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MAMMAL FAUNA OF THE GNANGARA SUSTAINABILITY STRATEGY STUDY AREA Alice Reaveley Department of Environment and Conservation March 2009 Mammal Fauna of the Gnangara Sustainability Strategy Study Area Alice Reaveley Department of Environment and Conservation Government of Western Australia Department of Environment and Conservation Gnangara Sustainability Strategy Taskforce Department of Water 168 St Georges Terrace Perth Western Australia 6000 Telephone +61 8 6364 7600 Facsimile +61 8 6364 7601 www.gnangara.water.wa.gov.au © Government of Western Australia 2008 March 2009 This work is copyright. You may download, display, print and reproduce this material in unaltered form only (retaining this notice) for your personal, non-commercial use or use within your organisation. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968 , all other rights are reserved. Requests and inquiries concerning reproduction and rights should be addressed to the Department of Conservation and Environment. This document has been commissioned/produced as part of the Gnangara Sustainability Strategy (GSS). The GSS is a State Government initiative which aims to provide a framework for a whole of government approach to address land use and water planning issues associated with the Gnangara groundwater system. For more information go to www.gnangara.water.wa.gov.au Gnangara Sustainability Strategy Contents Mammal Fauna of the Gnangara Sustainability Strategy Study Area.................................. 1 Executive Summary.............................................................................................................. 3 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 4 Historical Surveys ........................................................................................................... 5 Foundation Survey in Recent Times ............................................................................... 5 Other key surveys on the NSCP in recent times.............................................................. 7 Extant Mammal Fauna on the GSS ...................................................................................... 9 Species’ distribution, habitat preferences, changes over time and threats ......................... 10 Macropus fuliginosus, Western grey kangaroo............................................................. 10 Macropus irma, Western brush wallaby or black-gloved wallaby................................ 10 Tarsipes rostratus, noolbenger or honey possum .......................................................... 11 Isoodon obesulus, quenda or Southern brown bandicoot.............................................. 12 Rattus fuscipes, mootit or bush rat ................................................................................ 12 Hydromys chrysogaster, rakali or water rat .................................................................. 13 Tachyglossus aculeatus, echidna ................................................................................... 14 Trichosurus vulpecula, Common brushtail possum ...................................................... 14 Dasyurus geoffroii, chuditch or Western quoll ............................................................. 15 Cercartetus concinnus, mundarda or Western pygmy possum...................................... 15 Pseudomys albocinereus, noodji or ash-grey mouse..................................................... 16 Sminthopsis griseoventer, grey-bellied dunnart............................................................ 17 Bats ................................................................................................................................ 17 Threatened Taxa ................................................................................................................. 18 Extinctions and Threatening Processes .............................................................................. 19 Mammal Response to Habitat Loss/Fragmentation due to Urbanisation...................... 19 Mammal Response to Fire............................................................................................. 20 Mammal Response to Predation.................................................................................... 23 Mammal Response to Decline in Wetlands, Rainfall and Groundwater Levels ........... 25 Mammal Response to Phytophthora cinnamomi........................................................... 26 Mammal Response to Disease....................................................................................... 28 Mammal Response to Introduced Herbivores and Rodents .......................................... 29 Regional Context................................................................................................................ 30 Summary............................................................................................................................. 31 Management Recommendations for remaining native mammal species in the GSS study area....................................................................................................................... 32 Appendix ............................................................................................................................ 33 References .......................................................................................................................... 39 Mammal Fauna of the GSS 1 Gnangara Sustainability Strategy Tables Table 1. Results from the 1977-1978 survey of the Northern Swan Coastal Plain by Kitchener et al. (1978) for the Western Australian Museum .............................6 Table 2 Native mammal species (excluding bats) and introduced mammals recorded from the GSS study area (1990-2008)..................................................... 9 Appendices Appendix 1: Occurrence of mammal species on the Northern Swan Coastal Plain and the broad periods of time in which they have been recorded. ........................33 Appendix 2 Current threatening processes presumed to affect extant mammal species in the GSS study area................................................................................36 Mammal Fauna of the GSS 2 Gnangara Sustainability Strategy Executive Summary In total, 33 native mammal species and 9 introduced mammal species have been recorded from the Northern Swan Coastal Plain (NSCP) of Western Australia since settlement of the Swan River Colony in 1829. By the 1970’s, over half of the 33 native mammal species that historically occurred across the NSCP were locally extinct, and all species had declined in distribution and abundance since they were first recorded by the early surveyors (Kitchener et al. 1978). Following a comprehensive fauna survey of the NSCP by the WA Museum in 1977-78, twelve of the original 33 native mammal species, which includes 9 non-volant and 3 bat species, could still be confirmed as persisting. Today, in 2008, ten non-bat mammal species are still reliably recorded as occurring in the Gnangara Sustainability Strategy (GSS) Study Area, which covers a large proportion of the NSCP. The reasons for mammal decline are many and varied. No single attribute can be blamed for their downfall, with a more likely scenario being a combination of factors, some of which commenced before the arrival of the first settlers (Abbott 2008), but most of which were an interaction of threatening processes initiated by the land clearing to establish the Swan Colony. Interestingly, the decline and disappearance of mammals from the NSCP contrasts with other vertebrate assemblages in the same area, such as the reptiles, which have remained relatively intact in the face of cumulative threatening processes (Storr et al. 1978). Mammal Fauna of the GSS 3 Gnangara Sustainability Strategy Introduction The Northern Swan Coastal Plain (NSCP) refers to the area north of the Swan River and south of Moore River. The Indian Ocean forms the western boundary and the Darling Scarp forms the eastern boundary. Within this NSCP, the Gnangara Sustainability Strategy (GSS) study area covers a large proportion of the NSCP, approximately 2,200 km 2, with Gingin Brook as the northern limit and Ellen Brook as the eastern limit. The following review refers to the NSCP rather than the GSS study area as the comparative list of fauna surveys have taken place both within and just outside of the GSS study area. The NSCP experiences a Mediterranean climate with a hot dry summer extending from October to April and a mild wet winter from May to September (Seddon 1972). The landform units of the NSCP include the broad geomorphological systems of the Quindalup, Spearwood and Bassendean dunes with the youngest in the west and the oldest in the east. Landforms with heavier soils, such as the Pinjarra Plain and Yanga are present to lesser degrees in the east and south east. Most fauna studies have concentrated on the Quindalup, Spearwood and Bassendean dune systems. Vegetation complexes on the NSCP include Banksia woodland, proteaceous heathland, coastal scrub, Jarrah ( Eucalyptus marginata ) forest, Tuart ( Eucalyptus gomphocephala ) forest, and Melaleuca spp./Eucalyptus rudis wetlands and damplands. Historical records indicate the mammal assemblage of the GSS study area was species rich, consisting of approximately 33 species (Kitchener et al. 1978). However, more recent survey suggests that mammals have suffered a high extinction rate, with relatively few species
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