Terrestrial mammals of the south-western Little Sandy Desert, Western Australia
A. N. Start A D , A. A. Burbidge A B , P. G. Kendrick C and N. L. McKenzie A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Wildlife Research Centre, Department of Environment and Conservation, PO Box 51, Wanneroo, WA 6946, Australia.
B Current address: 87 Rosedale Street, Floreat, WA 6014, Australia.
C Department of Environment and Conservation, PO Box 835, Karratha, WA 6714, Australia.
D Corresponding author. Email: tonys@wn.com.au
Australian Mammalogy 35(1) 54-64 https://doi.org/10.1071/AM12010
Submitted: 20 February 2012 Accepted: 14 June 2012 Published: 26 October 2012
Abstract
The mammal fauna of the south-western Little Sandy Desert was systematically surveyed during three visits to each of five sites at three locations representing the array of surfaces in the biogeomorphic landscape of the study area. A fourth, less systematic, expedition revisited one location and sampled two new ones. Nineteen extant, native species and seven exotic species were recorded. Fourteen extant species were below the Critical Weight Range (CWR), two (both large macropods) were above it and three (a monotreme, a rodent and a dasyurid) were within it. Another five CWR species may persist but were not recorded. An additional 19 species, all within the CWR, are thought to have occurred in the area but are now presumed extinct or locally extinct; we recorded evidence for the former presence of four of them. Surface type was an important determinant of habitat and spatially minor surfaces were disproportionately diverse but differed in their relevance to indigenous and exotic species respectively. Sandstone ranges had the richest indigenous faunas and six extant species were restricted to that habitat. Loam and clay surfaces had the richest exotic faunas.
Additional keywords: CWR, extant, extinct, survey.
References
Abbott, I. (2006). Mammalian faunal collapse in Western Australia, 1875–1925: the hypothesised role of epizootic disease and a conceptual model of its origin, introduction, transmission, and spread. Australian Zoologist 33, 530–561.Anon. (1995). Bullen: 1 : 250 000 geological series map sheet SG 51–1 and explanatory notes. Geological Survey of Western Australia, Department of Minerals and Energy, Perth.
Beard, J. S. (1975). Vegetation Survey of Western Australia, 1 : 1 000 000 Vegetation Series. Sheet 5 Pilbara. Map and Explanatory Notes. University of Western Australia Press, Perth.
Belbin, L. (1980). TWOSTEP: a program incorporating asymmetric comparisons that uses two steps to produce a dissimilarity matrix. Technical Memorandum 80/9. CSIRO Division of Land Use Research, Canberra.
Belbin, L. (1995). PATN technical reference. CSIRO Division of Wildlife and Ecology, Canberra.
Benshemesh, J. (2004). Recovery plan for marsupial moles Notoryctes typhlops and N. caurinus. 2005–2010. Northern Territory Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Environment, Alice Springs.
Benshemesh, J., and Aplin, K. P. (2008). Kakarrutul, Notoryctes caurinus Thomas 1920. In ‘The Mammals of Australia’. 3rd edn. (Eds S. Van Dyck, and R. Strahan.) pp. 410–411. (Reed New Holland: Sydney.)
Breed, W. G. (2008). Sandy inland mouse Pseudomys hermannsburgensis (Waite 1896). In ‘The Mammals of Australia’. 3rd edn. (Eds S. Van Dyck, and R. Strahan.) pp. 636–637. (Reed New Holland: Sydney.)
Burbidge, A. A., and McKenzie, N. L. (1989). Patterns in the modern decline of Western Australia’s vertebrate fauna: causes and conservation implications. Biological Conservation 50, 143–198.
| Patterns in the modern decline of Western Australia’s vertebrate fauna: causes and conservation implications.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Burbidge, A. A., McKenzie, N. L., Chapman, A., and Lambert, P. (1976). The wildlife of some existing and proposed reserves in the Great Victoria and Gibson Deserts. Wildlife Research Bulletin Western Australia No. 5. Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Perth.
