Robert Mesibov

Diversity and abundance of some ground-dwelling invertebrates in plantation vs. native forests in Tasmania, Australia

Land snails, millipedes, carabid beetles and velvet worms (Onychophora) were methodically hand-sampled at 46 localities on paired plots in conifer or eucalypt plantations and in nearby native forest in northwest Tasmania. Native land snails and millipedes were less diverse in plantations than in native forests, and introduced land snails were several times more abundant in plantations. Many taxa, however, including a velvet worm previously considered to be threatened by plantation development, and including almost half the taxa represented by 10 or more specimens, were found at least as commonly in plantations as in native forests. Invertebrate conservation may be assisted by specific forestry operations, including windrowing, mound ploughing, and leaving waste prunings and thinnings to rot. Plantation development on cleared farmland can allow invertebrates to re-invade from adjacent bush remnants, reducing the risk of local extinctions.

A specialist’s audit of aggregated occurrence records

Abstract Occurrence records for named, native Australian millipedes from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) and the Atlas of Living Australia (ALA) were compared with the same records from the Millipedes of Australia (MoA) website, compiled independently by the author. The comparison revealed some previously unnoticed errors in MoA, and a much larger number of errors and other problems in the aggregated datasets. Errors have been corrected in MoA and in some data providers’ databases, but will remain in GBIF and ALA until data providers have supplied updates to these aggregators. An audit by a specialist volunteer, as reported here, is not a common occurrence. It is suggested that aggregators should do more, or more effective, data checking and should query data providers when possible errors are detected, rather than simply disclaim responsibility for aggregated content.

Known unknowns, Google Earth, plate tectonics and Mt Bellenden Ker: some thoughts on locality data

Abstract Latitude/longitude data in locality records should be published with spatial uncertainties, datum(s) used and indications of how the data were obtained. Google Earth can be used to locate sampling sites, but the underlying georegistration of the satellite image should be checked. The little-known relabelling of a set of landmarks on Mt Bellenden Ker, a scientifically important collecting locality in tropical north Queensland, Australia, is documented as an example of the importance of checking records not accompanied by appropriately accurate latitude/longitude data.

New species of Prosopodesmus Silvestri, 1910 (Diplopoda, Polydesmida, Haplodesmidae) from Queensland, Australia

Abstract Prosopodesmus crater sp. n., Prosopodesmus kirrama sp. n. and Prosopodesmus monteithi sp. n. are described from the Wet Tropics of north Queensland. The hothouse species Prosopodesmus panporus Blower & Rundle, 1980 is recorded from rainforest on Queensland’s Cape York Peninsula, where it is likely to be native.

New species of Asphalidesmus Silvestri, 1910 from Australia (Diplopoda, Polydesmida, Dalodesmidea)

Abstract Asphalidesmus allynensis sp. n. and Asphalidesmus dorrigensis sp. n. are described from New South Wales, Asphalidesmus otwayensis sp. n. from Victoria, and Asphalidesmus bellendenkerensis sp. n., Asphalidesmus carbinensis sp. n., Asphalidesmus magnus sp. n. and Asphalidesmus minor sp. n. from Queensland. The previously endemic Tasmanian genus Asphalidesmus Silvestri, 1910 is now known from 16°S to 43°S in eastern Australia, a north-south range of ca 3000 km. Asphalidesmus spp. throughout this range are very similar in overall appearance. Three of the new species are able to coil in a tight spiral.

Single-species sampling in Tasmania: an inefficient approach to invertebrate conservation?

In recent years the distributions of a number of geographically restricted Tasmanian invertebrates have been carefully mapped by single-species sampling (SSS). We review 29 such projects targeted at 16 species. The average return of new locality records was only one per 1.3 person-days in the field. In almost all cases the SSS was aimed at improving the knowledge base for invertebrate conservation, and the principal end users of the results have been land managers, not biologists. It is suggested that more of the limited resources available for intensive fieldwork be directed to sampling functional groups of taxa, rather than single species, in areas prioritised by need for land management advice.

The Australian millipede Dicranogonuspix Jeekel, 1982 (Diplopoda, Polydesmida, Paradoxosomatidae): a species with and without paranota

Abstract Dicranogonus pix Jeekel, 1982 occurs in Victoria and Tasmania, Australia, including the islands in eastern Bass Strait between the two States. There is only slight gonopod variation across this range, but Dicranogonus pix populations with and without paranota are separated in Bass Strait by the ca 50 km-wide gap between the Kent and Furneaux Groups of islands.

A remarkable case of mosaic parapatry in millipedes

Abstract The parapatric boundary between Tasmaniosoma compitale Mesibov, 2010 and Tasmaniosoma hickmanorum Mesibov, 2010 (Polydesmida: Dalodesmidae) in northwest Tasmania was mapped in preparation for field studies of parapatry and speciation. Both millipede species can be collected as adults throughout the year, are often abundant in eucalypt forest and tolerate major habitat disturbance. The parapatric boundary between the two species is ca 100 m wide in well-sampled sections and ca 230 km long. It runs from sea level to 600-700 m elevation, crosses most of the river catchments in northwest Tasmania and several major geological boundaries, and one portion of the boundary runs along a steep rainfall gradient. The location of the boundary is estimated here from scattered sample points using a method based on Delaunay triangulation.

An audit of some processing effects in aggregated occurrence records

Abstract A total of ca 800,000 occurrence records from the Australian Museum (AM), Museums Victoria (MV) and the New Zealand Arthropod Collection (NZAC) were audited for changes in selected Darwin Core fields after processing by the Atlas of Living Australia (ALA; for AM and MV records) and the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF; for AM, MV and NZAC records). Formal taxon names in the genus- and species-groups were changed in 13–21% of AM and MV records, depending on dataset and aggregator. There was little agreement between the two aggregators on processed names, with names changed in two to three times as many records by one aggregator alone compared to records with names changed by both aggregators. The type status of specimen records did not change with name changes, resulting in confusion as to the name with which a type was associated. Data losses of up to 100% were found after processing in some fields, apparently due to programming errors. The taxonomic usefulness of occurrence records could be improved if aggregators included both original and the processed taxonomic data items for each record. It is recommended that end-users check original and processed records for data loss and name replacements after processing by aggregators.

Iulomorphid millipedes (Diplopoda, Spirostreptida, Iulomorphidae) of Tasmania, Australia

Abstract Tasmanian Iulomorphidae are here assigned to the genera Amastigogonus Brölemann, 1913, Atelomastix Attems, 1911 and Equestrigonus gen. n. Descriptions or redescriptions are given for Amastigogonus danpicola sp. n., Amastigogonus elephas sp. n., Amastigogonus fossuliger Verhoeff, 1944, Amastigogonus hardyi (Chamberlin, 1920), Amastigogonus hellyeri sp. n., Amastigogonus michaelsae sp. n., Amastigogonus orientalis sp. n., Amastigogonus peninsulensis sp. n., Amastigogonus tasmanianus Brölemann, 1913 (type species of Amastigogonus), Amastigogonus verreauxii (Gervais, 1847), Atelomastix bonhami sp. n., Atelomastix smithi sp. n. and Equestrigonus tasmaniensis gen. n., sp. n. The synonymy of Amastigogonus nichollsii Verhoeff, 1944 with Amastigogonus hardyi is accepted, and lectotypes are designated for Amastigogonus nichollsii and Amastigogonus tasmanianus.