A revised set of propositions about ecology in arid Australia is presented, based on research literature since publication of Stafford Smith and Morton (1990). Fourteen propositions distil our ...argument that most features of the Australian deserts are explicable in terms of two dominant physical and climatic elements: rainfall variability, leading to extended droughts and occasional flooding rains; and widespread nutrient poverty. Different landscapes within the arid zone show these features to varying degrees, and so it is important to think about different places separately when considering our propositions. Plant life-histories strongly reflect temporal patterns of soil moisture; because Australian deserts receive more variable rainfall than most others, there is a distinctive spectrum of life-histories. Low levels of phosphorus (together with abundant soil moisture on irregular occasions) favour plants producing a relative excess of carbohydrate (C). In turn, C-rich plant products sometimes lead to fire-prone ecosystems, assemblages dominated by consumers of sap and other C-based products, and abundant detritivores (particularly termites). Fluctuations in production due to variable rainfall provide openings for consumers with opportunistic life-histories, including inhabitants of extensive but ephemeral rivers and lakes. Most consumer species exhibit some dietary flexibility or utilise more dependable resources; these strategies give rise to greater stability in species dynamics and composition of assemblages than might first be imagined under the variable rainfall regime. Aboriginal people have had long-standing ecological influence as they accessed resources. For each proposition we suggest the extent to which it is ‘different’, ‘accentuated’ or ‘universal’ in comparison with other deserts of the world, recognising that this categorisation is in need of critical testing. Further tests of each proposition are also suggested to fill the many gaps that still exist in our knowledge of the structure and functioning of Australia’s deserts.
► Revised propositions about arid Australia are presented based on research since Stafford Smith and Morton (1990, Journal of Arid Environments 18, 255-278. ► Australian plant life-histories distinctively reflect variable temporal patterns of soil moisture. ► Low phosphorus levels favour plants producing a relative excess of carbohydrate, leading to fire-proneness and abundant detritivores. ► Irregular fluctuations in production due to variable rainfall encourage consumers with opportunistic life-histories.
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Resources are produced in pulses in many terrestrial environments, and have important effects on the population dynamics and assemblage structure of animals that consume them. Resource‐pulsing is ...particularly dramatic in Australian desert environments owing to marked spatial and temporal variability in rainfall, and thus primary productivity. Here, we first review how Australia's desert mammals respond to fluctuations in resource production, and evaluate the merits of three currently accepted models (the ecological refuge, predator refuge and fire‐mosaic models) as explanations of the observed dynamics. We then integrate elements of these models into a novel state‐and‐transition model and apply it to well‐studied small mammal assemblages that inhabit the vast hummock grassland, or spinifex, landscapes of the continental inland. The model has four states that are defined by differences in species composition and abundance, and eight transitions or processes that prompt shifts from one state to another. Using this model as a template, we construct three further models to explain mammalian dynamics in cracking soil habitats of the Lake Eyre Basin, gibber plains of the Channel Country, and the chenopod shrublands of arid southern Australia. As non‐equilibrium concepts that recognise the strongly intermittent nature of resource pulsing in arid Australia, state‐and‐transition models provide useful descriptors of both spatial and temporal patterns in mammal assemblages. The models should help managers to identify when and where to implement interventions to conserve native mammals, such as control burns, reduced grazing or predator management. The models also should improve understanding of the potential effects of future climate change on mammal assemblages in arid environments in general. We conclude by proposing several tests that could be used to refine the models and guide further research.
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Climatic changes associated with the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) can have a dramatic impact on terrestrial ecosystems worldwide, but especially on arid and semiarid systems, where ...productivity is strongly limited by precipitation. Nearly two decades of research, including both short-term experiments and long-term studies conducted on three continents, reveal that the initial, extraordinary increases in primary productivity percolate up through entire food webs, attenuating the relative importance of top-down control by predators, providing key resources that are stored to fuel future production, and altering disturbance regimes for months or years after ENSO conditions have passed. Moreover, the ecological changes associated with ENSO events have important implications for agroecosystems, ecosystem restoration, wildlife conservation, and the spread of disease. Here we present the main ideas and results of a recent symposium on the effects of ENSO in dry ecosystems, which was convened as part of the First Alexander von Humboldt International Conference on the El Niño Phenomenon and its Global Impact (Guayaquil, Ecuador, 16-20 May 2005).
