Terrestrial vertebrate richness of the inhabited Torres Strait Islands, Australia
Tyrone H. Lavery A C , Justin J. Watson B and Luke K.-P. Leung AA School of Agriculture and Food Sciences, The University of Queensland, Gatton, Qld 4343, Australia.
B Institute for Land, Water and Society, Charles Sturt University, Albury, NSW 2640, Australia.
C Corresponding author. Email: tyrone.lavery@uq.edu.au
Australian Journal of Zoology 60(3) 180-191 https://doi.org/10.1071/ZO12043
Submitted: 22 April 2012 Accepted: 28 August 2012 Published: 9 October 2012
Abstract
Located between New Guinea and Australia, Torres Strait and its islands provide an opportunity to examine the results of recent isolation on the Australo-Papuan fauna. However, records of the modern diversity of terrestrial vertebrates on the islands remained scattered and poorly documented. Analyses of terrestrial vertebrate inventories and physical island variables can provide insight into pre-existing conditions of the Sahul land bridge and useful strategies for conservation efforts. We collated all available records of terrestrial vertebrates from the 17 inhabited islands and supplemented these with our own systematic surveys. We used Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient and nested analysis to determine how species richness relates to physical island variables. We also used cluster analysis to group similar islands based on their vertebrate assemblages. Vertebrate richness is not correlated with Simpson’s habitat diversity but is correlated with total number of habitat types, indicating that rare habitats may contribute disproportionately to richness. The archipelago supports a depauperate Australo-Papuan fauna and the assemblages found on smaller islands are subsets of those on larger islands. Island size is the most effective predictor of species richness, and the analysis reveals that geographically related islands support similar suites of species. The frequency with which our surveys added new records to individual island inventories highlights the need for additional sampling in the region.
References
Almeida-Neto, M., Guimarães, P., Guimarães, P., Loyola, R., and Ulrich, W. (2008). A consistent metric for nestedness analysis in ecological systems: reconciling concept and measurement. Oikos 117, 1227–1239.| A consistent metric for nestedness analysis in ecological systems: reconciling concept and measurement.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Atmar, W., and Patterson, B. (1993). The measure of order and disorder in the distribution of species in fragmented habitat. Oecologia 96, 373–382.
| The measure of order and disorder in the distribution of species in fragmented habitat.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2007). 2006 Census Data. Australian Bureau of Statistics, Canberra
Barham, A. (1999). The local environmental impact of prehistoric populations on Saibai Island, northern Torres Strait, Australia: enigmatic evidence from Holocene swamp lithostratigraphic records. Quaternary International 59, 71–105.
| The local environmental impact of prehistoric populations on Saibai Island, northern Torres Strait, Australia: enigmatic evidence from Holocene swamp lithostratigraphic records.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Belbin, L. (1995). ‘PATN Technical Reference.’ (CSIRO Division of Wildlife and Ecology: Canberra.)
Borsboom, A. (2007). Nomination to re-classify the ‘rare’ Varanus prasinus to ‘near threatened’ under the Nature Conservation Act 1992. Queensland Environmental Protection Agency.
Breed, A. C., Field, H. E., Smith, C. S., Edmonston, J., and Meers, J. (2010). Bats without borders: long-distance movements and implications for disease risk management. EcoHealth 7, 204–212.
| Bats without borders: long-distance movements and implications for disease risk management.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Brown, J. (1971). Mammals on mountaintops: nonequilibrium insular biogeography. American Naturalist 105, 467–478.
| Mammals on mountaintops: nonequilibrium insular biogeography.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Bryant, L. M., Donnellan, S. C., Hurwood, D. A., and Fuller, S. J. (2011). Phylogenetic relationships and divergence date estimates among Australo-Papuan mosaic-tailed rats from the Uromys division (Rodentia: Muridae). Zoologica Scripta 40, 433–447.
| Phylogenetic relationships and divergence date estimates among Australo-Papuan mosaic-tailed rats from the Uromys division (Rodentia: Muridae).Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Burbidge, A., Williams, M., and Abbott, I. (1997). Mammals of Australian islands: factors influencing species richness. Journal of Biogeography 24, 703–715.
| Mammals of Australian islands: factors influencing species richness.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Cameron, E., Cogger, H., and Heatwole, H. (1984). Torres Strait: a natural laboratory. In ‘Vertebrate Zoogeography and Evolution in Australia’. (Eds M. Archer and G. Clayton.) pp. 1151–1155. (Hesperian Press: Carlisle.)