Burbidge, A. A., Johnston, K. A., Fuller, P. J., and Southgate, R. I. (1988). Aboriginal knowledge of the mammals of the central deserts of Australia. Australian Wildlife Research 15, 9–39.
| Aboriginal knowledge of the mammals of the central deserts of Australia.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Burbidge, A. A., Short, J., and Fuller, P. J. (2007). Relict Bettongia lesueur warrens in Western Australia. Australian Zoologist 34, 97–103.
Burbidge, A. A., McKenzie, N. L., Brennan, K. E. C., Woinsarski, J. C. Z., Dickman, C. R., Baynes, A., Gordon, G., Menkhorst, P. W., and Robinson, A. C. (2009). Conservation status and biogeography of Australia’s terrestrial mammals. Australian Journal of Zoology 56, 411–422.
| Conservation status and biogeography of Australia’s terrestrial mammals.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Burrows, N. D., and Christensen, P. E. S. (1990). A survey of Aboriginal fire patterns in the Western Desert of Australia. In ‘Proceedings of an International Symposium on Fire and the Environment: Ecological and Cultural Perspectives’. pp. 297–305. General technical report SE-69. (United States Forest Service, Southern Forest Experimental Station: Knoxville, TN.)
Clarke, K. R., and Green, R. H. (1988). Statistical design and analysis for a ‘biological effects’ study. Marine Ecology Progress Series 46, 213–226.
| Statistical design and analysis for a ‘biological effects’ study.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Copley, P. (1988). The stick-nest rats of Australia. National Parks and Wildlife Service, South Australian Department of Environment and Planning, Adelaide.
Cowan, M., and Kendrick, P. (2003). Little Sandy Desert 2 (LSD2 – Trainor subregion). In ‘A Biodiversity Audit of Western Australia’s Biogeographical Subregions in 2002’. (Eds N. L. McKenzie and J. E. May.) pp. 413–422. (Department of Conservation and Land Management: Perth.)
Davies, S. J. J. F. (1986). A biology of the desert fringe. Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia 68, 37–50.
Diniz-Filho, J. A. F., Bini, L. M., and Hawkins, B. A. (2003). Spatial autocorrelation and red herrings in geographical ecology. Global Ecology and Biogeography 12, 53–64.
| Spatial autocorrelation and red herrings in geographical ecology.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Foulkes, N. J. (2008). Ooldea dunnart Sminthopsis ooldea Troughton 1965. In ‘The Mammals of Australia’. 3rd edn. (Eds S. Van Dyck, and R. Strahan.) pp. 154–156. (Reed New Holland: Sydney.)
Gibson, L. A., and McKenzie, N. L. (2009). Environmental associations of small ground-dwelling mammals in the Pilbara region, Western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum 78, 91–122.
Giles, E. (1889). ‘Australian Twice Traversed: The Romance of Exploration, being a Narrative Compiled from the Journals of Five Exploring Expeditions into and through Central South Australia and Western Australia from 1872 to 1876.’ (Sampson Low, Marston, Searle and Rivington: London.)
Glauert, L. (1933). The distribution of the marsupials in Western Australia. Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Western Australia 19, 17–32.
Jones, R. (1969). Fire-stick farming. Australian Natural History 16, 224–228.
Kerle, J. A., Kutt, A. S., and Read, J. L. (2008). Desert mouse Pseudomys desertor Troughton 1932. In ‘The Mammals of Australia’. 3rd edn. (Eds S. Van Dyck, and R. Strahan.) pp. 625–626. (Reed New Holland: Sydney.)
Kimber, R. G. (1983). Black lightning: Aborigines and fire in central Australia and the Western Desert. Archaeology in Oceania 18, 38–45.
Kutt, A. S., Thurgate, N. Y., and Hannah, D. S. (2004). Distribution and habitat preference of the desert mouse (Pseudomys desertor) in Queensland. Wildlife Research 31, 129–142.
| Distribution and habitat preference of the desert mouse (Pseudomys desertor) in Queensland.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
McKenzie, N. L., and Youngson, W. K. (1983). Mammals. In ‘Wildlife of the Great Sandy Desert, Western Australia’. (Eds A. A. Burbidge and N. L. McKenzie.) pp. 62–93. Wildlife Research Bulletin Western Australia No. 12. (Department of Fisheries and Wildlife: Perth.)
McKenzie, N. L., Youngson, W. K., Burbidge, A. A., and Chapman, A. (1979). Mammals. In ‘The Wildlife of some Existing and Proposed Reserves in the Gibson, Little Sandy and Great Victoria Deserts, Western Australia’. (Eds N. L. McKenzie and A. A. Burbidge.) pp. 16–21. Wildlife Research Bulletin Western Australia No. 8. (Department of Fisheries and Wildlife: Perth.)
McKenzie, N. L., Rolf, J. K., and Youngson, W. K. (1994). Vertebrate Fauna. In ‘The Biological Survey of the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia, Part 10: Sandstone – Sir Samual and Laverton – Leonora Study Areas’. Records of the Western Australian Museum. Supplement 47, 51–84.
McKenzie, N. L., Hall, N., and Muir, W. P. (2000). Non-volant mammals of the southern Carnarvon basin, Western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum 61, 479–510.
McKenzie, N. L., Start, A. N., and Bullen, R. D. (2002). Foraging ecology and organization of a desert bat fauna. Australian Journal of Zoology 50, 529–548.
| Foraging ecology and organization of a desert bat fauna.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
McKenzie, N. L., Burbidge, A. A., Baynes, A., Brereton, R., Dickman, C. R., Gibson, L. A., Gordon, G., Menkhorst, R. W., Robinson, A. C., Williams, M. R., and Woinarski, J. C. Z. (2007). Analysis of factors implicated in the recent decline of Australia’s mammalian fauna. Journal of Biogeography 34, 597–611.
| Analysis of factors implicated in the recent decline of Australia’s mammalian fauna.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Menkhorst, P., and Knight, F. (2001). ‘A Field Guide to the Mammals of Australia.’ (Oxford University Press: Melbourne.)
Morgan, G. (2001). ‘Landscape health in Australia: a rapid assessment of the relative condition of the bioregions and subregions of Australia.’ (National Land Water Resources Audit and Environment Australia: Canberra.)
Robinson, A. C. (2008a). Lesser stick-nest rat Leporillus apicalis (Gould, 1853). In ‘The Mammals of Australia’. 3rd edn. (Eds S. Van Dyck, and R. Strahan.) pp. 585–586. (Reed New Holland: Sydney.)
Robinson, A. C. (2008b). Greater stick-nest rat Leporillus conditor (Sturt 1848). In ‘The Mammals of Australia’. 3rd edn. (Eds S. Van Dyck, and R. Strahan.) pp. 587–588. (Reed New Holland: Sydney.)
Rosenberg, M. S., and Anderson, C. D. (2011). PASSaGE: pattern analysis, spatial statistics and geographic exegesis. Version 2. Methods in Ecology and Evolution 2, 229–232.
| PASSaGE: pattern analysis, spatial statistics and geographic exegesis. Version 2.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Sneath, P. H. A., and Sokal, R. R. (1973). ‘Numerical Taxonomy. The Principles and Practice of Numerical Classification.’ (W.H. Freeman: San Francisco.)
Start, A. N. (2000). A review of the biology and conservation status of the ngadji or western pebble-mound mouse, Pseudomys chapmani Kitchener, 1980 (Rodentia: Muridae). CALMScience 3, 125–147.
Start, A. N., Kendrick, P., and McKenzie, N. L. (2008). Biota of the Mandora system, Western Australia: mammals. Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia 91, 209–217.
Thackway, R., and Cresswell, I. D. (Eds) (1995). ‘An Interim Bioregionalisation for Australia: a Framework for Setting Priorities in the National Reserve System Cooperative Program.’ (Australian Nature Conservation Agency: Canberra.)
Van Dyck, S., and Strahan, R. (Eds.) (2008). ‘The Mammals of Australia’. 3rd edn. (Reed New Holland: Sydney.)
van Leeuwen, S. (Ed.) (2002). Biological survey of the south-western Little Sandy Desert. Final report to the National Reserves System Program, Project N706. Parks Australia, Canberra.
