Mammals of the Upper Henty River Region, Western Tasmania

Abstract

A mammal survey was conducted in the Upper Benty River Region in western Tasmania. The area had been subject to much disturbance from mining, forestry and frequent fires and was covered by a maze of roads and tracks. Nineteen native species (including bats) were recorded. Four of the species listed in 1983 as occurring in the Lower Gordon Region, 80 km south of the present study area, were not recorded during our survey. It is considered that three of these species would probably have been found in the area with further searching. The fourth species, Mastacomysfuscus, is thought not to be present due to increased fire frequency in the sedgeland areas compared with the Lower Gordon Region. Potorous tridactylus is recorded for the first time from rainforest. Microhabitat selection by Rattus lutreolus and Pseudomys higginsi differed from that previously reported. Disturbance from road construction led to the creation of a new food source for Thyloga/e billardierii. The abundance of tracks in the area increased ease of movement for carnivorous mammals. Only one introduced species Fe/is catus, which is also known to occur in the Lower Gordon, was recorded. Disturbance had thus not led to an invasion of exotics.

Identifying important environmental variables in the niche partitioning of two keystone ecosystem engineers (Bettongia gaimardi and Potorous tridactylus) in Tasmania

“…2019 a , 2019 b ). Our results confirmed that P. tridactylus is able to utilise a broader range of vegetation communities than is B. gaimardi , including vegetation types in areas of high rainfall (Rose and Rose 1998), such as rainforest (Taylor et al . 1985).…”

“…B. gaimardi may be able to utilise disturbed landscapes, whereas P. tridactylus may not (Gardiner et al 2019a(Gardiner et al , 2019b. Our results confirmed that P. tridactylus is able to utilise a broader range of vegetation communities than is B. gaimardi, including vegetation types in areas of high rainfall (Rose and Rose 1998), such as rainforest (Taylor et al 1985).…”

“…An open understorey and high tree canopy cover are associated with foraging by B. gaimardi and areas of dense vegetation are important for denning (Gardiner et al 2019a). P. tridactylus is associated with a broader range of habitats than is B. gaimardi, such as heathy woodland and rainforest (Taylor et al 1985;Andren et al 2013). The dependency of this species on dense ground cover and high tree canopy cover is well documented (Norton et al 2010b;Andren et al 2018;Claridge et al 2019).…”

“…2019 a ). P. tridactylus is associated with a broader range of habitats than is B. gaimardi , such as heathy woodland and rainforest (Taylor et al . 1985; Andren et al .…”

Status and conservation of bats in Tasmania

“…However, there have been several regional bat trapping surveys. Taylor and O'Neill (1986) surveyed bat communities by trapping in five forest habitats in south-east Tasmania, Taylor et al (1985) trapped bats in rainforest and eucalypt scrub in the Upper Henty Region of Western Tasmania, and Schulz and Kristensen (1996) surveyed bats in coastal areas of south-west Tasmania. Duncan (1995) and Rhodes (1996) used ultrasonic detectors to survey bats in eastern and south-eastern Tasmania as part of studies investigating use of silvicultural regrowth.…”