The herpetofauna of Kioloa, New South Wales: baseline observational data collected 30 years ago and inspired by R. E. Barwick

2014 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
pp. 100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Klaus Henle ◽  
Will Osborne ◽  
Frank Lemckert
Keyword(s):  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Common Species ◽  
Current Data ◽  
Eastern Coast ◽  
Field Station ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Anthropogenic Habitat ◽  
Reptile Species ◽  
Frog Species

There is increasing concern about the global decline of amphibians and reptiles. One problem with documenting declines and identifying underlying causes is the absence of historical data to compare to current data. Here we provide historic data for Kioloa on the south-eastern coast of New South Wales. In this region considerable clearing of natural forest and woodland and creation of farmland ponds took place during the second half of the 20th century. The Australian National University has a field station at Kioloa and R.E. Barwick introduced us to the field station and what was known of the herpetofauna in the mid-1980s. We undertook detailed observational surveys of the herpetofauna at this time and we revisited the area at other times, focusing on the coastal habitats. We found 13 species of frogs and 11 species of reptiles. Three further frog species and one reptile species known to occur in the area in the 1980s were not detected by us. More recently, one further frog species and six reptile species were added to the list, raising the total to 17 frog and 18 reptile species. The number and composition was similar to other locations of coastal New South Wales, except for some of the rarely encountered species. No strictly forest-dependent species were observed in the partially cleared survey area and such species presumably had already disappeared from these areas already before we commenced our observations. The frog Pseudophryne bibronii was still common in tall open-forest but was uncommon in partially cleared areas. Six species of frogs and one species of reptile presumably benefited from the anthropogenic habitat modifications. No declines of common species of reptiles occurred between the mid-1980s and 1993 but all species of frogs were very rare in 1993 due to very dry conditions. Litoria aurea, a threatened species of frog that was widespread in the mid-1980s, survives (2012) only at one site in the area.

Assessing the Impacts of Logging on Reptiles and Frogs in the Montane Forests of Southern New South Wales.

1996 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 495 ◽  
Author(s):  
R Goldingay ◽  
G Daly ◽  
F Lemckert
Keyword(s):  
Management Practices ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Habitat Type ◽  
Regional Survey ◽  
Montane Forests ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Reptile Species ◽  
Frog Species ◽  
The Impact

This study describes an assessment of the medium-term effects of selection logging on the reptiles and frogs in the montane forests near Queanbeyan, New South Wales. A total of 15 reptile and two frog species was detected across 20 fixed-area plots that were selected according to broad forest type and logging history. Reptile species richness was not significantly different among the different habitat treatments. Total reptile abundance was significantly higher on logged plots, but was not influenced by forest moisture type. Individual analyses for five lizard species (accounting for 84% of all data) showed that several species (Eulamprus tympanum, E. heatwolei and Pseudemoia spenceri) had significantly greater abundances on the logged plots than on the unlogged plots, while two species (Nannoscincus maccoyi and Niveoscincus coventryi) did not differ significantly in their abundances across treatments. Thus, none of these species (which included arboreal, terrestrial and fossorial species) appeared to be adversely affected by past logging practices. Insufficient data on frogs were obtained for analysis. An additional 26 species (13 reptile and 13 frog species) were recorded during a regional survey involving 57 sites. Only two frog species were detected at more than 10 sites, illustrating the difficulty in obtaining data to determine whether logging has any impact on frog populations. Snakes are similarly difficult to assess: 13 snakes from six species were detected in this study. It is concluded that (i) the most abundant reptile species were not adversely affected by past logging, and (ii) many species of herpetofauna were patchy in their distribution across the study area, preventing resolution of the influence of habitat type or disturbance. The difficulty in collecting quantitative data on frogs and snakes confirms the importance of surveys that target endangered frog and snake species so that protective buffer zones can be delineated. Further research is required on these groups to assess the impact of forest management practices.

scholarly journals Dust Transport from Inland Australia and Its Impact on Air Quality and Health on the Eastern Coast of Australia during the February 2019 Dust Storm

Atmosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 141
Author(s):  
Emilie Aragnou ◽  
Sean Watt ◽  
Hiep Nguyen Duc ◽  
Cassandra Cheeseman ◽  
Matthew Riley ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Dust Storm ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
The State ◽  
Dust Storms ◽  
Eastern Coast ◽  
Storm Event ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Dust Storm Event

Dust storms originating from Central Australia and western New South Wales frequently cause high particle concentrations at many sites across New South Wales, both inland and along the coast. This study focussed on a dust storm event in February 2019 which affected air quality across the state as detected at many ambient monitoring stations in the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (DPIE) air quality monitoring network. The WRF-Chem (Weather Research and Forecast Model—Chemistry) model is used to study the formation, dispersion and transport of dust across the state of New South Wales (NSW, Australia). Wildfires also happened in northern NSW at the same time of the dust storm in February 2019, and their emissions are taken into account in the WRF-Chem model by using Fire Inventory from NCAR (FINN) as emission input. The model performance is evaluated and is shown to predict fairly accurate the PM2.5 and PM10 concentration as compared to observation. The predicted PM2.5 concentration over New South Wales during 5 days from 11 to 15 February 2019 is then used to estimate the impact of the February 2019 dust storm event on three health endpoints, namely mortality, respiratory and cardiac disease hospitalisation rates. The results show that even though as the daily average of PM2.5 over some parts of the state, especially in western and north western NSW near the centre of the dust storm and wild fires, are very high (over 900 µg/m3), the population exposure is low due to the sparse population. Generally, the health impact is similar in order of magnitude to that caused by biomass burning events from wildfires or from hazardous reduction burnings (HRBs) near populous centres such as in Sydney in May 2016. One notable difference is the higher respiratory disease hospitalisation for this dust event (161) compared to the fire event (24).

Wundacaenis, a new genus of Caenidae (Insecta : Ephemeroptera) from Australia

1993 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 787 ◽  
Author(s):  
PJ Suter
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Western Australia ◽  
New Genus ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Northern Territory ◽  
Eastern Coast ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Three New Species

A new genus, Wundacaenis, is erected for three new species of Australian caenid mayflies. The genus is diagnosed by possession of distinctive lobes on the anterolateral margins of the mesonotum. The distribution of Wundacaenis extends from the Kimberleys in Western Australia, through the Alligator Rivers Region in the Northern Territory, and down the eastern coast to the Shoalhaven River in New South Wales.

Distribution of Tailor (Pomatomus saltatrix) Larvae along the Coast of New South Wales, Australia

1996 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 331 ◽  
Author(s):  
AG Miskiewicz ◽  
BD Bruce ◽  
P Dixon
Keyword(s):  
Continental Shelf ◽  
Coastal Waters ◽  
East Coast ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Eastern Coast ◽  
Pomatomus Saltatrix ◽  
Outer Continental Shelf ◽  
Survey Period ◽  
South Wales

The distribution of tailor (Pomatomus saltatrix) larvae is described on the basis of the results of four plankton surveys undertaken in northern and central New South Wales (NSW) coastal waters. These comprised a single survey during May 1989 along the northern NSW coast and multiple surveys in January, March and May 1983 between Sydney and Brisbane. Pomatomus saltatrix larvae occurred throughout the survey period, with the highest abundances on the northern NSW coast. Most larvae were caught in mid and outer continental shelf waters at water temperatures of ≥22�C. The only known spawning locality for P. saltatrix is in the vicinity of Fraser Island in southern Queensland from August to October. The occurrence of larvae along the NSW coast from January to May indicates that the spawning season of P. saltatrix is more extensive than previously reported and that spawning occurs along the east coast of Australia in localities other than Fraser Island. Further surveys of larvae in southern Queensland and northern NSW waters, especially from August to December, are required to determine if P. saltatrix has one extended or two discrete spawning seasons along the eastern coast of Australia.