Christidis, L., and Boles, W. (2008). ‘Systematics and Taxonomy of Australian Birds.’ (CSIRO Publishing: Melbourne.)
Clague, C., Freeman, A., Garnett, S., Spencer, H., Whybird, O., and Richards, G. (1999). Spectacled flying-fox, Pteropus conspicillatus. In ‘The Action Plan for Australian Bats’. (Eds A. Duncan, G. B. Baker and N. Montgomery.) pp. 44–45. (Environment Australia: Canberra.)
Clarke, K., and Green, R. (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 |
Clarke, K., and Warwick, R. (1994). ‘Change in Marine Communities: an Approach to Statistical Analysis and Interpretation.’ (Natural Environment Research Council, Plymouth Marine Laboratory: Plymouth, UK.)
Clarke, R. (2004a). A record of the emerald monitor Varanus prasinus from Boigu Island, Torres Strait, Australia. Herpetofauna 34, 70–71.
Clarke, R. (2004b). The avifauna of northern Torres Strait: notes on a wet season visit. Australian Field Ornithology 21, 49–66.
Clarke, R. (2006). Papuan spine-tailed swifts Mearnsia novaeguineae on Boigu Island, Torres Strait, Queensland. Australian Field Ornithology 23, 125–129.
Clarke, R. (2007). An orange-bellied fruit-dove Ptilinopus iozonus on Boigu Island, Torres Strait: the first record for Australian territory. Australian Field Ornithology 24, 44–48.
Clarke, R., Gosford, R., Boyle, A., Sisson, L., and Ewen, J. (2010). A specimen record of the little paradise-kingfisher Tanysiptera hydrocharis from Torres Strait, Queensland: a new bird for Australian territory. Australian Field Ornithology 27, 165–173.
Conics Pty Ltd. (2009). Habitat and Fauna Assessment – St Pauls Community, Moa Island. Unpublished report to TSRA Land & Sea Management Unit.
Cutler, A. (1991). Nested faunas and extinction in fragmented habitats. Conservation Biology 5, 496–504.
| Nested faunas and extinction in fragmented habitats.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Diamond, J. (1972). Biogeographic kinetics: estimation of relaxation times for avifaunas of southwest Pacific islands. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 69, 3199–3203.
| Biogeographic kinetics: estimation of relaxation times for avifaunas of southwest Pacific islands.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 1:STN:280:DC%2BC3cngslanug%3D%3D&md5=67765144edf2cd9398bb5f709e29fce7CAS |
Diver, K. (2008). Not as the crow flies: assessing effective isolation for island biogeographical analysis. Journal of Biogeography 35, 1040–1048.
| Not as the crow flies: assessing effective isolation for island biogeographical analysis.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Donnellan, S., Couper, P., Saint, K., and Wheaton, L. (2009). Systematics of the Carlia ‘fusca’ complex (Reptilia: Scincidae) from northern Australia. Zootaxa 2227, 1–31.
Draffan, R., Garnett, S., and Malone, G. (1983). Birds of the Torres Strait: an annotated list and biogeographical analysis. Emu 83, 207–234.
| Birds of the Torres Strait: an annotated list and biogeographical analysis.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Fernández-Juricic, E. (2002). Can human disturbance promote nestedness? A case study with breeding birds in urban habitat fragments. Oecologia 131, 269–278.
| Can human disturbance promote nestedness? A case study with breeding birds in urban habitat fragments.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Flannery, T. (1995a). ‘The Mammals of New Guinea.’ (Cornell University Press: Ithaca, NY.)
