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Factors Influencing the Distribution of Bush Rats

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Factors Influencing the Distribution of Bush Rats Factors influencing the distribution of Bush rats Rattus fuscipes Bush rats (photo Wendy Gleen) Bush rat habitat (photo Wendy Kinsella) A thesis submitted for Master of Philosophy at the University of NSW 2014 by Wendy Kinsella The School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Science The University of New South Wales Sydney NSW, Australia Table of Contents Student Declaration ................................................................................................................. v Acknowledgement ................................................................................................................... vi List of Figures ......................................................................................................................... vii List of Tables ........................................................................................................................... ix Abstract .................................................................................................................................... xi Chapter 1 .................................................................................................................................. 1 General Introduction ............................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Habitat requirements for a small mammal ..................................................................... 1 1.2 Australia’s Urban Landscape ........................................................................................... 2 1.3 Relationship between habitat and species........................................................................ 3 1.4 Research objectives ............................................................................................................ 4 Chapter 2 - Habitat characteristics associated with bush rat populations in Eastern Australia.................................................................................................................................... 5 2.1. Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 5 2.1.1 Habitat and Mammal association .......................................................................... 5 2.1.2 Impacts of land clearing on native vegetation ...................................................... 6 2.1.3 Mammal translocation and reintroduction ........................................................... 7 2.1.4 Habitat Characteristics ........................................................................................... 8 2.2 Methods ............................................................................................................................. 11 2.2.1 Study area ............................................................................................................... 11 2.2.2 Study sites ............................................................................................................... 11 2.2.3 Method of Survey site selection ............................................................................ 17 2.2.4 Field methods ......................................................................................................... 18 ii Vegetation layers .............................................................................................................. 20 2.2.5 Vegetation Community Profiles ........................................................................... 21 2.2.6 Data analysis .......................................................................................................... 23 2.3 Results ............................................................................................................................... 24 2.4 Discussion.......................................................................................................................... 28 2. 4.1 Bush rat Habitat ................................................................................................... 28 2.4.2 Ground cover density ............................................................................................ 29 2.4.3 Other structural variables .................................................................................... 31 2.4.4 Floristic variables .................................................................................................. 32 2.4.5 Environmental variables ....................................................................................... 32 2.4.6 Implications for the reintroduction of bush rats ................................................ 35 2.5 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 36 Chapter 3 – Competition interactions with black rats limit bush rat distribution within its native range ....................................................................................................................... 40 3.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 40 3.1.1 Understanding establishment of Communities and Competitors ..................... 40 3.1.2 Reintroduction and impacts from competitor species ....................................... 40 3.2 Methods ............................................................................................................................. 43 3.2.1 Coexistence of Bush rats and Black rats ............................................................. 43 3.2.2 Data collection ........................................................................................................ 44 iii 3.3 Analysis ............................................................................................................................. 45 3.4 Results ............................................................................................................................... 46 3.5 Discussion.......................................................................................................................... 47 3.5.1 Small Mammal Communities ............................................................................... 47 3.5.2 Community assembly and coexistence with invasive species ............................ 48 3.5.3 Coexisting and available resources ...................................................................... 49 3.5.4 Community structure and competition ............................................................... 49 3.6 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 50 Chapter 4. ............................................................................................................................... 52 General Discussion ................................................................................................................. 52 4.1 Why habitat matters ........................................................................................................ 52 4.2 Why determine factors that influence Rattus fuscipes (bush rat) distribution........... 53 4.3 What I found in relation to high density of bush rat populations ............................... 53 4.4 Variables suitable for bush rat establishment in reintroduction sites ……………………….55 References ............................................................................................................................... 57 Appendix ................................................................................................................................. 65 iv Student Declaration ORIGINALITY STATEMENT 'I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and to the best of my knowledge it contains no materials previously published or written by another person, or substantial proportions of material which have been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma at UNSW or any other educational institution, except where due acknowledgement is made in the thesis. Any contribution made to the research by others, with whom I have worked at UNSW or elsewhere, is explicitly acknowledged in the thesis. I also declare that the intellectual content of this thesis is the product of my own work, except to the extent that assistance from others in the project's design and conception or in style, presentation and linguistic expression is acknowledged.' Signed Date v Acknowledgement I’ve been so privileged to have an excellent supervisor in Dr Stephen Bonser to guide encourage and tease me in this journey over the last 4 or is it 5 years? I remember dearly the time he told me he and Angela where expecting their first child Sam. I must have looked surprised as he quickly said “OH it won’t affect your studies” and what surprised me was that he took the trouble to inform me as it was excellent news. I really appreciated the warmth care and understanding I received working in the Bonser lab. My one regret was not having more to do with Dr Peter Banks just time did not allow me to visit Sydney uni as frequently. Then there is Dr Grainné Cleary who was the inspiration of why I got involved in this project. Grainné was always incredibly helpful when I could not work my computer or deal with some issue she would solved every problem to help me find my way. Bill Cleary was also a treasure a computer whiz at fixing a graph or putting Mrs Doyle (Father Ted (Crilly’s) house keeper)
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