SOUTHERN HAIRY-NOSED WOMBATS: WHEN, WHERE, HOW MANY, AND WHY Michael Swinbourne Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Biological Sciences The University of Adelaide November 2018 - ii - Preface This thesis contains a combination of published manuscripts (chapters 2, 3, 4 and 7), manuscripts that have been submitted to a journal and are under review at the time of submission of this thesis (chapters 5 and 6), chapters that will be modified and submitted for publication at a later date (chapters 8 and 9), and chapters that are not intended for publication other than as part of this thesis (chapters 1 and 10). To ensure consistency and for ease of readability, all manuscripts are presented in a similar format – i.e. published manuscripts have been reformatted from the format that was used by the relevant journals – although there may be some slight differences between them. In reformatting the published manuscript, some of the figures / images have been modified from the published versions by resizing or recolouring (some journals require black and white images). - iii - Table of Contents Preface ...................................................................................................................................... iii Table of Contents ..................................................................................................................... iv List of Figures ........................................................................................................................... x List of Tables ........................................................................................................................... xv Abstract .................................................................................................................................. xvi Declaration ............................................................................................................................. xix Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................. xx Chapter 1: A review of our current understanding of the distribution and abundance of southern hairy-nosed wombats (Lasiorhinus latifrons)............................................................. 1 Abstract ............................................................................................................................................... 1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 1 Current and recent distribution ............................................................................................................ 3 Murraylands ................................................................................................................................................... 5 Yorke Peninsula ............................................................................................................................................. 7 Eyre Peninsula ................................................................................................................................................ 8 Gawler Ranges / Lake Harris ......................................................................................................................... 9 Lake Acraman. ......................................................................................................................................... 10 Lake Harris. ............................................................................................................................................. 11 Nullarbor Plain ............................................................................................................................................. 11 Western Australia ......................................................................................................................................... 12 New South Wales ......................................................................................................................................... 13 Overall distribution ........................................................................................................................... 14 Methodology to estimate abundance ................................................................................................. 16 Counting warrens / burrows ......................................................................................................................... 17 Index of wombats per active burrow ............................................................................................................ 17 Population estimates .......................................................................................................................... 19 Broad scale vs fine scale population surveys ............................................................................................... 22 Conclusions and recommendations for further research ................................................................... 23 References ......................................................................................................................................... 25 Statement of Authorship - Historical changes in the distribution of hairy-nosed wombats (Lasiorhinus spp.): a review .................................................................................................... 30 Chapter 2: Historical changes in the distribution of hairy-nosed wombats (Lasiorhinus spp.): a review ...................................................................................................................................... 31 Abstract ............................................................................................................................................. 31 Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 31 Methods ............................................................................................................................................. 33 - iv - Southern hairy-nosed wombats: historical distribution and history of population change ............... 34 Adelaide Plains and the Adelaide Hills ........................................................................................................ 34 Murraylands ................................................................................................................................................. 36 Along the Murray River ............................................................................................................................... 38 Yorke Peninsula and the mid-north .............................................................................................................. 38 Eyre Peninsula.............................................................................................................................................. 40 Nullarbor Plains and the west coast ............................................................................................................. 43 Gawler Ranges ............................................................................................................................................. 45 Kangaroo Island ........................................................................................................................................... 47 Other regions of South Australia .................................................................................................................. 47 Northern hairy-nosed wombats: historical distribution and history of population change ............... 48 New South Wales Riverina .......................................................................................................................... 48 Wellington Caves and central / northern NSW ............................................................................................ 51 Southern Queensland ................................................................................................................................... 52 Central Queensland ...................................................................................................................................... 54 Other Queensland locations ......................................................................................................................... 55 Conclusions and Recommendations for Further Research ............................................................... 56 Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................... 58 References ......................................................................................................................................... 59 Statement of Authorship - Using satellite imagery to assess the distribution and abundance of southern hairy-nosed wombats (Lasiorhinus latifrons) ........................................................... 72 Chapter 3: Using satellite imagery to assess the distribution and abundance of southern hairy- nosed wombats (Lasiorhinus latifrons) ................................................................................... 73 Abstract ............................................................................................................................................