Flannery, T. (1995b). ‘Mammals of the South-west Pacific and Moluccan Islands.’ (Reed Books: Sydney.)
Gotelli, N., and Colwell, R. (2001). Quantifying biodiversity: procedures and pitfalls in the measurement and comparison of species richness. Ecology Letters 4, 379–391.
| Quantifying biodiversity: procedures and pitfalls in the measurement and comparison of species richness.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Grant, J., and Leung, L. K.-P. (1993). Wet Season Terrestrial Fauna Survey of the Lockerbie Scrub, Cape York Peninsula. A report to the Queensland Department of Environment and Heritage.
Grant, J., and Leung, L. K.-P. (1994). Storm Season Terrestrial Fauna Survey of the Lockerbie Scrub, Cape York Peninsula. A report to the Queensland Department of Environment and Heritage.
Guimarães, P., and Guimarães, P. (2006). Improving the analyses of nestedness for large sets of matrices. Environmental Modelling & Software 21, 1512–1513.
| Improving the analyses of nestedness for large sets of matrices.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Hall, L. (2008). Large-eared flying-fox Pteropus macrotis. In ‘The Mammals of Australia’. (Eds S. Van Dyck and R. Strahan.) pp. 441–442. (Reed New Holland: Sydney.)
Harvey, M. B., Barker, D. G., Ammerman, L. K., and Chippindale, P. T. (2000). Systematics of pythons of the Morelia amethistina complex (Serpentes: Boidae) with the description of three new species. Herpetological Monograph 14, 139–185.
| Systematics of pythons of the Morelia amethistina complex (Serpentes: Boidae) with the description of three new species.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Heaney, L. R. (1984). Mammalian species richness on islands on the Sunda Shelf, southeast Asia. Oecologia 61, 11–17.
| Mammalian species richness on islands on the Sunda Shelf, southeast Asia.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Helgen, K. (2004). On the identity of flying-foxes, genus Pteropus (Mammalia: Chiroptera), from islands in the Torres Strait, Australia. Zootaxa 780, 1–14.
Higgins, P., and Davies, S. (Eds) (1996). ‘Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds. Volumes 1–7.’ (Oxford University Press: Melbourne.)
Hitchcock, G., Conaty, S., Fell, D., Gordon, G., Reis, T., and Stanton, D. (in press). Range extension of the short-beaked echidna Tachyglossus aculeatus (Monotremata: Tachyglossidae) and the northern brown bandicoot Isoodon macrourus (Marsupialia: Peramelidae) in Queensland: Mua (Moa Island), Torres Strait. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum , .
Ingram, G. (2008). The terrestrial vertebrates of Mua, western Torres Strait. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum Cultural Heritage Series 4, 619–628.
Ingram, G., and Caneris, C. (2004). Fauna assessment report: high frequency surface wave extended coastal area radar (SECAR) and DSTO projects, Dauan Island, Torres Strait. A report to Daronmont Technologies. Biodiversity Assessment and Management Pty Ltd.
Keppel, G., Buckley, Y. M., and Possingham, H. P. (2010). Drivers of lowland rain forest community assembly, species diversity and forest structure on islands in the tropical South Pacific. Journal of Ecology 98, 87–95.
| Drivers of lowland rain forest community assembly, species diversity and forest structure on islands in the tropical South Pacific.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Kerle, J. (2008). Grassland melomys Melomys burtoni. In ‘The Mammals of Australia’. (Eds S. Van Dyck and R. Strahan.) pp. 667–669. (Reed New Holland: Sydney.)
King, M., Sadlier, R., and Horner, P. (1989). A note on the status of Gehyra baliola (Duméril and Duméril, 1851) in Australia. The Beagle 6, 163–167.
Latch, P. (1998). Recovery plan for the Bramble Cay melomys Melomys rubicola. Report to the Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, Canberra. Queensland Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane.