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1. The significance of top-down regulation by carnivores is receiving increasing global recognition. As a consequence, key objectives in many programmes that seek to maintain ecosystem function now ...include conserving carnivores and understanding their interactions. This study examined overlap in resource use (space and diet) of introduced eutherian carnivores and an endangered marsupial carnivore, the spotted-tailed quoll Dasyurus maculatus, in eastern Australia. We also investigated mechanisms of niche partitioning and evidence for interspecific aggression. 2. Dietary overlap between quolls, red foxes Vulpes vulpes and wild dogs Canis lupus ssp. was assessed by analysis of scats. Trapping, radio-tracking and direct observations were used to quantify spatial overlap between quolls, foxes, wild dogs and feral cats Felis catus. 3. Dietary overlap among the carnivores was extensive. Medium-sized mammals were the most important prey for all three predators, indicating potential for exploitative interactions. However, hunting of different size classes of secondary prey and consumption by quolls of more arboreal prey than their counterparts may assist coexistence. Remains of quoll were found in two dog scats, and cat hair in another, possibly indicating intraguild predation. 4. We observed extensive spatial overlap between quolls and eutherian carnivores. However, we inferred from dietary data that quolls foraged primarily in forested habitat, while canids foraged mainly in cleared habitat. 5. Synthesis and applications. Our results indicate strong potential for competition between spotted-tailed quolls and eutherian carnivores, and thus a situation where control of introduced predators may be desirable, not only for the conservation of prey species but also for the protection of native carnivores. Concern over potential non-target mortality of quolls has hindered efforts to control foxes in eastern Australia using poison baits. We contend that, rather than harming quoll populations, baiting for foxes should aid the conservation of quolls and should be implemented in areas of sympatry where fox numbers are high.
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Animal species are seldom distributed evenly at either local or larger spatial scales, and instead tend to aggregate in sites that meet their resource requirements and maximise fitness. This tendency ...is likely to be especially marked in arid regions where species could be expected to concentrate at resource-rich oases. In this study, we first test the hypothesis that productive riparian sites in arid Australia support higher vertebrate diversity than other desert habitats, and then elucidate the habitats selected by different species. We addressed the first aim by examining the diversity and composition of vertebrate assemblages inhabiting the Field River and adjacent sand dunes in the Simpson Desert, western Queensland, over a period of two and a half years. The second aim was addressed by examining species composition in riparian and sand dune habitats in dry and wet years. Vertebrate species richness was estimated to be highest (54 species) in the riverine habitats and lowest on the surrounding dune habitats (45 species). The riverine habitats had different species pools compared to the dune habitats. Several species, including the agamid Gowidon longirostris and tree frog Litoria rubella, inhabited the riverine habitats exclusively, while others such as the skinks Ctenotus ariadnae and C. dux were captured only in the dune habitats. The results suggest that, on a local scale, diversity is higher along riparian corridors and that riparian woodland is important for tree-dependent species. Further, the distribution of some species, such as Mus musculus, may be governed by environmental variables (e.g. soil moisture) associated with riparian corridors that are not available in the surrounding desert environment. We conclude that inland river systems may be often of high conservation value, and that management should be initiated where possible to alleviate threats to their continued functioning.
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Raiders of the last ark Lazenby, B. T.; Mooney, N. J.; Dickman, C. R.
Ecological applications,
September 2021, Volume:
31, Issue:
6
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Feral individuals of the cat Felis catus are recognized internationally as a threat to biodiversity. Open, non-insular systems support a large proportion of the world’s biodiversity, but the ...population-level impacts of feral cats in these systems are rarely elucidated. This limits prioritization and assessment of the effectiveness of management interventions. We quantified the predatory impact of feral cats on small mammals in open, non-insular forest systems in Tasmania, Australia in the context of other factors hypothesized to affect small mammal densities and survival, namely the density of a native carnivore, co-occurring small mammals, and rainfall. Change in feral cat density was the most important determinant of small mammal density and survival. We calculated that, on average, a 50% reduction in feral cat density could result in 25% and 10% increases in the density of the swamp rat Rattus lutreolus and long-tailed mouse Pseudomys higginsi, respectively. Low-level culling of feral cats that we conducted on two of our four study sites to experimentally alter feral cat densities revealed that swamp rat survival was highest when feral cat densities were stable. We conclude that feral cats exert downward pressure on populations of indigenous small mammals in temperate forest systems. However, alleviating this downward pressure on prey by culling a large proportion of the feral cat population is difficult as current methods for reducing feral cat populations in cool temperate forest systems are ineffective, and potentially even counterproductive. We suggest using an adaptive approach that regularly and robustly monitors how feral cats and small mammals respond to management interventions that are intended to conserve vulnerable prey species.
