Increased lyrebird presence in a post-fire landscape

2015 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Doty ◽  
Clare Stawski ◽  
Julia Nowack ◽  
Artiom Bondarenco ◽  
Fritz Geiser
Keyword(s):  
Breeding Season ◽  
National Park ◽  
New South ◽  
Prescribed Fires ◽  
Fuel Reduction ◽  
Foraging Effort ◽  
Low Intensity ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Controlled Burns ◽  
Winter Breeding

Prescribed fires for fuel reduction affect wildlife in several ways. We observed a marked increase in superb lyrebird (Menura novaehollandiae) numbers after a controlled burn in Guy Fawkes River National Park, New South Wales, in April and May 2014. The fire occurred during the winter breeding season; however, congregations of males were often seen together in the burnt landscape, indicating an opportunistic prioritisation of foraging. The low-intensity fire cleared brush and low-level vegetation, thus decreasing foraging effort and potentially attracting the species despite the need to seek mating partners. Controlled burns therefore have the potential to attract superb lyrebirds immediately after fire due to ease of movement and foraging effort.

A hitherto overlooked type of colour change in frogs and its significance for the identification of species in the Australian genus Neobatrachus

2010 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 283-286
Author(s):  
Klaus Henle
Keyword(s):  
Breeding Season ◽  
National Park ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Colour Change ◽  
Extreme Form ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Identification Of Species

AbstractColour change is a well-known phenomenon in many amphibians. Most of these changes involve transient darkening, lightening, or attainment of breeding colours. Nuptial calosities may become lighter outside the main breeding season. Depigmentation as an extreme form of lightening has been documented also for keratinized structures of tadpole mouths. Here I report a hitherto overlooked type of colour change: darkening of metatarsal tubercles from white to almost black. At Kinchega National Park in New South Wales, individuals of the Australian borrowing frog Neobatrachus pictus emerging from their aestivation burrows after rains had white outer metatarsal tubercles. Within a few hours to two days the metatarsal tubercles had turned completely black. This indicates that the extent of black colouration of the outer metatarsal tubercle hitherto used to discriminate the species N. centralis from N. pictus and N. sudelli is unreliable.

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.

Ptyctimous mites (Acari: Acariformes: Oribatida) as zooindicators of changes in Dorrigo National Park in Australia (North Coast Bioregion)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wojciech Niedbała ◽  
Agnieszka Napierała ◽  
Szymon Konwerski ◽  
Michał Zacharyasiewicz ◽  
Jerzy Błoszyk
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Geographical Distribution ◽  
National Park ◽  
New South ◽  
North Coast ◽  
Local Populations ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Plateau Area ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Research Period

The authors of the study present an analysis of the structure and changes in the examined community of ptyctimous mites (Acari: Acariformes: Oribatida) found in Dorrigo National Park in Australia. The research was conducted during two periods: between 1990 and 1993 and later in 2007. The analysed mite community comprises 35 species, though, the dominance and frequency of particular species were different for each period. In the first research period (1990–1993) in the area of Dorrigo National Park, 28 species were recorded, whereas in 2007 – 23 species were found. There were 16 species that occurred in both research periods, and 12 species only in the samples collected in the 90’s, and 7 species only in those collected in 2007. The analysis also embraces the geographical distribution of the species in the area of Australia. Three species were designated as endemic, occurring only in the area of the examined national park (Austrophthiracarus dissonus Niedbała et Collof, 1997, Austrophthiracarus parapulchellus Niedbała, 2006 and Notophthiracarus distinctus Niedbała, 1989). The analysed samples contained only few specimens of these species. Due to the low abundance, great rarity of the local populations and high endemism, these species should be regarded as potentially endangered (EN according to the IUCN scale). A comparative analysis of the community from Dorrigo National Park (New South Wales) with those found in other larger areas of Australia in Victoria (Otway Ranges Area, Yarra Ranges Area, Strzelecki Ranges Area and Errinundra Plateau Area) examined by Niedbała and Szywilewska-Szczykutowicz (2017) has revealed that the communities found in Dorrigo National Park contained far more species, which constituted 30% of the whole fauna of Australia. In contrast to the communities of ptyctimous mites from Dorrigo, the individual communities in the area of Victoria contained only between 5% and 14% of all known species in Australia from this group.

