ENVIRONMENTAL AUDITING: Which Birds Are Useful Bioindicators of Mining and Grazing Impacts in Arid South Australia?

Read, John; Reid, Nick; Venables, W. N.

doi:10.1007/s002670010083

Cited by 18 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…Most of the abundant reptiles in the region (Read 1992) and the two most abundant small mammals in the region, Mus domesticus and Pseudomys bolami (Moseby and Read 1998) were frequently consumed by cats. Although identification of many of the small passerine prey was not possible, it also appears that the most abundant and widespread local species (zebra finches and fairy-wrens) (Read et al 2000a) were taken most regularly. Cats adopted a wide range of hunting strategies, including climbing (authors' observations) and even swimming for ducks on local lakes (Read and Ebdon 1998).…”

Section: Dietmentioning

confidence: 99%

Population dynamics, diet and aspects of the biology of feral cats and foxes in arid South Australia

Read¹,

Bowen²

2001

Wildl. Res.

158

141

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Average cat and fox densities at Roxby Downs, in northern South Australia, of 0.8 and 0.6 km–2 respectively, determined through spotlight counts over a 10-year period, probably considerably underestimate true densities. Peak rabbit populations coincided with high fox numbers, which probably suppressed cat densities. Cat abundance peaked when fox numbers were low but rabbit numbers were relatively high. When abundant, rabbits were the principal prey of both cats and foxes. Declines in rabbits numbers coincided with dramatic declines in fox numbers. By contrast, declines in cat populations were less marked, presumably because they could more effectively switch to hunting a wide range of native vertebrates. Sand-dwelling lizards, house mice and common small passerines were the most abundant non-rabbit, vertebrate prey taken by cats. We estimate that annual cat predation accounted for approximately 700 reptiles, 150 birds and 50 native mammals per square kilometre, whereas foxes consumed on average 290 reptiles per square kilometre and few native mammals and birds in the Roxby Downs region each year. Male cats and foxes were heavier than females. Feral cats typically weighed less than 4.0 kg, and cats weighing less than 2.5 kg typically preyed on more native vertebrates than did larger cats. Male and female cats were both typically tabby coloured, but a higher proportion of males were ginger in colour. Peak cat breeding coincided with rabbit and bird breeding and increased reptile activity during spring.

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Section: Dietmentioning

confidence: 99%

Population dynamics, diet and aspects of the biology of feral cats and foxes in arid South Australia

Read¹,

Bowen²

2001

Wildl. Res.

158

141

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“…Other acoustic inputs with noxious potential, such as mining noise, have rarely been considered. However, open-cast mining machinery noise has been recognized as potentially dangerous for bats (Armstrong, 2010) and affecting birds' community dynamics (Read, 2000) in similar ways to related industries (rock crushing) (Saha and Padhy, 2011). Open-cast mining and rock crushing machinery produce predominantly low frequency sound waves (Barber et al, 2011;Roberts and Roberts 2009;Slabbekoorn and Peet, 2003).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effects of mining machinery noise of different frequencies on the behaviour, faecal corticosterone and tissue morphology of wild mice ( Mus musculus )

Mancera

Lisle

Allavena

et al. 2017

Applied Animal Behaviour Science

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Mining noise has a wide variety of frequency spectra and is a potential source of stress for wildlife. We evaluated the effects of mining machinery noise on behaviour and associated physiological parameters at two isoenergetic frequency ranges: high (> 2 kHz) and low (≤2 kHz), the latter being less audible to mice, our model species. Effects of these two frequency spectra on behaviour, organ morphology and faecal corticosterone of wild mice were compared with a control treatment with no extra auditory stimuli. The mice exposed to high frequency noise spent less time in their nest than those exposed to low frequency noise or those in the control treatment, and they spent more time circling, especially anticlockwise, which in conjunction with elevated faecal corticosterone levels may reflect a greater right brain hemisphere stress-related response, particularly in females. Low frequency mining noise reduced grooming and circling, suggesting decreased physiological arousal due to mild stress. Low frequencies were also associated with increased faecal corticosterone in males compared to controls, which may be related to gender-based differences of the ear canal that affect frequency sensitivity. In conclusion, high frequency and low frequency mining machinery noise produced stress-related responses that may be important for the animals' welfare and survival.

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“…The study forms part of a larger project where lizards (Read, in prep. ), invertebrates (Read, 1999b), birds (Read et al, 2000) and plants were all examined to assess the potential of different taxa as early warning indicators of incipient grazing impacts at Olympic Dam. The overall aim of this project is to develop a multimetric index of biological integrity (Karr, 1981) for monitoring ecosystem health.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The value of ants as early warning bioindicators: responses to pulsed cattle grazing at an Australian arid zone locality

Read

Andersen

2000

Journal of Arid Environments

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ENVIRONMENTAL AUDITING: Which Birds Are Useful Bioindicators of Mining and Grazing Impacts in Arid South Australia?

Cited by 18 publications

References 48 publications

Population dynamics, diet and aspects of the biology of feral cats and foxes in arid South Australia

Population dynamics, diet and aspects of the biology of feral cats and foxes in arid South Australia

The effects of mining machinery noise of different frequencies on the behaviour, faecal corticosterone and tissue morphology of wild mice ( Mus musculus )

The value of ants as early warning bioindicators: responses to pulsed cattle grazing at an Australian arid zone locality

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