DOCSLIB.ORG

Hollow-Bearing Trees As a Habitat Resource Along an Urbanisation Gradient

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text

Load more

Hollow-Bearing Trees as a Habitat Resource along an Urbanisation Gradient Author Treby, Donna Louise Published 2014 Thesis Type Thesis (PhD Doctorate) School Griffith School of Environment DOI https://doi.org/10.25904/1912/1674 Copyright Statement The author owns the copyright in this thesis, unless stated otherwise. Downloaded from http://hdl.handle.net/10072/367782 Griffith Research Online https://research-repository.griffith.edu.au Hollow-bearing Trees as a Habitat Resource along an Urbanisation Gradient Donna Louise Treby MPhil (The University of Queensland) Environmental Futures Centre. Griffith School of Environment, Griffith University, Gold Coast. A thesis submitted for the fulfilment for the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. December 2013. “If we all did the things we are capable of doing. We would literally live outstanding lives. I think; if we all lived our lives this way, we would truly create an amazing world.” Thomas Edison. i Acknowledgements: It would be remiss of me if I did not begin by acknowledging my principal supervisor Dr Guy Castley, for the inception, development and assistance with the completion of this study. Your generosity, open door policy and smiling face made it a pleasure to work with you. I owe you so much, but all I can give you is my respect and heartfelt thanks. Along with my associate supervisor Prof. Jean-Marc Hero their joint efforts inspired me and opened my mind to the complexities and vagaries of ecological systems and processes on such a large scale. To my volunteers in the field, Katie Robertson who gave so much of her time and help in the early stages of my project, Agustina Barros, Ivan Gregorian, Sally Healy, Guy Castley, Katrin Lowe, Kieran Treby, Phil Treby, Erin Wallace, Nicole Glenane, Nick Clark, Mark Ballantyne, Chris Tuohy, Ryan Pearson and Nickolas Rakatopare all contributed to the collection of data for this study. A huge thanks also goes out to my research assistants Clay Simpkins, Greg Lollback and James Bone for carrying all the gear and following me around in the bush at night; we shared many laughs and I appreciated your company on some of those ‘tough’ or ‘itchy’ nights. Dr Greg Lollback, thank you for your patience and assistance with ‘R’ and statistical analysis in general. Thank you to Professor Clyde Wild and Michael Arthur for statistical support. I would also like to thank Greg Ford from Balance Environmental for helping me with my many questions about identifying bat call frequencies with Anabat. Thanks also to Kevin Wormington for supplying tree growth data and Michael Ngugi for tree mortality data. Diana a.k.a. DD Virkki you have been a pleasure to work with, hang out with, and laugh with, thank you for being you. You also managed to help me overcome my statistical dyslexia which will stay with me forever. Special mention must go to Kat Lowe; we have shared a lot of laughs, fears and tears; but mostly laughs together, thank you for being such a true friend. To my fellow HDR comrades in Room 3.26, I thank you all for just being there as we all shared our struggles and frustrations, I wish you all the very best in your future careers. A heart-felt thank you must go to Dr Clare Morrison for providing valuable feedback on draft chapters of this thesis. Your ability to reduce my stress levels was significant (p < 0.05). Thank you to the many people that supplied me with GIS data. Without it I would not have been able to complete my study in such fine detail. Chris Woodman at Energex, Peter Dunn iv at Power Link, Annie Kelly at DERM, Blair Prince and Rodney Anderson from Gold Coast City Council. Additional thanks go to Rebecca Castley for helping me make sense of the GIS layers. The staff from the Natural Areas Management Unit and the Land for Wildlife team within Gold Coast City Council was always extremely helpful: Jason Searle, Dr Tim Robson, Howard Taylor, Wayne Abbott, Steve Vigar, Brett Galloway, Rachael Niotakis, Darryl Larsen and Lexie Webster. To the many private land owners that allowed open access to their properties in order to undertake this research I am deeply grateful. Wal and Heather Mayr, Brit and Clay Badenock, Heather Smart, Jennie and Michael Tippet, Carolyn Reid, Steve and Karen Dalton, Julia Edwards, Peter Lyons and well as John Palmer and Sharon Kolka from Gwinganna Lifestyle Retreat, Richard Laws from Gainsborough Greens Golf Course and Steve Rowell from Jacobs Well Education Centre. Last, but in no ways least, I cannot thank and praise my husband enough for giving me the freedom to explore and learn. Phil Treby you are one in a million, I love and admire the man that you are. Funding for the project as well as a top up scholarship was generously supplied by Gold Coast City Council. This study was completed under the following DERM permits: Scientific Purposes Permits WITK06680910, WISP06680710 and Permit to Collect biological or geological material from Queensland State