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Morelia Kinghorni) in the Wet Tropics of North Queensland, Australia

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Morelia Kinghorni) in the Wet Tropics of North Queensland, Australia Herpetological Conservation and Biology 4(2):252-260 Submitted: 5 January 2008; Accepted: 15 June 2009 HABITAT USE IN A LARGE RAINFOREST PYTHON (MORELIA KINGHORNI) IN THE WET TROPICS OF NORTH QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA 1,2,3 1 ALASTAIR FREEMAN AND AMANDA FREEMAN 1The School for Field Studies, Centre for Rainforest Studies, PO Box 141, Yungaburra, Queensland 4884, Australia 2Department of Environment and Resource Management, PO Box 975, Atherton, Queensland 4883, Australia 3Corresponding author, e-mail: [email protected] Abstract.—We examined habitat use in the Scrub Python, Morelia kinghorni, a species of large tropical boid present on the Atherton Tablelands, North Queensland, Australia. Radio transmitters were surgically inserted into six individuals (3 male and 3 female) who were then followed for varying lengths of time over 2.5 years. Our results show that this snake specializes in closed forest habitats with 82% of sightings in this habitat type. During the coldest part of the year, the snakes used large epiphytic ferns in tall forest trees presumably as basking platforms above the shaded forest floor. We observed that 81% of snakes in epiphytes were in large (> 1m) Drynaria rigidula ferns. During the study, Tropical Cyclone Larry, a category 2–3 cyclone, passed through the study area and substantially impacted the vegetation. However, the three individuals that were being tracked at the time all survived. When collected for transmitter removal 6–10 months after the cyclone, the snakes had gained weight and mass and were in good condition. We do not consider M. kinghorni to be threatened but do conclude that it has disappeared from many areas of the Atherton Tablelands as a result of deforestation. Key Words.—closed forest; deforestation; epiphytes; habitat use; Morelia kinghorni, Scrub Python INTRODUCTION ecology. Few ecological studies exist and the first significant The Amethystine or Scrub Python (Morelia research on the ecology of this species in the wild only kinghorni; Fig. 1) is the largest snake in Australia appeared in 2005 (Fearn et. al. 2005). That study (Torr 2000). It is also the largest carnivore in the wet examined the thermal biology and reproductive tropics of North Queensland and arguably the largest ecology of a population of Scrub Pythons in the Tully terrestrial carnivore in Australia. Despite being a River Gorge on the Wet Tropics lowlands. In contrast large, charismatic species, surprisingly we know little to our study, Fearn et. al. (2005) did not use radio about its ecology in the wild. Most accounts of this telemetry to follow individual pythons, thus limiting species involve one-time observations of feeding their findings on habitat use in this species. behavior (Fearn and Sambono 2000a; Turner 2001; The present study was an attempt to elucidate Fearn 2002a; Murphy et. al. 2004), combat behavior in habitat use by this species on the Atherton Tablelands males (Sues and Shine 1999; Lloyd and Fearn 2005) or using radio telemetry in an area where the variety of notes on the large size attained by some individuals habitat types that are found on the Tablelands are (Fearn and Sambono 2000b; Fearn 2002b). Although accessible. The study was complicated by Tropical these observations are valuable (Bury 2006; Cyclone Larry, a Category 2–3 cyclone when it McCallum 2006; Green and Losos 1988), they do not crossed the Atherton Tablelands on 20 March 2006, contain the detail needed to understand this species’ severely damaging the study area. FIGURE 1. A large male (left) and female (right) Scrub Python (Morelia kinghorni) from the Atherton Tablelands, North Queensland, Australia. (Photographed by A. Freeman) 252 Herpetological Conservation and Biology 145°0'0"E 145°30'0"E 146°0'0"E 16°30'0"S 16°30'0"S Cairns " 17°0'0"S 17°0'0"S Study Area Atherton " 17°30'0"S 17°30'0"S Wet Tropics World Heritage Area 18°0'0"S 18°0'0"S Kilometers 05 10203040 - 145°0'0"E 145°30'0"E 146°0'0"E FIGURE 2. The study area located south west of the city of Cairns in North Queensland, Australia (170 12’ 21”; 1450 40’ 48”) where Scrub Pythons (Morelia kinghorni) were radio-tracked. 253 Freeman and Freeman.