Lawlor, T. (1986). Comparative biogeography of mammals on islands. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. Linnean Society of London 28, 99–125.
| Comparative biogeography of mammals on islands.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Leary, T., and Pennay, M. (2011). Echolocation calls of eight microchiroptera from Papua New Guinea. In ‘The Biology and Conservation of Australasian Bats’. (Eds B. Law, P. Eby, D. Lunney and L. Lumsden.) pp. 106–127. (Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales: Mosman)
MacArthur, R. H., and Wilson, E. O. (1967). ‘The Theory of Island Biogeography.’ (Princeton University Press: Princeton, NJ.)
Mayr, E., and Diamond, J. (2001). ‘The Birds of Northern Melanesia: Speciation, Ecology & Biogeography.’ (Oxford University Press: New York.)
McNiven, I. (2008). Inclusions, exclusions and transitions: Torres Strait islander constructed landscapes over the past 4000 years, northeast Australia. The Holocene 18, 449–462.
| Inclusions, exclusions and transitions: Torres Strait islander constructed landscapes over the past 4000 years, northeast Australia.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
McNiven, I., and Hitchcock, G. (2004). Torres Strait islander marine subsistence specialisation and terrestrial animal translocation. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum Cultural Heritage Series 3, 1–59.
Menkhorst, P., and Knight, F. (2004). ‘A Field Guide to the Mammals of Australia.’ (Oxford University Press: Melbourne.)
Menzies, J. (2006). ‘The Frogs of New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.’ (Pensoft Publishers: Sofia.)
Meyer, C., and Kalko, E. (2008). Bat assemblages on Neotropical land‐bridge islands: nested subsets and null model analyses of species co‐occurrence patterns. Diversity & Distributions 14, 644–654.
| Bat assemblages on Neotropical land‐bridge islands: nested subsets and null model analyses of species co‐occurrence patterns.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Milne, D. (2002). Key to the Bat Calls of the Top End of the Northern Territory. Parks and Wildlife Commission of the Northern Territory, Darwin. Technical Report No. 71.
Mitchell, P. (1988). Unusual sighting reports. Series 68. Bird Observer 674, 38–39.
Moore, D. (1979). ‘Islanders and Aborigines at Cape York.’ (Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies: Canberra.)
Niland, D. (1996). Additional birds for Moa Island, Torres Strait. The Sunbird 26, 19.
Nix, H., and Kalma, J. (1972). ‘Climate as a dominant control in the biogeography of northern Australia and New Guinea.’ (ANU Press: Canberra.)
Okie, J., and Brown, J. (2009). Niches, body sizes, and the disassembly of mammal communities on the Sunda Shelf islands. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 106, 19 679–19 684.
| Niches, body sizes, and the disassembly of mammal communities on the Sunda Shelf islands.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 1:CAS:528:DC%2BC3cXntFKmsLs%3D&md5=0ff84dbdf74e9f9e35bddfa241e50ffdCAS |
Patterson, B., and Atmar, W. (1986). Nested subsets and the structure of insular mammalian faunas and archipelagos. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. Linnean Society of London 28, 65–82.
| Nested subsets and the structure of insular mammalian faunas and archipelagos.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Queensland Department of Environment and Heritage Protection. (2012). WildNet (Database). Queensland Department of Environment and Heritage Protection: Brisbane.
Reinhold, L., Law, B., Ford, G., and Pennay, M. (2001). ‘Key to the Bat Calls of South-east Queensland and North-east New South Wales.’ (Department of Natural Resources and Mines: Brisbane.)
Schodde, R., and Calaby, J. (1972). The biogeography of the Australo-Papuan bird and mammal faunas in relation to Torres Strait. In ‘Bridge and Barrier: the Natural and Cultural History of Torres Strait’. (Ed. D. Walker.) pp. 257–300. (Australian National University: Canberra.)
