny Lawrence ◽  
Nick Clemann
Keyword(s):  
Phylogenetic Analysis ◽  
National Park ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Last Glacial ◽  
Evolutionarily Significant Units ◽  
Phylogenetic Placement ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Disjunct Populations ◽  
The Last Glacial

The alpine she-oak skink Cyclodomorphus praealtus is a threatened alpine endemic lizard from the mainland of Australia. The species is previously known from disjunct populations in Kosciuszko National Park in New South Wales and three isolated localities in the Victorian Alps. The New South Wales and Victorian populations represent separate evolutionarily significant units. In 2011, a fourth Victorian population was discovered. We conducted a phylogenetic analysis and determined that the newly discovered population is discrete and may have been separated from other populations since the end of the last glacial maxima. This population requires separate management.

Surveys of Arboreal and Terrestrial Mammals in The Montane Forests of Queanbeyan, New South Wales.

1998 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 9
Author(s):  
R. Goldingay ◽  
G. Daly
Keyword(s):  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Dry Forest ◽  
Suitable Habitat ◽  
Pitfall Trapping ◽  
Terrestrial Mammals ◽  
Potential Habitat ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Moist Forest ◽  
Logged Forest

Surveys of arboreal and terrestrial mammals were conducted across four State Forests in south-east New South Wales encompassing 80 000 ha. Methods used included spotlighting, Elliott trapping, pitfall trapping, hair-tubing and predator scat analysis. The survey included a plot-based approach and the targeting of areas containing the potential habitat of endangered species. Seven species of arboreal marsupial were detected during spotlighting. The greater glider (Petauroides volans) was significantly more abundant in moist forest compared to dry forest. Its density in moist forest was twice as high in unlogged compared to logged forest and is equivalent to the highest recorded in any forest in NSW. Other arboreal species were less abundant. The yellow-bellied glider (Petaurus australis), which is Threatened in NSW, was detected at only two sites despite the occurrence of suitable habitat throughout the study area. Eight species of native terrestrial mammals were detected. The tiger quoll (Dasyurus maculatus), which is Threatened in NSW, appears to be more common in the southern part of the study area adjoining large areas of National Park, than in other State Forests of south-east NSW. Continued analysis of predator scats is required to determine whether several other species of Threatened terrestrial mammal occur in these forests.

The conservation and ecology of rainforest pigeons in northeastern New South Wales

1995 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 299 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. M. Date ◽  
H. F. Recher ◽  
H. A. Ford ◽  
D. A. Stewart
Keyword(s):  
Native Species ◽  
Food Source ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Suitable Habitat ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Winter Food ◽  
Agricultural Areas ◽  
Trees And Shrubs ◽  
Conservation And Management

A survey of conservation reserves, rainforest remnants and agricultural districts in northeastern New South Wales was conducted to determine the abundance, movements and habitat requirements of rainforest pigeons, to evaluate the extent and use of suitable habitat in conservation reserves, and to provide guidelines for the conservation and management of rainforest pigeons. Eight species of rainforest pigeon occur in northeastern New South Wales. Commencing with the clearing of rainforest in the 1860s for agriculture, rainforest pigeons declined in abundance throughout New South Wales and by the 1970s five species were thought to be threatened in the state. Since then, rainforest pigeons have apparently increased in abundance and distribution, but the Wompoo, Rose-crowned and Superb Pigeons continue to be listed by the New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service as vulnerable and rare. However, populations of all species of rainforest pigeons in New South Wales are relatively small and vulnerable to further loss of habitat. Most rainforest pigeons show a preference for subtropical rainforest habitat, but moist eucalypt forests, gardens and weedy exotic vegetation along roads and on abandoned farmland are also frequented to varying degrees by different species. To investigate recent trends in pigeon abundance we used data collected for up to 12 years from eight sites and during 1988, 1989 and 1990 from 17 rainforest remnants in northeastern New South Wales. The data suggest that rainforest pigeons now occur more frequently in lowland agricultural areas than in the recent past and tend to confirm an increase in abundance since the 1970s. Nesting and foraging habitats for rainforest pigeons are extensive in the conservation reserve system of northeastern New South Wales, but these habitats, which are largely at high elevations, lack winter food resources. Instead, pigeons congregate in remnant rainforest and exotic berry-bearing trees and shrubs in agricultural areas at lower elevations and near the coast. They rely on these habitats for food during winter and it is the restricted extent of this habitat that probably limits their abundance, not the area or quality of habitat at higher elevations. The conservation and management of rainforest pigeons requires the protection of low elevation and coastal rainforest remnants. As development of northeastern New South Wales proceeds, to avoid a decline in the abundances of rainforest pigeons it will be necessary to protect sclerophyll forest with native or exotic fruit bearing trees and shrubs and to extend the area of suitable habitat by the regeneration of rainforest and by the planting of native species used by pigeons as a food source. This will become increasingly important as the control and removal of exotic plants, such as Lantana Lantana camara and Camphor Laurel Cinnamonum camphora, on which some pigeons depend as a winter food source, becomes more successful.

Use of bioclimatic analysis to direct survey effort for the long-footed potoroo (Potorous longipes), a rare forest-dwelling rat-kangaroo

2002 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 193 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. W. Claridge
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Variables ◽  
New Records ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Geographic Range ◽  
Suitable Habitat ◽  
The Past ◽  
South Wales ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
Survey Effort

The long-footed potoroo (Potorous longipes) is one of the rarest and most elusive forest-dwelling mammals in Australia. Survey effort for the species over the past decade or so in south-eastern New South Wales has been driven, primarily, by predictions derived from climatic analyses using BIOCLIM. These predictions were based on known locality records of the long-footed potoroo from adjacent East Gippsland, Victoria. While they have proven useful in confirming the occurrence of the species in New South Wales, recent fortuitous records of the species from north-eastern Victoria fall well outside of the range predicted earlier by BIOCLIM. Using these new records a revised predicted range is calculated, enlarging considerably the potential geographic extent of climatically suitable habitat for the species. The results presented here highlight the limitations of BIOCLIM when given locality records of a species from only a portion of its true geographic range. I argue that less emphasis might be based on this approach to direct survey effort for the species in the future. Instead, a range of other environmental variables might be used in combination with BIOCLIM-derived outputs when selecting survey sites. In this way a more representative picture of the distribution of the species may be obtained.

Habitat Selection by Sex, Age and Reproductive Class in the Red Kangaroo, Macropus rufus, in Western New South Wales

1981 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 465 ◽  
Author(s):  
CN Johnson ◽  
PG Bayliss
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Selection ◽  
National Park ◽  
Mating Systems ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Vegetation Types ◽  
Red Kangaroo ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Macropus Rufus ◽  
Lactating Females

The kangaroo populations of Kinchega National Park respond differently to shifts in pasture productivity, red kangaroos Macropus rufus being mobile and unevenly distributed with respect to soil and vegetation types, by comparison with the more evenly dispersed western grey kangaroos M. fuliginosus and the sedentary and localized euros M, robustus erubescens. Red kangaroo population classes tend to be differentially distributed, so that large males and heavily lactating females predominate on the seasonally preferred pastures, while other classes tend to predominate elsewhere. This finding has several implications for the management of red kangaroos and for our understanding of their resource ecology and mating systems.

The Demography of Feral Pigs (Sus Scrofa) in Kosciusko National Park, New South Wales.

1993 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
pp. 559 ◽  
Author(s):  
G Saunders
Keyword(s):  
National Park ◽  
New South ◽  
Seasonal Pattern ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Protein Food ◽  
Feral Pigs ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Postnatal Mortality ◽  
Alpine Population ◽  
Autumn And Winter

The demography of a sub-alpine population of feral pigs was examined at Kosciusko National Park in south-eastern New South Wales. Reproductive data and age structures indicated a seasonal pattern of breeding, most births occurring in summer and autumn. It is proposed that a decreasing availability of high protein food in the autumn and winter months caused reduced rates of conception. Sows produced 0.84 litters per year with postnatal mortality as high as 85%. The population appeared relatively stable at a density of 1.6 pigs kg-2. Hunting, although illegal in a national park, removed 4.4-15.4% of pigs each year. The overall health and body condition of pigs was good, with no evidence of heavy parasitic burdens or disease. Age-specific body weight and body length in this study were greater than those reported for pigs in semi-arid wester New South Wales.

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