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Ecology and Conservation of a New Carnivorous Marsupial Species: the Silver-Headed Antechinus (Antechinus Argentus)

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Ecology and Conservation of a New Carnivorous Marsupial Species: the Silver-Headed Antechinus (Antechinus Argentus) Ecology and conservation of a new carnivorous marsupial species: the silver-headed antechinus (Antechinus argentus) Eugene David Mason B. App. Sci. (Hons) School of Earth, Environmental and Biological Sciences Science and Engineering Faculty Queensland University of Technology 2018 Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Keywords Antechinus, Australia, breeding biology, conservation, dasyurid, dietary strategy, ecology, fire ecology, habitat preference, Kroombit Tops, life-history, mammal, mammal ecology, population ecology, semelparity, Queensland ii Abstract The genus Antechinus comprises 15 species of small carnivorous marsupials endemic to Australia. Five of these have been described since 2012 on the basis of combined genetic, morphological and ecological data. One new species, the threatened silver-headed antechinus (Antechinus argentus) was described in 2013. When the present study commenced the species had only been found at one location: the south-eastern plateau of Kroombit Tops National Park, south-west of Gladstone in mid-east Queensland, Australia - an area encompassing less than 10 km2. However, the study that described the species was based on data obtained from only 15 individuals used for taxonomic description; thus, little was known about the biology of A. argentus. Therefore, the major component of the present study investigated three broad areas of the species’ ecology for which knowledge was sparse or non-existent, with the aim of providing foundational ecological knowledge to prioritise conservation management: 1. dietary strategy and composition; 2. life-history traits; 3. post-fire habitat use. Additional work was carried out to examine the potential influence of rainfall patterns on population dynamics of A. argentus, and widespread trapping surveys were undertaken with the aim of establishing a cogent distributional range of the species, which resulted in the discovery of a second population ~200 km distant from the type locality. During 2014, faecal pellets were collected each month (March-September) from a population at the type locality to gather baseline data on diet composition. A total of 38 faecal pellets were collected from 12 individuals (eight females, four males) and microscopic analysis of pellets identified seven invertebrate orders, with 70% combined mean composition of beetles (Coleoptera: 38%) and cockroaches (Blattodea: 32%). Other orders that featured as prey were ants, crickets/grasshoppers, butterflies/moths, spiders, and true bugs. Given that faecal pellets could only be collected from a single habitat type (Eucalyptus montivaga high-altitude open forest) and location, this was best described as a generalist insectivorous diet that is characteristic of other previously studied congeners. iii Antechinuses are well-known for their spectacular annual male die-off at the close of a one- to three-week mating period. The genus also displays sexual dimorphism for size—males are up to three times heavier than females. The A. argentus population studied at Kroombit Tops National Park over two years followed the trends of the genus, with strong evidence of both a synchronised male die-off (in June/July) and significantly larger males than females. Two proximate sites where A. argentus was previously known to occur were surveyed. Unexpectedly, there was a marked difference in A. argentus numbers between years and sites. It was hypothesised that the disparate capture rates between sites may be at least in part linked to the effects of fire on vegetation. Management of critical habitat for threatened species with small ranges requires location-specific, fine-scale survey data. Detailed vegetation surveys involving the collection of plant species diversity and structure data from three sites comprising the known habitat of A. argentus at Kroombit Tops were undertaken. This information was related to capture data obtained over two years. Differences in both vegetation and capture data between burnt and unburnt habitat were found. Leaf litter and grasstrees (Xanthorrhoea johnsonii) were the strongest vegetative predictors for A. argentus capture. The species declined considerably over the two years of the trapping study, and the present work raises concern for its continued survival at Kroombit Tops. Future work should focus on structural vegetative variables (specifically, the diameter and leaf density of grasstree crowns) and relate them to A. argentus occurrence. It was also recommended that a survey of invertebrate diversity in grasstrees and leaf litter be undertaken and compared to A. argentus prey. The data presented here illustrates how critical detailed monitoring is for planning habitat management and fire regimes, and highlights the utility of a high-resolution approach to habitat mapping. While a traditional approach to fire management contends that pyrodiversity encourages biodiversity, the present study demonstrates that some species prefer long-unburnt habitat. Additionally, in predicting the distribution of iv rare species like A. argentus, data quality (i.e., spatial resolution) may prevail over data quantity (i.e., number of data). In Australia, rainfall is a major influence on temporal changes in small mammal populations. The present study postulated that population dynamics of Kroombit Tops A. argentus from 2014 to 2015 may have been influenced by both higher and lower than usual precipitation levels. Daily rainfall data dating back to 1993 was obtained from a pluviometer proximate to the study sites. Monthly rainfall amounts during the present study did not differ significantly to overall mean monthly values calculated from the 23 years of data available. Nevertheless, some trends were observed that indicated unusually high and low amounts of rainfall at potentially critical times for A. argentus breeding and growth. It was hypothesised that an overall drier spring in 2014 may have contributed to higher infant and juvenile A. argentus mortality, while an unusually high amount of rainfall in the following summer of 2014/2015 caused an increase in insect abundance, providing a surplus of food for the fewer surviving A. argentus and explaining larger mean weight data. Taken together, the present study afforded a study of the autecology of a species that was previously poorly understood. The results provide crucial foundational knowledge for ongoing and necessary conservation management of the species, and much needed clues on key habitat characteristics for locating other potential populations of this rare, cryptic species. A. argentus is almost certainly at risk of extinction. The two known populations have likely been isolated for millennia and today occur in relatively small areas of conservation land. The present research resulted in the species being listed as vulnerable in Queensland under the Nature Conservation Act 1992 and it is currently being considered for federal listing. Several processes are likely threatening both of these populations, namely inappropriate fire frequency, severity and patch size, and the impacts of introduced animals. Management actions must be undertaken if this threatened species is to persist in an increasingly impacted environment. v Outcomes of the present study Publications: • Mason, E.D., Burwell, C.J., and A.M. Baker. 2015. Prey of the silver- headed antechinus (Antechinus argentus), a new species of Australian dasyurid marsupial. Australian Mammalogy 37(2): 164-169. • Mason, E.D., Firn, J., Hines, H.B., and A.M. Baker. 2017. Breeding biology and growth in a new, threatened carnivorous marsupial. Mammal Research 62(2): 179-187. • Mason, E.D., Firn, J., Hines, H.B., and A.M. Baker. 2017. Plant diversity and structure describes the presence of a new, threatened Australian marsupial within its highly restricted, post-fire habitat. Accepted for publication in PLOS ONE on 20/07/2017. Threatened species listings: • A. argentus listed as vulnerable under the Nature Conservation Act 1992 in Queensland • A. argentus currently at public consultation stage for listing as endangered under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 in Australia Conservation recommendations: • Controlled fire regimes in areas containing A. argentus habitat should utilize cool fires that produce patchy burns, maximizing spatial variation in severity • Designated unburnt patches should be maintained in A. argentus habitat for 10+ years • Feral animal control measures should be intensified at Kroombit Tops, particularly for cats, cattle, horses and pigs • Queensland threatened species listing for A. argentus should be raised to endangered • A. argentus should be placed on the IUCN Red List vi Table of contents Ecology and conservation of a new carnivorous marsupial species: the silver-headed antechinus (Antechinus argentus) ...................... i Keywords ............................................................................................................. ii Abstract .............................................................................................................. iii Outcomes of the present study .......................................................................... vi Table of contents ............................................................................................... vii List of figures ...................................................................................................... ix List of tables ......................................................................................................
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