A Record of Dusky Antechinus 'Antechinus swainsonii' from Cape Liptrap Coastal Park, South Gippsland, Victoria

2010·0.87 MB·English

by  Peter Homan

Contributions
A record ofDusky Antechinus Antechinus swainsonii from Cape Lip-
trap Coastal Park, South Gippsland, Victoria
Peter Homan
409CardiganStreet,Carlton3053.Email:[email protected]
Abstract
DuringearlyMay2009,asurveyofmammalfaunawasconductedinasectionofCapeLiptrapCoastalParkin
South Gippsland,Victoria. Severalspecieswere recordedincludingtwo specimensofthedasyurid marsupial
DuskyAntechinusAntechinusswainsonii. Numerous surveys ofmammalshave been conducted in the Cape
Liptrapareaoverseveraldecades;however,nopreviousrecordsareavailableforthepresenceofthisspeciesin
thisreserveoralongthissectionoftheGippslandcoast.(7heVictorianNaturalist127(3)2010,88-90)
Keywords: Dasyurid marsupial, Cape Liptrap, coastalheathland, coastal distribution.
Introduction
CapeLiptrapCoastalParkcovers4175hectares, site. Each transect had five trapping stations,
mostly as a coastal strip from Point Smythe, with one cage trap and one Elliott trap set one
near Venus Bay in the west, to Waratah Bay in to two m apart, at each station. Transects were
the east. However, a fairlylarge patch made up 25 m apart and trapping stations were 10 m
mostly of Coastal Heathland, extending up to apart. Traps were operated for four nights at
2.5 km inland, exists near the eastern end of each site. Baits for Elliott traps consisted of a
the reserve. This section ofthe park is located mixture of quick oats, smooth peanut butter
160 kilometres south-east ofMelbourne and is and honey, with sardines added to the mixture
covered by Natmap, 1:100,000, sheet No. 8020 for cage traps. A total of800 trap-nights were
(Wonthaggi). TheMGA forthecentralpointof completed, comprising 400 cage trap-nights
thelargepatchmentionedaboveis 115995.The and400 Elliotttrap-nights.
reserveis managedbyParksVictoria.
ThesurveywascommissionedbytheDepart- Results
ment of Sustainability and Environment, pri- Six species ofmammals were recorded during
marily to determine the possible presence of thesurvey.Fourspecieswereeutherianandtwo
Southern Brown Bandicoot Isoodon obesulus were marsupial. Four species were native and
and the ongoing presence ofSwamp Antechi- two were introduced (Table 1). No captures of
nus Antechinus minimus and White-footed individuals ofthe three target species occurred
Dunnart Sminthopsis leucopus. The surveywas atanyofthesurveysites. Two speciesofdasyu-
carried out between 4 May 2009 and 9 May ridmarsupialsweredetected: AgileAntechinus
2009. Antechinusagiliswasrecordedatthreesitesand
DuskyAntechinusAntechinusswainsonii mim-
Methods eteswasrecordedatonesite.
Surveymethodsincludedcagetrapping(stand-
Discussion
ard bandicoot traps, Wiretainers PtyLtd, Pres-
ton, Victoria and R.E.Walters (1899) Pty Ltd, The Dusky Antechinus is a small, terrestrial,
Sunshine, Victoria) and Elliott trapping, type carnivorous marsupial, found over a wide
A (Elliott Scientific Equipment, Upwey, Victo- area ofsouth-eastern Australia from southern
ria). The survey took place in the large vegeta- Queensland to south-west Victoria and west-
tionpatchneartheeasternendofthepark. Five ern Tasmania (Menkhorst and Knight 2004).
survey sites were chosen in habitat considered In Victoria, two subspecies are recognised: A.
typical for each ofthe target species. Sites were swainsonii insularis is confined to the Gram-
also chosen so as to give the best possible rep- pians where it has been recorded recently in a
resentation of the diverse types of vegetation range ofwet and dry environments including
and fire history within the reserve. A trapping MontaneRockyShrubland,Damp Forest,Low-
gridwith fourtransectswasestablishedateach land Forest and Heathy Dry Forest (Homan
2008a; Menkhorst and Homan unpubl. data;
88 TheVictorian Naturalist
Contributions
Table 1. Listofmammalsandnumbersrecorded.*indicatesintroducedspecies.
CommonName ScientificName Number
AgileAntechinus Antechinusagilis 9
DuskyAntechinus Antechinusswainsoniimimetes 2
HouseMouse Musmusculus * 14
SwampRat Rattuslutreolus 75
Bush Rat Rattusfuscipes 58
BlackRat Rattusrattus * 1
RMIT University unpubl.data). However, A. s. gledmasses incoastalgullies (Wakefield 1975).
mimetes, which occupies the remaining Victo- The survey site was also subjected to a partial
rian distribution, is found only in damp habi- ecological burn in 1999. Two specimens were
tats usually with dense vegetation up to 1 m captured in Elliott traps at this site, both fe-
abovegroundlevel (Menkhorst 1995).Thespe- malesweighing 43 g and 58 g (see backcover).
cies has been recorded inVictoriain a rangeof A number of mammal trapping surveys have
areas from Wet Coastal Heathland at sea level been conducted in the Cape Liptrap area over
m
to ashigh as 1800 inAlpine Heath (Fig. 1). several decades (Braithwaite et al. 1978; Nor-
The largepatch ofCoastal Heathland at Cape ris et al. 1979; Morton et al 1980; Braithwaite