Geographic variation in the snail Velacumantus (Gastropoda : Potamididae)

1967 ◽  
Vol 15 (6) ◽  
pp. 1163 ◽  
Author(s):  
WH Ewers
Keyword(s):  
Population Density ◽  
Geographic Variation ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Eastern Coast ◽  
South Wales ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Swan River ◽  
Morph Frequency ◽  
Lake Illawarra

A morph-frequency cline and a size cline are described for the snail Velacumantus australis. The frequency of a white-banded form decreases clinally with latitude South. Living populations from Queensland and northern New South Wales have frequencies between 7 and 18% whereas all populations from southern New South Wales and eastern Victoria, except those from Lake Illawarra, have frequencies between 2 and 5%. The frequency in Port Phillip Bay is less than 0.1%. The frequency in a sample from Swan River, Western Australia, was 9.1% about the same as in samples from localities of the same latitude on the eastern coast of Australia. The frequency in most fossil samples was similar to that in nearby living populations. The mean length of populations from the eastern states increases clinally with increase in latitude South, although there are some irregular fluctuations between adjacent populations which are probably influenced by population density.

Diel and tidal abundance of fish larvae in a barrier-estuary channel in New South Wales

2001 ◽  
Vol 52 (7) ◽  
pp. 995 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Trnski
Keyword(s):  
Larval Fish ◽  
Fish Larvae ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Common Species ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Marine Source ◽  
Nursery Habitats ◽  
Current Flows ◽  
June July

In four 24-h series of ichthyoplankton sampling during winter (June–July) 1996 in Swansea Channel (which connects Lake Macquarie with coastal waters of central New South Wales, Australia) 3367 fish larvae representing at least 77 species were collected. The larval fish community clustered by sampling date and by diel phase. Diel phase had a stronger influence on abundance of more common taxa than did tide phase, and also most influence on community structure. For most taxa there was no difference in abundance between flood and ebb tides, regardless of the estuarine or marine source of the eggs and larvae. All but two of 16 common species were present in Swansea Channel throughout their entire larval stage. The sparids Acanthopagrus australis and Rhabdosargus sarbawere present in the channel only at settlement-competent sizes. These two species showed evidence of selective presence in the channel during a particular diel or tidal phase, with A. australis apparently preferring night-flood tides, which would aid migration to the estuarine nursery habitats in Lake Macquarie. The ability or inclination to escape the strong bi-directional flows in channels seems limited to only a few taxa that appear to respond to physical cues and tidal current flows.

Wildlife in dry lake and associated habitats in western New South Wales.

2000 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 256 ◽  
Author(s):  
SV Briggs ◽  
JA Seddon ◽  
SA Thornton
Keyword(s):  
Small Mammals ◽  
Arid Zone ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Black Box ◽  
Study Region ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Reptile Species ◽  
Dry Lake

Intermittently and occasionally flooded lakes are common in arid and semi-arid Australia. The wetldry nature of these lakes means that they provide habitat for terrestrial fauna when dry and aquatic fauna when flooded. The fauna of dry lakes in western New South Wales is largely unknown. This study reports on species of small mammals and reptiles trapped in a dry lake in south-western New South Wales, and contrasts them with species trapped in surrounding woodland and shrubland habitats. Information on bird species in these habitats was also drawn on. Small mammals, reptiles and birds showed considerable partitioning between the habitats in the study area. The dry lake provided the main habitat for the two small mammals Smznthopsis crassicaudata and Planlgale gdesi. Reptiles were most speciose and most abundant in the blue bush (Maireana spp.) shrubland, but some reptile species were mainly or entirely confined to the dry lake habitats, or to black box (Eucalyptus largzjlorens) woodland. Birds in the study region were most abundant and most speciose in the black box woodland, with some species confined to blue bush shrubland. The study showed that conservation of all the habitats investigated is necessary to retain the suite of vertebrate species that occupy these landscapes. Key words: small mammals, reptiles, birds, arid zone, dry lake, shrubland, woodland, biodiversity: Australia

A survey of the regeneration of some problem shrubs and trees after wildfire in western New South Wales.