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Aim To determine whether latitudinal and longitudinal gradients in seed mass are related to variation in climatic features including temperature, solar radiation and rainfall. Location Australia. ...Methods Seed mass was estimated from over 1600 provenances covering the latitudinal and longitudinal extents of 34 perennial Glycine taxa in Australia. Climatic data were obtained from ANUCLIM 5.1 for collection locations based on long-term meteorological records across Australia. These climatic data were subject to principal components analysis to extract three components as climatic indices. Generalized linear models were used in three separate sets of analyses to evaluate whether seed mass-latitude and seed mass-longitude relationships persisted after taking climatic variation into account. First, relationships were examined across species in analyses that did not explicitly consider phylogenetic relationships. Secondly, phylogenetic regressions were performed to examine patterns of correlated evolutionary change throughout the Glycine phylogeny. Within-species analysis was also performed to examine consistency across different taxonomic levels. Results Geographical variation in seed mass among species was related primarily to temperature and solar radiation, while rainfall was much less influential upon seed mass. Partialing out the influence of temperature and solar radiation in models resulted in the disappearance of significant seed mass-latitude and seed mass-longitude relationships. Patterns within species were generally consistent with patterns among species. However, in several species, factors additional to these climatic variables may contribute to the origin and maintenance of geographical gradients in seed mass, as significant seed mass-latitude and seed mass-longitude relationships remained after controlling for the influence of climatic variables. Main conclusions Our empirical results support the hypotheses that (1) seed mass is larger at low latitudes and in the interior of the Australian continent due to increased metabolic costs at high temperatures, and that (2) higher levels of solar radiation result in an increase in the availability of photosynthate, which in turn leads to an increase in biomass for the production of large seeds. In effect, our findings show that greater energy is available precisely where needed, that is, where high temperatures require large seed mass on the basis of metabolic requirements.
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To assess whether eight factors thought to be involved in the extinction process can explain the pattern of recent decline in Australia's mammal fauna. Australia. We compiled the first comprehensive ...lists of mammal species extant at the time of European settlement in each of Australia's 76 mainland regions, and assigned a current conservation status to each species in each region to derive an index of faunal attrition. We then sought to explain the observed region-to-region variation in attrition (the dependent variable) by building a series of models using variables representing the eight factors. A strong geographically based pattern of attrition emerged, with faunal losses being greatest in arid regions and least in areas of high rainfall. The Akaike information criterion showed support for one model that explained 93% of the region-to-region variation in attrition. Its six variables all made independent contributions towards explaining the observed variation. Two were environmental variables, namely mean annual rainfall (a surrogate for regional productivity) and environmental change (a measure of post-European disturbance). The other four were faunal variables, namely phylogenetic similarity, body-weight distribution, area (as a surrogate for extent of occurrence), and proportion of species that usually shelter on the ground (rather than in rock piles, burrows or trees). In combination with historical evidence, the analysis provides an explicit basis for setting priorities among regions and species. It also shows that the long-term recovery of populations of many species of Australian mammals will require introduced predator suppression as well as extensive habitat management that includes controlling feral herbivores. Specifically, habitat management should restore aspects of productivity relevant to the types of species at risk and ensure the continual availability of suitable refuges from physiological stressors.
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In the Simpson Desert, central Australia, heavy rainfalls associated with the La Nina phase of the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) during 1999-2000 stimulated a pulse of primary productivity that ...prompted a rodent irruption during 2001, and subsequently an extensive wildfire in 2001-2002. More than 10,000 km super(2) of spinifex habitat were burned. In this study we examine a time series of climatic variables, and small mammal and predator dynamics in the desert in 1999-2002; and a before-after-control-impact study investigating the effects of the wildfire on small mammals. Rodents showed a delayed numerical increase in response to rainfall, whereas terrestrial predators showed a delayed numerical increase in response to rodent density. These delayed responses suggest the existence of bottom-up trophic pathways. However, a reduction in primary productivity and increase in predators appeared to suppress rodent numbers in 2001-2002, indicating that bottom-up effects can be temporarily reversed in this system. Wildfire had negative impacts on the abundance of the desert mouse (Pseudomys desertor) and the overall richness of small mammal species. Several other species of small mammals also appeared to show brief negative responses to wildfire. The impacts of wildfire on small mammals appear attributable to a loss of habitat for spinifex-dependent species and increased exposure to predation in burned habitats. Because extensive wildfires can be predicted from patterns of rainfall and fuel accumulation, we recommend that land managers be proactive in recognizing and reducing conditions of fire hazard. We recommend that small-scale prescribed burns should be carried out to reduce the extent of wildfires and also increase the chance of maintaining potential refuges from predators. In addition, control of introduced predators during and after irruptions of rodents will be crucial to prevent predator-driven crashes of their populations and those of secondary prey species. ENSO-related climatic forecasts appear to be useful cues that can be incorporated into fire and predator management strategies in arid Australia.
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