Movements of platypuses around and through instream structures and natural barriers in the Jenolan Karst Conservation Reserve, New South Wales

Anne Musser; Tom Grant; Eren Turak

doi:10.1071/AM23031

RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)

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Movements of platypuses around and through instream structures and natural barriers in the Jenolan Karst Conservation Reserve, New South Wales

Anne Musser

^A ^B ^* , Tom Grant

^C and Eren Turak

^D

+ Author Affiliations

- Author Affiliations

^A Palaeontology, Australian Museum Research Institute, Australian Museum, Sydney, NSW, Australia.

^B Jenolan Caves Reserve Trust, Jenolan, NSW, Australia.

^C School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia.

^D NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (NSW DCCEEW), Parramatta, NSW, Australia.

^* Correspondence to: anne.musser@jenolancaves.org.au

Handling Editor: Ross Goldingay

Australian Mammalogy 46, AM23031 https://doi.org/10.1071/AM23031

Submitted: 20 June 2023 Accepted: 31 December 2023 Published: 23 January 2024

© 2024 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of the Australian Mammal Society. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)

Abstract

Severe flooding in early 2020 and 2021 necessitated major desedimentation works at the iconic Blue Lake in the Jenolan Karst Conservation Reserve (JKCR). Movements and behaviour of platypuses were monitored before, during and after these works, using direct observations, remote cameras and environmental DNA (eDNA) sampling. Platypuses were observed along a 3 km reach of the Jenolan River, including the areas where works occurred, although in low numbers. In their use of the available waterways, platypuses negotiated artificial barriers, including a 10 m high dam, two smaller weirs and natural waterfalls and cascades. Overland movements were detected through vegetation tunnels, drainage pipes and culverts, and individuals were seen entering the cave system, where eDNA was also detected. Platypuses responded to the works activity by foraging outside the affected areas but also continued to traverse these areas from time to time. We describe movements around and through instream infrastructure and past natural barriers and report on other species detected by remote cameras. These observations could help planning and deployment of bypasses suitable for movement of platypuses around anthropogenic barriers and provide insights into impediments to dispersal and gene flow within stream systems.

Keywords: Blue Lake, caves, dispersal, genetic connectivity, habitat disturbance, instream barriers, instream infrastructure, Jenolan Karst Conservation Reserve, Monotremata, Ornithorhynchidae, platypus.

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