Forest, Timber Reserves and other State Lands: Permit number TWB/01/2010. Ethics approval was obtained from Griffith University Animal Ethics Committee: Ethics approval number ENV/07/09/AEC to Dr Guy Castley. In order to complete this thesis I have had to delve, inquire and compare; spending hours, months and years of my life observing the many changing faces of nature. My work has forced me to question nature and approach her from a different aspect in order to understand her secrets; if that is at all possible. Thus, mainly through reading, this journey has led me into the company of men and women of far greater knowledge than I could ever hope to acquire. v Abstract: Habitat fragmentation due to rapid urbanisation is occurring globally and results in small and often isolated patches of remnant bushland. These small, forest remnants contribute to the conservation of biodiversity within urban areas, as they can, and often do, contain suitable habitat structures. Habitat structures such as hollow-bearing trees are recognised as important features of forests globally. Therefore, the abundance of hollow-bearing trees within a landscape may be a controlling factor for many biota where no other habitat resources provide a feasible substitute. Therein, this thesis investigates five aspects in relation to the ecology of hollow-bearing trees as a habitat resource within a rapidly urbanising landscape. In the first instance a review of the literature was undertaken. This presents a summary of the importance of hollow-bearing trees globally, and identifies threats associated with their conservation. Focus is centred on the importance of this habitat resource within the Australian context, concluding with a description of the study area and thesis aims. A hierarchical analysis of the current legislation that exists within Australia to protect hollow- bearing trees was then undertaken. The evaluation revealed, that despite Federal and State legislation acknowledging the importance of hollow-bearing trees to biodiversity, there are insufficient mechanisms in place at all levels of government to halt the decline of hollow- bearing trees across various landscapes. A subsequent quantitative review of local councils’ policies and websites in regards to biodiversity conservation and specifically the management of hollow-bearing trees across four eastern Australian states revealed that few (< 5%) had specific plans in place to protect this habitat resource. While existing legislation identifies the need to retain ‘forests’, ‘regional ecosystems’, ‘remnant habitat’ or vegetation communities’, it masks the fact that it is largely ineffective in delivering real on-ground conservation action for finer scale habitat features such as hollow-bearing trees, particularly those found within urban landscapes and non-protected forests. vii To gain a greater understanding of the importance of this habitat resource at the local scale the third Chapter undertook an inventory of hollow-bearing trees along an urbanisation gradient within a rapidly urbanising landscape on the Gold Coast in south-east Queensland. A total of 6048 trees from 45 remnant forest sites along the urbanisation gradient were recorded, of which there were 916 hollow bearing trees containing 2143 hollows. Twenty- four species of eucalypt were hollow-bearing, with standing dead trees containing the most hollows (15%). Hollow type was found to be dominated by small (≤ 10 cm) bayonet type hollows. The stands of remnant forest patches in this study were found to be of an even age, with 79% of all trees being within the 10-40 cm diameter at breast height (dbh) range. The urbanisation gradient did not influence hollow type, however, it was found to influence the numbers of each individual hollow type found. No relationship was found to occur between environmental variables, disturbance and the urbanisation gradient on the number of hollow- bearing tree species per site, nor did they have any influence on hollow density per site. Consistent with previous research, this study confirmed that considerable variation exists in the availability of hollow-bearing trees across the urban matrix. The functional ecology of habitat remnants along the urbanisation gradient was then investigated in Chapter 4. This chapter quantified the impacts of urbanisation, stand density, landscape variables such as fire and logging history as well as environmental variables on hollow-bearing tree density within urban remnant forests. Logging history was found to be the driving factor influencing hollow-bearing tree density along the urbanisation gradient on the Gold Coast. Historical land-use practices and their effects leave long lasting impacts on the environment driving habitat structure and function over time. These findings highlight the significance of incorporating historical land use practices into current and future urban planning, as these impact on remaining biodiversity values in rapidly changing landscapes such as those found along urbanisation gradients.
Recommended publications
  • Brooklyn, Cloudland, Melsonby (Gaarraay)