Simberloff, D., and Martin, J. (1991). Nestedness of insular avifaunas: simple summary statistics masking complex species patterns. Ornis Fennica 68, 178–192.
Simpson, E. H. (1949). Measurement of diversity. Nature 163, 688.
| Measurement of diversity.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Stanton, D., Fell, D., and Gooding, D. (2008). Vegetation communities and regional ecosystems of the Torres Strait islands – an accompaniment to land zone, vegetation community and regional ecosystem maps. Unpublished report to TSRA Land & Sea Management Unit.
Sutherland, W. (2006). ‘Ecological Census Techniques: a Handbook.’ 2nd edn. (Cambridge University Press: Cambridge & New York.)
Taylor, J., and Horner, B. (1973). Results of the Archibold Expeditions. No. 98 Systematics of native Australian Rattus (Rodentia, Muridae). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 150, 11–15.
Thompson, G., and Thompson, S. (2007). Using species accumulation curves to estimate trapping effort in fauna surveys and species richness. Austral Ecology 32, 564–569.
| Using species accumulation curves to estimate trapping effort in fauna surveys and species richness.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Thornton, I., New, T., Zann, R., and Rawlinson, P. (1990). Colonization of the Krakatau islands by animals: a perspective from the 1980s. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series B 328, 131–165.
| Colonization of the Krakatau islands by animals: a perspective from the 1980s.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Van Dyck, S., and Strahan, R. (2008). ‘The Mammals of Australia.’ (Reed New Holland: Sydney.)
Whittier, J., and Moeller, D. (1993). Varanus prasinus (the emerald goanna) on Moa Island, Torres Strait, Australia. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 34, 130.
Willmott, W. (1972). 1 : 250 000 Geological Series – Explanatory Notes, Daru-Maer. (Bureau of Mineral Resources, Geology and Geophysics. Australian Government Publishing Service: Canberra)
Willmott, W. F., and Powell, B. S. (1977). Torres Strait–Boigu–Daru, Queensland 1 : 250 000. In ‘Geological Series – Explanatory Notes, Sheets SC/54–12, SC/54–7 and SC/54–8.’ (Bureau of Mineral Resources, Geology and Geophysics. Australian Government Publishing Service: Canberra.)
Wilson, S., and Swan, G. (2010). ‘A Complete Guide to Reptiles of Australia.’ 3rd edn. (Reed New Holland: Sydney.)
Woinarski, J. (2010). Biodiversity conservation in tropical forest landscapes of Oceania. Biological Conservation 143, 2385–2394.
| Biodiversity conservation in tropical forest landscapes of Oceania.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Woinarski, J., Horner, P., Fisher, A., Brennan, K., Lindner, D., Gambold, N., Chatto, R., and Morris, I. (1999a). Distributional patterning of terrestrial herpetofauna on the Wessel and English Company Island groups, northeastern Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia. Australian Journal of Ecology 24, 60–79.
| Distributional patterning of terrestrial herpetofauna on the Wessel and English Company Island groups, northeastern Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Woinarski, J., Palmer, C., Fisher, A., Southgate, R., Masters, P., and Brennan, K. (1999b). Distributional patterning of mammals on the Wessel and English Company Islands, Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia. Australian Journal of Zoology 47, 87–111.
| Distributional patterning of mammals on the Wessel and English Company Islands, Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Woinarski, J., Fisher, A., Brennan, K., Morris, I., and Chatto, R. (2001). Patterns of bird species richness and composition on islands off Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia. Austral Ecology 26, 1–13.
Woodroffe, C., Kennedy, D., Rasmussen, C., and Smithers, S. (2000). Holocene reef growth in Torres Strait. Marine Geology 170, 331–346.
| Holocene reef growth in Torres Strait.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Wright, D., Patterson, B., Mikkelson, G., Cutler, A., and Atmar, W. (1997). A comparative analysis of nested subset patterns of species composition. Oecologia 113, 1–20.
| A comparative analysis of nested subset patterns of species composition.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |