Ecology and Conservation Status of the Brush-Tailed Rabbit-Rat Conilurus Penicillatus
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Ecology and conservation status of the brush-tailed rabbit-rat Conilurus penicillatus Ronald Stuart Craig Firth B. Sc. (Hons) (Monash) Faculty of Education, Health and Science Charles Darwin University A thesis submitted to satisfy the requirements of a degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Science) ii Declaration I hereby declare that the work herein, submitted as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Science) at Charles Darwin University is the result of my own investigations, and all references to ideas and work of other researchers have been specifically acknowledged. I hereby certify that the work embodied in this thesis has not already been accepted in substance for any degree, and is not being currently submitted in candidature for any other degree. Ronald Stuart Craig Firth / / iii Acknowledgements Firstly I would like to thank my supervisors John Woinarski and Richard Noske, in particular John Woinarski for envisaging the project but first and foremost for his outstanding intellectual input for which I could not have done without and of course for also editing many drafts; Richard Noske for his help with all the administrative goings on associated with a PhD, for editing drafts and the occasional tasty cake. Charles Darwin University provided me with a scholarship and some project funding. Additional funding to conduct the research was also provided by the CRC for Tropical Savannas Management, the Biodiversity Conservation Division, Department of Natural Resources Environment and the Arts and Australian Geographic. Many volunteers helped with fieldwork and the assistance they provided was invaluable and they were; Daichi Aonuma, Martin Armstrong, Cheryl Arnott, Vera Borgwardt, Chris Brady, Anna Brunninghausen, Jane Buzolic, Mary-Anne Clunies- Ross, Antje Deichmann, Robyn Funnell, Abby Gill, Virginie Gosselin, Andrea Griffiths, Andrew Hall, Sam Holder, David Holland, Catriona Howat, Sastrawan Manullang, Marlose, Di McCarthy, Monica, Aaron Moon, Magdalena Muszynski, Erin O’Brien, Marcus O’Mullane, Verity Owers, Sarah Patterson, Pradina Purwati, Brooke Rankmoore, Jenni Risler, Katrin Shreiber, Cathy Stevens, Dave Stewart, Marjorie Veillman, Jane Wise, Phil Wise, Scott Wyatt and Suzan Yates. Several other people made important contributions to this work and they are acknowledged in the relevant chapters. I also have to thank many of my fellow postgrads which have shared the office with me over the years; Yeni Mulyani for the very tasty arem-arem and lemper and for introducing me to many other wonderful Indonesian things particularly my beautiful Wife, Chris Brady (The Human Dynamo) for not sitting behind me too often in the office, Lorrae McArthur (Rabbit Lady) for crunching those noisy carrot and celery sticks but also for the other tasty treats she provided, Gillian McCloskey (Aussie Gill) for just being an all round great Aussie chick and for baking lovely cakes and iv the all important office gossip, Sebastian Iglesias (Dude) for the malteses and alike, James Smith (The Freak) who liked to frequent the office (an office away from an office) though he did provide me with important research chitchat and occasional IT support when things were difficult, and finally Colin Trainor (Shrek) for endless hours of gossip and gobbledygook but also for coffee and some very minor intellectual stimulation. Lastly but most importantly I would like to thank my Wife Puspita for putting up with my complaining about all things thesis, for my absence on many a weekend and late night and for her endless encouragement and patience which helped me immensely throughout the course of this work. v Abstract In this thesis I investigate the ecology of the threatened brush-tailed rabbit-rat Conilurus penicillatus, specifically including diet, movements and shelter sites, population dynamics, and habitat preference and use. I then use this information as a base from which to consider possible causes of decline and to provide advice for remedial management. This study was conducted primarily at two main sites, Cobourg Peninsula (with two sub-sites) and Kakadu National Park, with additional information gathered from the Tiwi Islands. The diet of C. penicillatus consists primarily of seed, particularly from perennial grasses. The mean home range size is 0.79 ha; whilst males had larger home ranges than females, there were no significant differences in home-range size among the sites or between seasons. Conilurus penicillatus denned primarily in fallen logs and in hollows of eucalypts and bloodwoods. Apparent survival probability for C. penicillatus varied noticeably over the study and was best described by a model that included main and interaction effects of sex, site and sampling occasion. Population densities at the three sites ranged from 0.35 to 7.1 individuals ha-1. Conilurus penicillatus reproduced during the dry season (May-October) and most juveniles also entered the population during this period. On the Tiwi Islands C. penicillatus was most likely to occur in tall eucalypt forest away from watercourses, where there was more bare ground and where fires had been less severe and/or less recent. The species remains common and widespread on Cobourg Peninsula and Tiwi Islands, but is very restricted within Kakadu National Park. In common with the habitat relationships on the Tiwi Islands, in the mainland study sites Conilurus penicillatus was most likely to occur in tall eucalypt forests, where there was less bare ground and less cover of annual grasses and where fires had been less severe. The most likely cause of decline is changes in fire regimes as a result of the loss of traditional Aboriginal fire management. vi Table of Contents CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION..................................................................... 1 General Introduction ................................................................................................. 1 Mammal decline in Australia.................................................................................... 1 Mammal decline in the Top End............................................................................... 6 Decline of Conilurus penicillatus............................................................................. 10 Previous studies of Conilurus penicillatus.............................................................. 15 Aims and outline of thesis........................................................................................ 16 Acknowledgements................................................................................................... 17 References ................................................................................................................. 18 CHAPTER 2: DIET ...................................................................................... 27 Abstract..................................................................................................................... 27 Introduction.............................................................................................................. 28 Methods..................................................................................................................... 29 Study Sites .............................................................................................................. 29 Plant Reference slides............................................................................................ 31 Faecal pellet collection and slide preparation ...................................................... 31 Faecal analysis....................................................................................................... 32 Data analyses......................................................................................................... 32 Results ....................................................................................................................... 33 Discussion.................................................................................................................. 39 Acknowledgements................................................................................................... 43 References ................................................................................................................. 43 CHAPTER 3: HOME-RANGE AND DEN SITES......................................... 48 Abstract..................................................................................................................... 48 Introduction.............................................................................................................. 49 Materials and methods ............................................................................................ 50 Study Sites .............................................................................................................. 50 Trapping................................................................................................................. 51 Radio-tracking........................................................................................................ 52 vii Home-range calculations....................................................................................... 55 Den sites and types................................................................................................. 56 Results ....................................................................................................................... 57 Home-range size....................................................................................................