    Brooklyn, Cloudland, Melsonby (Gaarraay)

    BUSH BLITZ SPECIES DISCOVERY PROGRAM Brooklyn, Cloudland, Melsonby (Gaarraay) Nature Refuges Eubenangee Swamp, Hann Tableland, Melsonby (Gaarraay) National Parks Upper Bridge Creek Queensland 29 April–27 May · 26–27 July 2010 Australian Biological Resources Study What is Contents Bush Blitz? Bush Blitz is a four-year, What is Bush Blitz? 2 multi-million dollar Abbreviations 2 partnership between the Summary 3 Australian Government, Introduction 4 BHP Billiton and Earthwatch Reserves Overview 6 Australia to document plants Methods 11 and animals in selected properties across Australia’s Results 14 National Reserve System. Discussion 17 Appendix A: Species Lists 31 Fauna 32 This innovative partnership Vertebrates 32 harnesses the expertise of many Invertebrates 50 of Australia’s top scientists from Flora 62 museums, herbaria, universities, Appendix B: Threatened Species 107 and other institutions and Fauna 108 organisations across the country. Flora 111 Appendix C: Exotic and Pest Species 113 Fauna 114 Flora 115 Glossary 119 Abbreviations ANHAT Australian Natural Heritage Assessment Tool EPBC Act Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Commonwealth) NCA Nature Conservation Act 1992 (Queensland) NRS National Reserve System 2 Bush Blitz survey report Summary A Bush Blitz survey was conducted in the Cape Exotic vertebrate pests were not a focus York Peninsula, Einasleigh Uplands and Wet of this Bush Blitz, however the Cane Toad Tropics bioregions of Queensland during April, (Rhinella marina) was recorded in both Cloudland May and July 2010. Results include 1,186 species Nature Refuge and Hann Tableland National added to those known across the reserves. Of Park. Only one exotic invertebrate species was these, 36 are putative species new to science, recorded, the Spiked Awlsnail (Allopeas clavulinus) including 24 species of true bug, 9 species of in Cloudland Nature Refuge.
  • Nature Conservation (Wildlife) Regulation 2006

    Nature Conservation (Wildlife) Regulation 2006

    Queensland Nature Conservation Act 1992 Nature Conservation (Wildlife) Regulation 2006 Current as at 1 September 2017 Queensland Nature Conservation (Wildlife) Regulation 2006 Contents Page Part 1 Preliminary 1 Short title . 5 2 Commencement . 5 3 Purpose . 5 4 Definitions . 6 5 Scientific names . 6 Part 2 Classes of native wildlife and declared management intent for the wildlife Division 1 Extinct in the wild wildlife 6 Native wildlife that is extinct in the wild wildlife . 7 7 Declared management intent for extinct in the wild wildlife . 8 8 Significance of extinct in the wild wildlife to nature and its value 8 9 Proposed management intent for extinct in the wild wildlife . 8 10 Principles for the taking, keeping or use of extinct in the wild wildlife 9 Division 2 Endangered wildlife 11 Native wildlife that is endangered wildlife . 10 12 Declared management intent for endangered wildlife . 10 13 Significance of endangered wildlife to nature and its value . 10 14 Proposed management intent for endangered wildlife . 11 15 Principles for the taking, keeping or use of endangered wildlife . 12 Division 3 Vulnerable wildlife 16 Native wildlife that is vulnerable wildlife . 13 17 Declared management intent for vulnerable wildlife . 13 18 Significance of vulnerable wildlife to nature and its value . 13 19 Proposed management intent for vulnerable wildlife . 14 20 Principles for the taking, keeping or use of vulnerable wildlife . 15 Nature Conservation (Wildlife) Regulation 2006 Contents Division 4 Near threatened wildlife 26 Native wildlife that is near threatened wildlife . 16 27 Declared management intent for near threatened wildlife . 16 28 Significance of near threatened wildlife to nature and its value .
  • Draft Animal Keepers Species List

    Draft Animal Keepers Species List

    Revised NSW Native Animal Keepers’ Species List Draft © 2017 State of NSW and Office of Environment and Heritage With the exception of photographs, the State of NSW and Office of Environment and Heritage are pleased to allow this material to be reproduced in whole or in part for educational and non-commercial use, provided the meaning is unchanged and its source, publisher and authorship are acknowledged. Specific permission is required for the reproduction of photographs. The Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH) has compiled this report in good faith, exercising all due care and attention. No representation is made about the accuracy, completeness or suitability of the information in this publication for any particular purpose. OEH shall not be liable for any damage which may occur to any person or organisation taking action or not on the basis of this publication. Readers should seek appropriate advice when applying the information to their specific needs. All content in this publication is owned by OEH and is protected by Crown Copyright, unless credited otherwise. It is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0), subject to the exemptions contained in the licence. The legal code for the licence is available at Creative Commons. OEH asserts the right to be attributed as author of the original material in the following manner: © State of New South Wales and Office of Environment and Heritage 2017. Published by: Office of Environment and Heritage 59 Goulburn Street, Sydney NSW 2000 PO Box A290,
  • Towra Point Nature Reserve Ramsar Site: Ecological Character Description in Good Faith, Exercising All Due Care and Attention

    Towra Point Nature Reserve Ramsar Site: Ecological Character Description in Good Faith, Exercising All Due Care and Attention

    Towra Point Nature Reserve Ramsar site Ecological character description Disclaimer The Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water NSW (DECCW) has compiled the Towra Point Nature Reserve Ramsar site: Ecological character description in good faith, exercising all due care and attention. DECCW does not accept responsibility for any inaccurate or incomplete information supplied by third parties. No representation is made about the accuracy, completeness or suitability of the information in this publication for any particular purpose. Readers should seek appropriate advice about the suitability of the information to their needs. The views and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Australian Government or of the Minister for Environment Protection, Heritage and the Arts. Acknowledgements Phil Straw, Australasian Wader Studies Group; Bob Creese, Bruce Pease, Trudy Walford and Rob Williams, Department of Primary Industries (NSW); Simon Annabel and Rob Lea, NSW Maritime; Geoff Doret, Ian Drinnan and Brendan Graham, Sutherland Shire Council; John Dahlenburg, Sydney Metropolitan Catchment Management Authority. Symbols for conceptual diagrams are courtesy of the Integration and Application Network (ian.umces.edu/symbols), University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. This publication has been prepared with funding provided by the Australian Government to the Sydney Metropolitan Catchment Management Authority through the Coastal Catchments Initiative Program. © State of NSW, Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water NSW, and Sydney Metropolitan Catchment Management Authority DECCW and SMCMA are pleased to allow the reproduction of material from this publication on the condition that the source, publisher and authorship are appropriately acknowledged.
  • Status Review, Disease Risk Analysis and Conservation Action Plan for The

    Status Review, Disease Risk Analysis and Conservation Action Plan for The

    Status Review, Disease Risk Analysis and Conservation Action Plan for the Bellinger River Snapping Turtle (Myuchelys georgesi) December, 2016 1 Workshop participants. Back row (l to r): Ricky Spencer, Bruce Chessman, Kristen Petrov, Caroline Lees, Gerald Kuchling, Jane Hall, Gerry McGilvray, Shane Ruming, Karrie Rose, Larry Vogelnest, Arthur Georges; Front row (l to r) Michael McFadden, Adam Skidmore, Sam Gilchrist, Bruno Ferronato, Richard Jakob-Hoff © Copyright 2017 CBSG IUCN encourages meetings, workshops and other fora for the consideration and analysis of issues related to conservation, and believes that reports of these meetings are most useful when broadly disseminated. The opinions and views expressed by the authors may not necessarily reflect the formal policies of IUCN, its Commissions, its Secretariat or its members. The designation of geographical entities in this book, and the presentation of the material, do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of IUCN concerning the legal status of any country, territory, or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. Jakob-Hoff, R. Lees C. M., McGilvray G, Ruming S, Chessman B, Gilchrist S, Rose K, Spencer R, Hall J (Eds) (2017). Status Review, Disease Risk Analysis and Conservation Action Plan for the Bellinger River Snapping Turtle. IUCN SSC Conservation Breeding Specialist Group: Apple Valley, MN. Cover photo: Juvenile Bellinger River Snapping Turtle © 2016 Brett Vercoe This report can be downloaded from the CBSG website: www.cbsg.org. 2 Executive Summary The Bellinger River Snapping Turtle (BRST) (Myuchelys georgesi) is a freshwater turtle endemic to a 60 km stretch of the Bellinger River, and possibly a portion of the nearby Kalang River in coastal north eastern New South Wales (NSW).
  • Southern Gulf, Queensland

    Southern Gulf, Queensland

    Biodiversity Summary for NRM Regions Species List What is the summary for and where does it come from? This list has been produced by the Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities (SEWPC) for the Natural Resource Management Spatial Information System. The list was produced using the AustralianAustralian Natural Natural Heritage Heritage Assessment Assessment Tool Tool (ANHAT), which analyses data from a range of plant and animal surveys and collections from across Australia to automatically generate a report for each NRM region. Data sources (Appendix 2) include national and state herbaria, museums, state governments, CSIRO, Birds Australia and a range of surveys conducted by or for DEWHA. For each family of plant and animal covered by ANHAT (Appendix 1), this document gives the number of species in the country and how many of them are found in the region. It also identifies species listed as Vulnerable, Critically Endangered, Endangered or Conservation Dependent under the EPBC Act. A biodiversity summary for this region is also available. For more information please see: www.environment.gov.au/heritage/anhat/index.html Limitations • ANHAT currently contains information on the distribution of over 30,000 Australian taxa. This includes all mammals, birds, reptiles, frogs and fish, 137 families of vascular plants (over 15,000 species) and a range of invertebrate groups. Groups notnot yet yet covered covered in inANHAT ANHAT are notnot included included in in the the list. list. • The data used come from authoritative sources, but they are not perfect. All species names have been confirmed as valid species names, but it is not possible to confirm all species locations.
  • Stem Decay in Live Trees: Heartwood Hollows and Termites in Five Timber Species in Eastern Amazonia

    Stem Decay in Live Trees: Heartwood Hollows and Termites in Five Timber Species in Eastern Amazonia

    Article Stem Decay in Live Trees: Heartwood Hollows and Termites in Five Timber Species in Eastern Amazonia Ana Alice Eleuterio 1,* , Maria Aparecida de Jesus 2 and Francis E. Putz 3 1 Instituto Latino-Americano de Economia, Sociedade e Política, Universidade Federal da Integração Latino-Americana, Av. Tancredo Neves, 6731, Foz do Iguaçu 85867-900, Brazil 2 Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Av. André Araújo 2936, Manaus 69011-970, Brazil; [email protected] 3 Department of Biology, University of Florida, P.O. Box 118526, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA; fep@ufl.edu * Correspondence: [email protected] Received: 19 September 2020; Accepted: 9 October 2020; Published: 13 October 2020 Abstract: Research Highlights: Tree size and wood characteristics influenced the susceptibility of five Amazonian timber tree species to heartwood decay and colonization by termites. Termites occurred in the heartwoods of 43% of the trees, with Coptotermes testaceus the most abundant species. Background and Objectives: Hollows and rotten cores in the stems of living trees have ecological and economic impacts in forests managed for timber. The decision on whether to cut or maintain hollow trees in such forests must account for the susceptibility of different tree species to decay. We investigated tree and wood characteristics of living trees of five commercial timber species in the eastern Amazon that influenced the likelihood of heartwood decay and the occurrence of termite nests inside the rotten cores. Materials and Methods: We used Pearson’s correlations and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) to explore relationships among tree basal area and hollow area. We used principal components analysis (PCA) to analyze the variation of wood anatomical traits, followed by a linear regression to explore the relationships between PCA scores, and heartwood hollow area.
  • Towards Two Billion Trees

