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Rocky landform specialists of the Mount Isa Inlier: camera trapping reveals seasonal occupancy and habitat associations of a unique faunal assemblage in an ancient landscape

Jarrad Barnes , Elizabeth Brunton, Mark Sanders, Christofer Clemente

Abstract

Rocky landforms offer a complex and persistent habitat for a diverse range of fauna. The Mount Isa Inlier bioregion of northwest Queensland is dominated by such landforms, but the faunal assemblage inhabiting them has received scant attention. We conducted a 13-month camera trap study at 60 camera stations, totalling 21,965 camera days, aimed at detecting the faunal assemblage present on these landforms. We categorised each identified taxa as either a rocky landform specialist or non-specialist. We implemented a multi-season community occupancy model for 15 identified specialists to assess how they utilised rocky landforms over the course of a year, and according to a suite of environmental characteristics. Rates of use of rocky landforms increased in November and decreased in April. At the community level we found higher rates of use of south and west slopes than north slopes, higher rates of use of rocky hills than jumpups, and higher rates of use of metamorphic and igneous geologies than sedimentary ones. We provide the first evidence of this unique community’s use of the landscape through both space and time and highlight broad site characteristics of candidate areas in which to focus future management and conservation initiatives.

ZO24030  Accepted 10 February 2025

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