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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 32(1)

Search for cryptic Pseudomys shortridgei in suitable habitat in the south-east of South Australia

Nerissa Haby A B C and Darren Herpich A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Regional Conservation South East, Department for Environment and Heritage, GPO Box 1047, Adelaide, SA 5001, Australia.

B School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Adelaide, North Terrace Campus, University of Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia.

C Corresponding author. Email: nerissa.haby@adelaide.edu.au

Australian Mammalogy 32(1) 47-55 https://doi.org/10.1071/AM09022
Submitted: 30 August 2009  Accepted: 12 January 2010   Published: 24 March 2010

Abstract

Pseudomys shortridgei has been recorded from a restricted and fragmented distribution across southern Australia. Fossil deposits represented the species in mainland South Australia. However, the discovery of an extant population of P. shortridgei in the lower south-east of South Australia, and its morphological similarity to the more common Rattus fuscipes and R. lutreolus highlighted the need to verify the current distribution of the species. Existing vegetation community and systematic baseline biological survey data were used in a fast, cost-effective and systematic desktop assessment to identify the distribution of potentially suitable habitat. Attributes within 12 spatial layers were assigned a value of ecological relevance, reclassified and combined using weighted overlay analysis in ESRI ArcGIS 9.1. At ground-truthed sites, randomly assigned to the most suitable habitat within the ‘equal weightings’ output, understorey had been poorly represented by available data and some vegetation community classifications were no longer current. Despite this limitation, potentially suitable habitat was located within three remnants and targeted in a small mammal survey. From 1459 trap-nights, only Antechinus flavipes, R. fuscipes, Isoodon obesulus obesulus, Austrelaps superbus and Mus musculus were captured. It is unlikely that P. shortridgei inhabits the remnants targeted; however, further field surveys targeting smaller remnants or vegetation communities poorly represented by existing data used in the desktop assessment are recommended.


Acknowledgements

This research was funded by a Native Vegetation Council, Native Vegetation Fund Grant, supported by the Department for Environment and Heritage (DEH) and ForestrySA, conducted under Research Permit no. M25578 1 and approved by the Department for Environment and Heritage’s Wildlife Ethics Committee. We are grateful for the contributions made by Troy Horn, Bryan Haywood, Rob Mengler (ForestrySA), Sharn Lucas (PIRSA Forestry), Randall Johnson, Bron Stratman and Pam Catcheside (DEH) during the course of this project and Tim Croft (DEH), Cath Kemper (SA Museum), Anthony C. Robinson and Helen Vonow (DEH) for their valuable critique of the draft manuscript.


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