The Value of Countryside Elements in the Conservation of a Threatened Arboreal Marsupial Petaurus norfolcensis in Agricultural Landscapes of South-Eastern Australia—The Disproportional Value of Scattered Trees

Studies were conducted on streams flowing through agricultural floodplains in south-eastern Australia to quantify whether reductions in riparian canopy cover were associated with alterations to the input and benthic standing stocks of coarse allochthonous detritus. Comparisons were made among three farmland reaches and three reaches within reserves with intact cover of remnant overstorey trees. Detritus inputs to these reaches were measured monthly over 2 years using litter traps. Direct inputs to streams within the reserves were relatively high (550–617 g ash free dry weight (AFDW) m–2 year–1), but were lower at farmland reaches with the lowest canopy covers (83–117 gAFDW m–2 year–1). Only a minor fraction of the total allochthonous input (<10%) entered any of the study reaches laterally. The mean amounts of benthic detritus were lowest in the most open farmland reaches. Standing stocks of benthic detritus were found to be highly patchy across a large number of agricultural streams, but were consistently very low where the streamside canopy cover was below ~35%. Canopy cover should be restored along cleared agricultural streams because allochthonous detritus is a major source of food and habitat for aquatic ecosystems. Given the absence of pristine lowland streams in south-eastern Australia, those reaches with the most intact remnant overstorey canopies should be used to guide restoration.

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Microhabitat relationships among five lizard species associated with granite outcrops in fragmented agricultural landscapes of south-eastern Australia

Austral Ecology ◽

10.1111/j.1442-9993.2009.02029.x ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 35 (2) ◽

pp. 214-225 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

DAMIAN R. MICHAEL ◽

ROSS B. CUNNINGHAM ◽

DAVID B. LINDENMAYER

Keyword(s):

Agricultural Landscapes ◽

Lizard Species ◽

South Eastern ◽

Granite Outcrops ◽

Eastern Australia ◽

South Eastern Australia

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Woodland birds and rural towns: artificial clutch survival in fragmented Box-Ironbark forests

Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria ◽

10.1071/rs18001 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 130 (1) ◽

pp. 7 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

B. Meney ◽

S. Cunningham ◽

M.A. Weston ◽

D.A. Whisson

Keyword(s):

Agricultural Landscapes ◽

Habitat Characteristics ◽

Woodland Birds ◽

Landscape Type ◽

South Eastern ◽

Avian Predators ◽

Rural Town ◽

Eastern Australia ◽

Landscape Types ◽

South Eastern Australia

Woodland birds are declining throughout the agricultural landscapes of south-eastern Australia, but the specific mechanisms driving these declines remain unclear. Reproductive failure via clutch depredation could conceivably contribute to these declines. Although site-scale habitat may influence the risk of clutch failure, larger-scale influences, such as whether a landscape contains a rural town or not (‘landscape type’), may also play a role. This study monitored artificial open-cup nests deployed in three pairs of the two landscape types and: 1) indexed clutch survival and predator assemblage; and 2) determined if clutch survival was influenced by landscape type and/or local habitat characteristics. High levels of clutch depredation were observed in both landscape types and for all landscapes, with no evidence to suggest that landscape type or habitat characteristics influenced clutch survival or the time-to-first-predator visit. Predator assemblage also was consistent between landscape types. Generalist avian predators were the most common egg predators. Such egg predators may be ubiquitous throughout the fragmented Box-Ironbark woodlands of south-eastern Australia.

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Reptilia, Murray catchment, New South Wales, south-eastern Australia

Check List ◽

10.15560/7.1.25 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 7 (1) ◽

pp. 025 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Damian R. Michael ◽

David B. Lindenmayer ◽

Mason Crane ◽

Christopher MacGregor ◽

Rebecca Montague-Drake ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Large Scale ◽

New South ◽

New South Wales ◽

Agricultural Landscapes ◽

Habitat Associations ◽

Catchment Management ◽

South Eastern ◽

South Wales ◽

Eastern Australia ◽

South Eastern Australia

Two large-scale, long-term biodiversity monitoring programs examining vertebrate responses to habitat fragmentation and landscape change in agricultural landscapes are taking place in the Murray Catchment Management Area of New South Wales, south-eastern Australia. Field surveys involve counting reptiles under a range of management conditions and across a broad range of vegetation types in two bioregions, the South-western Slopes of New South Wales and the Riverina. We list reptiles recorded during surveys conducted between 2002 and 2009. We include additional species recorded between 1997 and 2009 from a conservation reserve. Thirty-nine species from nine families were recorded. The list will be useful for workers interested in reptile zoogeographical distributions and habitat associations as well as those interested in the biodiversity value of remnant vegetation and tree plantings in fragmented agricultural landscapes.

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