Murray V. Ellis

Birds in remnant woodland vegetation in the central wheatbelt of New South Wales during the drought declared years 2005 to 2009

The woodlands of southern Australia have been extensively cleared for agriculture. The loss and fragmentation of the native vegetation has been followed by dramatic declines in woodland-dependant species. Here we present data from the Central Western Plains of New South Wales on the occurrence of birds in woodlands that have been highly fragmented and structurally altered over the last 150 years. The species composition of the region is still very similar to that recorded 3 decades earlier but many small insectivorous and nectivorous woodland birds are rare and restricted, while the woodland patches and remnant tree groves in the landscape are now dominated by the Galah, Noisy Miner, Australian Magpie, Crested Pigeon, Apostlebird, Magpie-lark, Grey-crowned Babbler, Australian Raven, Eastern Rosella and Pied Butcherbird.

Impacts of pit size, drift fence material and fence configuration on capture rates of small reptiles and mammals in the New South Wales rangelands

As part of regional biological surveys 51 sites were established in the rangelands of western New South Wales, Australia. To investigate the impacts of pit size, drift fence material and fence configuration on capture rates small vertebrates each site consisted of two 20 l bucket traps with two configurations of flyscreen drift fences (transparent), two PVC pipe traps with the same two configurations of fencing, and two PVC pipe traps with dampcourse (opaque) in the same two configurations. PVC pipe traps caught more species and individuals than 20 l plastic buckets (41 versus 38 species, 232 versus 208 captures, respectively when pooled across the two fence configurations using flyscreen). Four fences radiating in a cross pattern from a pit caught 41% more individuals, but not the number of species, compared to two radiating fences (463 versus 328 captures) when pooled across the two pit types and the two fence materials. Capture success was influenced by the fence material used, with mammals being more ...

Do Koalas Phascolarctos cinereus use trees planted on farms? A case study from north-west New South Wales, Australia.

Biodiversity benefits are routinely cited as an outcome of planting trees on farms but there has been too little information to properly substantiate such claims. This study is among the first to examine the use of plantings by arboreal mammals. We examined an important inland koala population and its use of farm revegetation to determine: (1) if koalas use planted trees; (2) patch characteristics correlated with use/non-use by koalas; and, (3) contextual characteristics correlated with use/non-use. Surveys of koala dung, also known as scats or faecal pellets, were conducted under trees in 19 plantings. Fourteen showed signs of koalas and their pellets were recorded under 16 of the 25 tree taxa examined. All sizes and ages of trees were used, including the youngest plantings (six years). Considerable koala activity occurred in the various Eucalyptus species, but some tree species were not used. Koalas made substantial use of inland ironbark species, which are not listed as ‘koala food trees’ in government policy documents. Proximity to potential source populations of koalas was the strongest predictor of a planting being used, but this was further improved by including the age of the planting. There is extensive public funding available for restoration and land care activities. This study demonstrates that certain trees rapidly provide koala habitat when planted on farms and that the first priority should be restoring sites in close proximity to known koala populations. Tree species used should include local recognized food trees, as well as ironbarks and non-eucalyptus species that offer shelter.

After the 2010 rains: changes in reporting rates of birds in remnant woodland vegetation in the central wheatbelt of New South Wales, Australia, from drought to post-drought

Loss and fragmentation of the native vegetation of the Central Western Plains of New South Wales was followed by declines of woodland-dependent species. Drought is likely to have further suppressed many animal populations. Here we report on changes in woodland bird reporting rates between surveys in 2005-2009 (drought declared period) and surveys in 2010-2013 following the drought-breaking rains of 2010. By 2013 the number of species detected per survey had just recovered to the level of surveys in 2005/6. The 2013 species composition of the region was similar to that recorded in the 2005-2009 drought surveys, with half of the small insectivorous and nectarivorous woodland birds remaining rare and restricted. Woodland remnants in the landscape continued to be dominated by the same, usually large, species of birds, but reporting rates of 13 of the 15 most common species declined. Conversely, several smaller, foliage gleaning passerines had higher reporting rates post-drought, with Striated Pardalote and We...

Bassian bats in the Eyrean sub-region? Preliminary acoustic data from the Bogan and Macquarie Rivers in semi-arid NSW

We conducted acoustic surveys of insectivorous bat fauna in riparian areas along the Macquarie and Bogan River systems in the wheatbelt of semi-arid central-western New South Wales, Australia. In surveys of 10 sites we detected 11 species and two species groups of bats in eight genera. Four species, Chocolate Wattled Bat Chalinolobus morio, Large-footed Myotis Myotis macropus, Large Forest Bat Vespadelus darlingtoni and Southern Forest Bat V. regulus, are predominantly Bassian (chiefly coastal) in their recorded distributions but were detected in the semi-arid Eyrean sub-region on two rivers in vegetation dominated by River Red Gum Eucalyptus camaldulensis. The findings of this study highlight the need for further research to assess the importance of riparian corridors as habitat for insectivorous bats in semi-arid New South Wales.

The remaining koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus) of the Pilliga forests, north-west New South Wales: Refugial persistence or a population on the road to extinction?

In the 1990s, the Pilliga forests were carrying the largest population of koalas west of the Great Dividing Range in New South Wales (NSW). Whereas the NSW koala population in its entirety was thought to be in decline, the Pilliga population stood out as potentially increasing. By 2007, anecdotal evidence suggested that the population was in decline. We undertook surveys of koalas in the Pilliga forests that repeated surveys undertaken between 1991 and 2011. We found that koalas had declined and were found in only 21% of sites in which they were observed in the initial surveys – by any measure, a 5-fold drop in occupancy in less than two decades is severe. Declines occurred evenly across the Pilliga, with persistence at a site seemingly related to a high initial density of koalas rather than to a slower rate of decline. Sites where koalas persisted were characterised as having higher temperatures and lower rainfall relative to other sites, being close to drainage lines with deeper soils and having a lower occurrence of fire. This pattern fits with the observation in the recent surveys that koalas were next to drainage lines in the western half of the Pilliga and fits with the suggestion that koalas show refugial persistence. Recovery from this point is not assured and will depend on how we manage the landscape, particularly with the threat of climate change. This will likely require active management within an adaptive management framework, such as restoration of refuges, and not simply habitat reservation.

Addendum to "Clearing, grazing and reservation: assessing regional impacts of vegetation management on the fauna of south western New South Wales": the species assemblages.

Ellis et al. (2007) classified the fauna of south western New South Wales into a management related structure of specialised and generalist species assemblages. The broad description of this system was presented in the paper but the detailed assignment of species to the various groups and the relationships between the groups was not published when supplementary material was not produced with the book. To prevent the loss of this information, which is important for applying the results of this study to other situations, the assignment of species to broad management groups and assemblages is now published as Table 1 (below). The relationship between specialist assemblages, which would be actively conserved through appropriate vegetation and/or water management, and their relation to vegetation types was presented in the original publication. The relationship between vegetation types and generalist assemblages, which would accrue benefits from actions for specialist assemblages in the same vegetation type, i...

Effects of weather, time of day, and survey effort on estimates of species richness in temperate woodlands

ABSTRACT We used clearly defined measures of weather and time of day to determine their impacts on the number of bird species recorded in 5439 area-search surveys of 142 one-hectare sites in open temperate woodlands. Surveys recording the highest number of species spanned the full range of times of day and weather conditions. For our full dataset, the number of species recorded dropped by 16% at higher wind speeds (>20 km/h), 0.8%/h after sunrise (or 7.4% in the afternoon compared to morning), and 0.5% per degree temperature increase, but was unrelated to cloud cover. Resampling our full dataset, we separated impacts of effort from weather and analysed scenarios which might arise with time or budget constraints. Dawn surveys were less affected by time and weather, and recorded more species than other scenarios per unit of effort, especially at species-rich sites. We demonstrate that setting thresholds for these variables is not warranted if this reduces sample size in a study. Conversely, if researchers are restricted to a fixed number of surveys, then our data highlight that thresholds may be used to optimise results by avoiding periods when less productive conditions, particularly winds >20 km/h, prevail.

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

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.

Development of a compact system for field euthanasia of small mammals

Animal research guidelines emphasize the need for researchers to be able to euthanize animals when required. Some field biologists rarely encounter the need to euthanatize animals, so may not develop competence or feel confident in the use of physical means. At the same time, there are increasing restrictions on the types of drugs that can be used in the field, and veterinary assistance may be far away should it be needed. For these situations, there is a pressing need for a transportable and reliable method of euthanizing animals. The use of CO2 has been recommended for euthanasia for a variety of taxa so a small and lightweight euthanasia device was developed using a mini-regulator and a pre-set outlet tap to deliver CO2 at rates suitable to comply with veterinary guidelines. The device and the necessary CO2 cartridges can easily be stored and transported in a small container that can also act as the receiving chamber.