    Towards Two Billion Trees

    REPORT 2019 Lead authors: Dr. Stuart Blanch & Dr. Martin Taylor Published by WWF-Australia, Sydney. WWF-Australia acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and their continuing connection to land, water and culture. We pay our respects to their Elders - past, present and emerging. WWF is one of the world’s largest and most experienced independent conservation organisations, with over five million supporters and a global network active in more than 100 countries. WWF’s mission is to stop the degradation of the planet’s natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature, by conserving the world’s biological diversity, ensuring that the use of renewable natural resources is sustainable, and promoting the reduction of pollution and wasteful consumption. © Text 2019 WWF-Australia. Front cover: NSW forest, © Unsplash / Fezbot / WWF-Australia CONTENTS FORESTS, FIRES, KOALAS & CLIMATE 5 OUR NATIONAL PLAN TO SAVE AND GROW TWO BILLION TREES BY 2030 9 TOWARDS TWO BILLION TREES 11 What are the impacts of deforestation during one year? 12 A decade of destruction 13 A future of hope through a transition from deforestation to reforestation 14 TREES BY THE NUMBERS 20 IS AUSTRALIA GROWING MORE FORESTS THAN ARE BEING BULLDOZED? 22 BUSHFIRE IN BOWRAVILLE, NSW, NOVEMBER 2019 © ADAM DEDERER On top of rampant tree-clearing, FORESTS, FIRE, Australia’s bushfire emergency is destroying homes and habitats, killing KOALAS & CLIMATE wildlife and livestock, and releasing enormous volumes of carbon dioxide. It’s a tragedy fuelled by global heating, and comes on top of the worst drought in recorded history in New South Wales and Queensland.
  • An Overdue Review and Reclassification of the Australasian

    An Overdue Review and Reclassification of the Australasian

    AustralasianAustralasian JournalJournal ofof HerpetologyHerpetology ISSN 1836-5698 (Print) ISSN 1836-5779 (Online) Hoser, R. T. 2020. For the first time ever! An overdue review and reclassification of Australasian Tree Frogs (Amphibia: Anura: Pelodryadidae), including formal descriptions of 12 tribes, 11 subtribes, 34 genera, 26 subgenera, 62 species and 12 subspecies new to science. Australasian Journal of Herpetology 44-46:1-192. ISSUE 46, PUBLISHED 5 JUNE 2020 Hoser, R. T. 2020. For the first time ever! An overdue review and reclassification of Australasian Tree Frogs (Amphibia: Anura: Pelodryadidae), including formal descriptions of 12 tribes, 11 subtribes, 34 genera, 26 130 Australasiansubgenera, 62 species Journal and 12 subspecies of Herpetologynew to science. Australasian Journal of Herpetology 44-46:1-192. ... Continued from AJH Issue 45 ... zone of apparently unsuitable habitat of significant geological antiquity and are therefore reproductively Underside of thighs have irregular darker patches and isolated and therefore evolving in separate directions. hind isde of thigh has irregular fine creamish coloured They are also morphologically divergent, warranting stripes. Skin is leathery and with numerous scattered identification of the unnamed population at least to tubercles which may or not be arranged in well-defined subspecies level as done herein. longitudinal rows, including sometimes some of medium to large size and a prominent one on the eyelid. Belly is The zone dividing known populations of each species is smooth except for some granular skin on the lower belly only about 30 km in a straight line. and thighs. Vomerine teeth present, but weakly P. longirostris tozerensis subsp. nov. is separated from P.
  • Catalogue of Protozoan Parasites Recorded in Australia Peter J. O