Liptrap Coastal Park contains a number of 1982; Field Naturalists Club of Victoria un-
steep,wetgullies,withthick,almostimpenetra- publ.data; Mammal Survey Group ofVictoria
blevegetation. DuskyAntechinuswascaptured unpubl.data). It is, however, unclear whether
in the head of one of these wet gullies. The any ofthe previous surveys included trapping
m
capture site, which was 140 above sea level, sites in habitat similar to that which produced
was dominatedbyalargethicketofScrambling Dusky Antechinus records during the current
Coral-Fern Gleichenia microphylla, up to 2.5 survey. Previous surveys have recorded three
metres high. This fern species often forms tan- dasyurid marsupials:AgileAntechinus, Swamp
Vol 127 (3) 2010 89
Contributions
Antechinus and White-footed Dunnart; how- provided field assistance. Many thanks to Parks
ever, no records are available for Dusky An- Victoriastaffat FosterandTidal River,especiallyBill
techinus (Victorian BiodiversityAtlas). Gurnett,ScottGriggsandSteveBurns,whoprovided
Few sites exist along the South Gippsland equipment, logistical support and information on
surveysites. Thedistribution mapofDuskyAntechi-
coast with the vegetation structure and topog- nus (Fig.l) was provided by the Victorian Biodiver-
raphy that provide the habitat for Dusky An- sityAtlas,DepartmentofSustainabilityandEnviron-
techinus. The Wonthaggi Heathlands Nature ment (accessed via the ‘Victorian Fauna Database
Conservation Reserve (WHNCR), which May2009 -ViridansBiological Databases).
is
situated approximately 40 km north-west of References
Cape Liptrap, contains largeareasofhigh qual- Braithwaite RW, Cockburn A and LeeAK (1978) Resource
ity Coastal Heathland in a generally flat land- partitioning by small mammals in lowland heath com-
scape,butdoesnotcontainhabitatswith dense, munities ofsouth-eastern Australia. AustralianJournalof
wet vegetation, especiallyin gullies. Numerous BrEaciothlwoagiyt3e,4R2W3-4(4159.82) Small marginal groups of Rattus
surveys of vertebrate fauna have been con- lutreolusingoodandpoorhabitat.JournalofZoology(Lon-
sdeurcvteedsiinncethe19W93HN(HCeiRslearnsd1a9d9j3a;ceHnotmcoaansta1l99r9e;- Hedimsoolnse)aris1c9S8o,f(15C92o99a3-s)5t3aS2lm.HaellatmhalamnmdaaltdWiosnttrhiabugtgiio,nVwiictthoirnia.a(seUrna-i
Homan 2003; Homan 2007; Homan 2008b; publishedMScthesis,LaTrobeUniversity).
RMIT University unpubl.data). Each survey HoHmeaatnhlPan(1d9s99a)ndAsCuoravsteaylofRmesaemrvmea.l(fUanupnuablinisthheedWornetpohratggtio
confirmed the presence oftwo species ofdasy- ParksVictoria)
uridmarsupial: SwampAntechinusandWhite- Homan P (2003) A Reptileand Amphibian surveyofWon-
footedDunnart. Furtherwestthenextavailable trahlaigsgti12H0e,at1h4l7a-1n5d2a.ndCoastalReserve.TheVictorianNatu-
records for Dusky Antechinus are from the HomanP(2007)AsurveyofthemammalfaunaatWonthag-
Mornington Peninsula (Victorian Biodiversity gi HeathlandNatureConservation Reserve,South Gipps-
land. (UnpublishedreporttoDepartmentofSustainability
Atlas). andEnvironment)
Numerous records exist for the Dusky An- Homan P (2008a) A surveyofthe mammal fauna at Won-
techinus from Wilsons Promontory National thaggi Heathland Nature Conservation Reserve, South
Gippsland.(UnpublishedreporttoDepartmentofSustain-
Park to the east ofCape Liptrap, in wet heath abilityandEnvironment)
and wet forest (Victorian Biodiversity Atlas). Homan P(2008b) Surveysofvertebratefauna in theGram-
Further east, the next available coastal records p1i2a5n,s47N-a5t5i.onal Park, 2003-2007. The Victorian Naturalist
are fromnear LakeTyersin EastGippsland,ap- Menkhorst PW (ed) (1995) Mammals ofVictoria: Distribu-
proximately210 km north-east ofCape Liptrap tion, EcologyandConservation. (Oxford UniversityPress:
SouthMelbourne)
(Victorian Biodiversity Atlas). The capture of MenkhorstPandKnightF(2004)AFieldGuidetotheMam-
Dusky Antechinus in the Cape Liptrap Coastal malsofAustralia,2nded. (OxfordUniversityPress:South
Park was unexpected, especially considering Melbourne)
the number ofprevious surveys, and shows the MoarntdonhaSbRit,aWtsaionfeSrmiJnWthaonpdsiTshwleauictoepsuTsPan(d19S8m0i)ntDihsotprsiibsutmiuo-n
importanceofongoingfield studiesofVictorias rina(Marsupialia:Dasyuridae) insouth-easternAustralia.
nativemammals. This isespeciallysoas climate NoArursitsraKlCi,anGMilammomraelAogMya3,nd19M-3e0n.khorst PW (1979) Verte-
change alters vegetation structure and develop- brate fauna ofSouth Gippsland, Victoria. Memoirs ofthe
mentandhumanpopulationgrowthcausesfur- NationalMuseumofVictoria40, 105-199.
therfragmentation ofwildlifehabitat. Wakefield NA (1975) Ferns ofVictoria and Tasmania (Re-
visededitionbyJHWillis). (FieldNaturalistsClubofVic-
Acknowledgements toria:SouthYarra).
The survey was conducted under the terms of Re-
search Permit No. 10004149 issued by the Depart-
ment of Sustainability and Environment and Ap-
provalNo.0207oftheWildlifeandSmall Institutions Received17September2009;accepted18March2010
Animal Ethics Committee of the Department of
Primary Industries. Maryrose Morgan of Carlton
90 TheVictorianNaturalist