Estimating brush-tailed rock-wallaby population size using individual animal recognition

2011 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 228
Author(s):  
Karl Vernes ◽  
Stuart Green ◽  
Piers Thomas
Keyword(s):  
Population Size ◽  
National Park ◽  
New South ◽  
Morphological Characters ◽  
Population Estimates ◽  
Individual Animal ◽  
Mark Recapture ◽  
South Wales ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
Estimate Population Size

We undertook surveys of brush-tailed rock-wallabies (Petrogale penicillata) at four colonies in Oxley Wild Rivers National Park, north-eastern New South Wales, with the aim of developing a technique based upon individual animal recognition that could be used to obtain robust population estimates for rock-wallaby colonies. We identified individuals on the basis of distinct morphological characters in each colony using visual observations, and used the data within a ‘mark–recapture’ (or sight–resight) framework to estimate population size. More than 37 h of observations were made over 10 sampling days between 18 May and 9 June 2010. We could identify 91.7% of all rock-wallabies that were independently sighted (143 of 156 sightings of 35 animals). A small percentage of animals could not be identified during a visit because they were seen only fleetingly, were in dense cover, or were partly obscured by rock. The number of new animals sighted and photographed declined sharply at the midpoint of the survey, and there was a corresponding increase in resighting of known individuals. Population estimates using the mark–recapture methodology were nearly identical to estimates of total animals seen, suggesting that this method was successful in obtaining a complete census of rock-wallabies in each colony.

A survey of a low-density koala population in a major reserve system, near Sydney, New South Wales..

2001 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 135 ◽  
Author(s):  
A Curtin ◽  
D Lunney ◽  
A Matthews
Keyword(s):  
National Park ◽  
Field Survey ◽  
New South ◽  
Specific Information ◽  
Vegetation Types ◽  
Field Surveys ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Recreation Area ◽  
Reserve System

cinereus) in Yengo National Park and Parr State Recreation Area, which together form a major reserve system where P. cinereus were known to be scarce. The first, a community survey which was distributed to 823 residences adjoining the reserves, yielded 139 responses. Of these, 31 responses provided information that allowed 26 P. cinereus locality records to be verified. A further eight P. cinereus locality records were obtained from interviews with neighbours. Most records were road-based. The second, a field survey based on scat searches, produced an additional 13 P. cinereus localities. P. cinereus scats were found under 11 tree species. Eucalyptus punctata was most frequently recorded with scats of those that were adequately sampled. A range of vegetation types and both ridges and gullies were used by P. cinereus. During field surveys, P. cinereus was found to be sparse and occurring throughout much of the survey area, concentrated in the eastern, southern and central parts of the reserve system. Both methods identified P. cinereus to be present before and after the extensive fires of January 1994, which burnt 60 % of the area. An appraisal of the methods revealed that they are complementary. The survey of residents provided recent and historical information and an indication of initial search areas for P. cinereus. The field survey yielded specific information about local P. cinereus habitat. The combination increased the number of P. cinereus records for the area more than four-fold. This study has provided the reserve managers with a clearer picture of the location of the local P. cinereus population.

Mistletoes increasing in eucalypt forest near Eden, New South Wales

2016 ◽  
Vol 64 (2) ◽  
pp. 171 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. J. Turner ◽  
Peter Smith
Keyword(s):  
High Frequency ◽  
New South ◽  
Natural Cycle ◽  
Prescribed Burns ◽  
Low Intensity ◽  
Eucalypt Forest ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Boom And Bust

Mistletoe proliferation has contributed to eucalypt decline in rural lands in south-eastern Australia, but has seldom been recorded within forests. We report here on mistletoes increasing deep inside extensive eucalypt forest near Eden. Mistletoes (chiefly Amyema pendula (Sieber ex Spreng.) Tiegh., some Muellerina eucalyptoides (DC.) Barlow) were counted in 180 plots in various logging and burning treatments within a long-term experimental area. In 141.4 ha, there were 516 mistletoes in 1990–1991, and 1478 mistletoes in 2004–2006. The number of trees with mistletoes increased (doubling in logged coupes and almost tripling in unlogged coupes), and the number of mistletoes per tree increased (by ~30%). However, mistletoe prevalence remained low in 2004–2006 (2.7% of trees in logged coupes and 3.7% in unlogged coupes). Intensive logging limited the increase in mistletoe-bearing trees, probably because there were fewer trees available in logged coupes, but had no significant effect on the increase in mistletoes per tree. Low-intensity prescribed burns had no significant effect on mistletoe numbers, even with a high frequency of burning, probably because of their low scorch heights. We suggest that the observed increase in mistletoes in this forest, rather than indicating an ecological imbalance, is part of a natural cycle of boom and bust, with populations crashing in severe wildfires.

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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