—Morelia kinghorni habitat use TABLE 1. Categories used to classify habitat of Scrub Pythons (Morelia kinghorni) at the Atherton Tablelands in North Queensland, Australia. Habitat Description Grassland Open areas dominated by introduced pasture species. Vegetation varies in height and can grow as high as 1m. Where it is not grazed it forms a dense ground cover. Plantation Planted tree crop. On the Atherton Tablelands, plantations are usually composed of Hoop Pines (Araucaria cunninghami) and Eucalyptus sp. Rainforest Closed forest type (70–100% canopy cover of tallest stratum) that remained uncleared over the past 50 years; fragments >10 ha in size. A complex structure and largely continuous canopy with emergent trees up to 55 m tall typify the rainforest communities of the study area. Epiphytes are common, and climbing rattans (Calamys sp.) and lianas proliferate in disturbed areas. Regrowth Closed forest type (70–100% canopy cover of tallest stratum) and often dominated by Acacia sp. that had been cleared and left to regenerate in the last 50 years. Simpler in structure without the density of epiphytes and lianas in the rainforest vegetation. Sclerophyll Open forest/woodland (< 70% canopy cover of tallest stratum) often with grassy understorey. Eucalyptus sp., Syncarpia glomulifera, Corymbia intermedia, and Allocasuarina torulosa comprise the tree layer. Corridors of vine thickets in steep gullies intersect the woodland. Urban Built environment including houses, sheds, roads, and railroad tracks. area. A qualified veterinarian surgically implanted MATERIALS AND METHODS temperature sensitive radio transmitters (Sirtrack, Havelock North, New Zealand) weighing between 16– Study area.—The Atherton Tablelands is a mid- 21 g into the peritoneal cavity of the snake (Pearson elevation plateau (700–900 m), situated south-west of and Shine 2002; Pearson et. al. 2005). The mass of the city of Cairns in North Queensland, Australia (Fig. these transmitters was < 0.008% of the body mass of 2). Prior to European settlement the region was the smallest python used (2,700 g) in the study. We largely covered by upland rainforest interspersed with released transmittered snakes at the site of capture areas of more open sclerophyll forest (Winter et al. within 24 h. We tracked pythons on foot using a 1987). Large-scale clearing for agriculture began in three-element Yagi antennae (Sirtrack Ltd. Havelock th the early part of the 20 century and continued for a North, New Zealand) and receiver (TR 4 Telonics, number of decades (Winter et. al. 1987). Logging was Mesa, Arizona, United States). When not sighted, we in decline by the time most of the remaining rainforest estimated a snakes’ location using triangulation, the was incorporated into the Wet Tropics of Queensland approximate distance from the receiver using signal World Heritage Area in the late 1980’s. Today the strength, and determined if it was moving using signal area is a mosaic of pasture, crops, and small towns. oscillation. After approximately 9–11 mo, we Interspersed with this are rainforest fragments ranging recaptured the pythons and removed or replaced the in size from a few trees to patches of 600 ha, many transmitters. We checked the locations of snakes dissected by major and minor roads. Small areas of twice a week. On each occasion we took detailed secondary growth are common, particularly along notes on weather and the snakes’ location, posture, and riparian corridors. Large areas of continuous forest are habitat use. We recorded the pulse interval of the confined to the hill slopes that surround the telemetry signal for temperature analysis. We Tablelands. Our study area was situated on the eastern recorded the exact locality of each sighting using a edge of the Tablelands centred on The School for Field handheld Garmin geographic positioning system Studies, Centre for Rainforest Studies. In the (GPS) with an accuracy that varied from 15 to 50 m (a immediate vicinity are all the main habitat types of the conservative estimate from manufacturer’s rating). On eastern Atherton Tablelands from cattle pasture to the few occasions when we could not get a GPS World Heritage rainforest that has never been cleared, reading, the animals’ position was estimated using although it has been selectively logged. digital maps of the study area in the Arc View 3.2 Geographic Information System. Field methods.—We captured snakes by hand When we located an individual, we recorded the when we incidentally encountered them in the study macrohabitat in which it occurred based on vegetation TABLE 2. Sex, size, and dates of radio-tracking of individual Scrub Python, Morelia kinghorni, followed at the Atherton Tablelands in North Queensland, Australia. SVL Tail Mass Date Final Date Duration of Animal No. Sex (cm) (cm) (kg) Released Monitored tracking (days) 13 M 267.0 49.0 3.758 12-Apr-04 9-Sept-06 880 191 M 316.0 48.0 6.526 12-Apr-04 6-Dec-04 238 40 M 261.6 45.0 3.759 9-Feb-06 8-Jan-07 333 14 F 270.3 43.0 3.645 12-Jun-04 28-Nov-05 534 30s2 F 295.4 32.0 6.410 12-Feb-05 6-Oct-05 236 42 F 265.8 46.5 2.670 12-Feb-06 8-Jan-07 330 1 Snake that died during course of study (see above) 2 Snake “lost” part way through study probably due to transmitter failure 254 Herpetological Conservation and Biology 80 70 60 50 % habitat 40 % sightings 30 Percentage 20 10 0 Rainforest Regrow th Sclerophyll Grassland Habitat FIGURE 3.
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