    Catalogue of Protozoan Parasites Recorded in Australia Peter J. O

    1 CATALOGUE OF PROTOZOAN PARASITES RECORDED IN AUSTRALIA PETER J. O’DONOGHUE & ROBERT D. ADLARD O’Donoghue, P.J. & Adlard, R.D. 2000 02 29: Catalogue of protozoan parasites recorded in Australia. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 45(1):1-164. Brisbane. ISSN 0079-8835. Published reports of protozoan species from Australian animals have been compiled into a host- parasite checklist, a parasite-host checklist and a cross-referenced bibliography. Protozoa listed include parasites, commensals and symbionts but free-living species have been excluded. Over 590 protozoan species are listed including amoebae, flagellates, ciliates and ‘sporozoa’ (the latter comprising apicomplexans, microsporans, myxozoans, haplosporidians and paramyxeans). Organisms are recorded in association with some 520 hosts including mammals, marsupials, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish and invertebrates. Information has been abstracted from over 1,270 scientific publications predating 1999 and all records include taxonomic authorities, synonyms, common names, sites of infection within hosts and geographic locations. Protozoa, parasite checklist, host checklist, bibliography, Australia. Peter J. O’Donoghue, Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, The University of Queensland, St Lucia 4072, Australia; Robert D. Adlard, Protozoa Section, Queensland Museum, PO Box 3300, South Brisbane 4101, Australia; 31 January 2000. CONTENTS the literature for reports relevant to contemporary studies. Such problems could be avoided if all previous HOST-PARASITE CHECKLIST 5 records were consolidated into a single database. Most Mammals 5 researchers currently avail themselves of various Reptiles 21 electronic database and abstracting services but none Amphibians 26 include literature published earlier than 1985 and not all Birds 34 journal titles are covered in their databases. Fish 44 Invertebrates 54 Several catalogues of parasites in Australian PARASITE-HOST CHECKLIST 63 hosts have previously been published.
  • Pentastomiasis in Australian Re

    Pentastomiasis in Australian Re

    Fact sheet Pentastomiasis (also known as Porocephalosis) is a disease caused by infection with pentastomids. Pentastomids are endoparasites of vertebrates, maturing primarily in the respiratory system of carnivorous reptiles (90% of all pentastomid species), but also in toads, birds and mammals. Pentastomids have zoonotic potential although no human cases have been reported in Australia. These parasites have an indirect life cycle involving one or more intermediate host. They may be distinguished from other parasite taxa by the presence of four hooks surrounding their mouth, which they use for attaching to respiratory tissue to feed on host blood. Pentastomid infections are often asymptomatic, but adult and larval pentastomids can cause severe pathology resulting in the death of their intermediate and definitive hosts, usually via obstruction of airways or secondary bacterial and/or fungal infections. Pentastomiasis in reptiles is caused by endoparasitic metazoans of the subclass Pentastomida. Four genera are known to infect crocodiles in Australia: Alofia, Leiperia, Sebekia, and Selfia; all in the family Sebekidae. Three genera infect lizards in Australia: Raillietiella (Family: Raillietiellidae), Waddycephalus (Family: Sambonidae) and Elenia (Family: Sambonidae). Four genera infect snakes in Australia: Waddycephalus, Parasambonia (Family: Sambonidae), Raillietiella and Armillifer (Family: Armilliferidae). Definitive hosts Many species of Australian reptiles, including snakes, lizards and crocodiles are proven definitive hosts for pentastomes (see Appendix 1). Lizards may be both intermediate and definitive hosts for pentastomids. Raillietiella spp. occurs primarily in small to medium-sized lizards and Elenia australis infects large varanids. Nymphs of Waddycephalus in several lizard species likely reflect incidental infection; it is possible that lizards are an intermediate host for Waddycephalus.
  • Report on the Large Brown Tree Frog By

    Report on the Large Brown Tree Frog By

    Qualifications and Experience Please see my curriculum vitae (Appendix I) for my general qualifications and experience. My Ph.D. in zoology focussed specifically on the conservation biology and ecology of frog species in south-eastern Australia. I have 23 years of field and scientific experience studying amphibians and their conservation and management in south-eastern Australia. I have published 24 refereed scientific papers and 38 technical reports on amphibian ecology, conservation and management. I am recognised throughout Australia as an authority on the frog fauna of Victoria, specifically with respect to conservation issues, and I am regularly asked to provide advice on such matters to individuals, government conservation and land management agencies, and non-government organisations. With regard to the Large Brown Tree Frog, I encountered this species on numerous occasions between 1986 and 1992 while undertaking and supervising pre-logging biodiversity surveys in East Gippsland, Victoria. Many of these records are documented in the Victorian Wildlife Atlas. During this period, I gained knowledge of the species’ habitat associations, breeding biology, some aspects of its behaviour and an appreciation of its conservation status in Victoria (see Opie et al. 1990; Westaway et al.1990; Lobert et al. 1991). Because of my research into amphibian conservation and management, I am highly familiar with the existing literature on the impact of various forest management activities on amphibians and the implications of these activities for amphibian conservation. Although no specific studies have investigated the effects of forest management on the Large Brown Tree Frog, this general knowledge provides insight into the potential impacts of forest management on this species.