Fauna Survey of the Dhimurru Indigenous Protected Area

[摘要] This report describes fauna surveys carried out on the Dhimurru Indigenous Protected Area in northeastArnhem Land from 4th to 15th December 2012. The purpose of the survey was to establish baseline data forlong‐term monitoring, especially in relation to fire. The survey targeted the four terrestrial classes ofvertebrates: amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals, as well as ants as a representative invertebrategroup.Twenty‐six long‐term monitoring sites were established, representing the range of vegetation and landformtypes occurring on the IPA. The sites were surveyed using standardised trapping methods for vertebrates,comprising Elliott, cage, pitfall and funnel trapping, repeated bird counts and timed active searches. Antswere hand collected from the vertebrate pitfall traps, with such limited sampling designed to providecomparative rather than comprehensive data. Basic structural and habitat variables were also recorded foreach site. Each site was surveyed over four nights/five days. A minimum of 3225 records representingabout 122 vertebrate species were recorded, comprising 12 mammal species, approximately 69 birds,approximately 32 reptiles and 9 amphibians. Five exotic vertebrate species were recorded: European cattle,water buffalo, cats, Asian house geckos and cane toads. One vulnerable species, the northern hoppingmouse (Notomys aquilo) was recorded incidentally on the basis of several tracks, but was not seen orrecorded from any standardised survey sites. We recorded one mulga snake (Pseudechis australis), which,although not listed in legislation as conservation dependant, is significant because of probable declinesthrough cane toad predation. We did not record two other cane toad‐affected species, the northern quoll(Dasyurus hallucatus) and the yellow spotted monitor (Varanus panoptes). Weather conditions during thesurvey period were unusually dry and hot and this may have contributed to relatively low species richnessbeing recorded in some sites.For the ant survey, 65 species from 24 genera were recorded, with site species richness ranging from 2‐13.Accumulation curves suggest that many additional species remained uncollected, as expected from thevery limited sampling. The ant fauna included three exotic species (Monomorium pharaonis, Paratrechinalongicornis and Anoplolepis gracilipes), with each recorded at a maximum of two sites. All the commonlyrecorded species are common throughout northern Australia, and the great majority of the other speciesare also widespread. However, four species (all undescribed) are known only from northeast Arnhem Land,with two of these recorded for the first time.

[发布日期] 2013-08-14 [发布机构] CSIRO

[学科分类] 地球科学(综合)