1979 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 363 ◽  
Author(s):  
AD Wilson ◽  
WE Mulham
Keyword(s):  
Seedling Establishment ◽  
Tree Species ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Common Species ◽  
Fire Intensity ◽  
Natural Fires ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Average Survival ◽  
Cypress Pine

The regeneration of several shrub and tree species in western New South Wales was recorded after widespread natural fires in the summer of 1974175. At 25 locations, plots were established in the wake of the fires and observations were recorded of the rue damage, the regrowth of the plants and post-fire seedling establishment. Interest was centred on species regarded as woody weeds. Fourteen months after the fires, the average survival of seven of the most common species was: Callitris columellaris (white cypress pine) 275, Acac~a aneura (mulga) 16%, Dodonaea attenuafa (narrow-leaved hopbush) 26%, Cassia eremophila var. platvpoda (punty) 48%, Acacia homalophylla (yarran) 87%, Eremophila mitchell~i (budda) 88% and Eremophila sturtii (turpentine) 87%. These results are for plants whose leaves were totally scorched or burnt. For Dodonaea attenuafa and Cassia eremophila there was a large difference in recovery between locations, a difference which was not explicable in term of fire intensity or shrub size. Post-fue seedling establishment occurred with these two shrubs, particularly with D. attenuata, which had high seedling numbers on eight of the eleven locations.

Blood-sucking flies (Diptera) and Myxomatosis Transmission in a mountain environment in NSW

1957 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 355 ◽  
Author(s):  
DJ Lee ◽  
AL Dyce ◽  
AK O'Gower
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Eastern Coast ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
Host Preferences ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Blood Sucking ◽  
Disease Information ◽  
Mountain Environment

The possible vectors of myxomatosis amongst rabbits in a typical mountain environment in eastern New South Wales have been investigated. The disease was established in an isolated population of rabbits and the course of its fluctuations followed through a period of two and a half years, involving two large-scale reductions in rabbit density. Of over 60 species of blood-sucking flies encountered, 9 species of Culicidae, 2 of Simuliidae, 3 of Ceratopogonidae, and 1 of Tabanidae have been shown to feed on rabbits. Two recoveries of myxomatosis virus have been made from mixed collections of Aedes queenslandis and A. alboannulatus. The relative importance of the species known to attack rabbits is discussed in relation to the transmission and maintenance of the disease. Information on host preferences and the feeding, resting, and movement of adults is given. Possible factors influencing the autumn incidence of the disease on the eastern coast and tablelands area of New South Wales are discussed, and further means of exploiting myxomatosis towards the control of rabbits in specific environments are suggested.

Migrating moths (Lepidoptera) collected in tower-mounted light traps in northern New South Wales, Australia: species composition and seasonal abundance

1993 ◽  
Vol 83 (4) ◽  
pp. 563-578 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. C. Gregg ◽  
G. P. Fitt ◽  
M. Coombs ◽  
G. S. Henderson
Keyword(s):  
Host Plants ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Common Species ◽  
Seasonal Abundance ◽  
Light Traps ◽  
Trapping Period ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Local Breeding ◽  
Noctuid Species

AbstractLight traps were operated between September and April for five years on towers on mountain tops at two locations in northern New South Wales, Australia. The traps were designed so that their lights could only be seen from above, and therefore only insects engaged in high altitude flight, presumed to be migrants, were captured. The catch consisted mostly of Noctuidae and Sphingidae. Sweep netting failed to reveal local breeding, and for many species there were few host plants close to the traps. A total of 51,580 moths were trapped at Point Lookout and 10,223 at Mt Dowe. Sphingids, mostly Hippotion scrofa (Boisduval), comprised 26.9% of the catch at Point Lookout, but only 2.6% at Mt Dowe, and there were more species of noctuids at Point Lookout (44) than at Mt Dowe (15). The most common noctuid species were Agrotis infusa (Boisduval), Mythimna convecta (Walker), Helicoverpa punctigera (Wallengren), H. armigera (Hübner), Dasygaster nephelistis Hampson and A. munda Walker. Known or suspected migrants comprised 94.6% of the catch at Point Lookout and 99.9% at Mt Dowe. However, there were at least 24 species not previously suspected as migrants. The seasonal distribution of catches varied between sites and years. Some species showed peaks in both spring and autumn in some years, but only in spring in other years. Many of the less common species were caught only in summer and autumn. Large catches were usually obtained overs short periods (1–2 nights), separated by long periods when catches were very low. These large catches, which were thought to represent major migrations, accounted for 76% of the catch in 3% of the trapping period at Point Lookout, and 87% of the catch in 2% of the trapping period at Mt Dowe.

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