The importance of riparian habitats to vertebrate assemblages in north Queensland woodlands

1 Pages·1994·0.48 MB·English

by  S Williams

i
:ak MEMOIRS OFTHEQUKENSLANP MUNI
' 1
THE IMPORTANCE OF RIPARIAN HABITATS TO bemoreabundantinriparianvegetation.FishingBats{Mxotts
VERTEBRATE ASSEMBLAGES IN NORTH fitfversu\) aspeetesrestrictedbyIheavailabilityoffreewal^r.
QUEENSLAND WOODLANDS. Memoirs of the wererecorfdedonlyattworipariansub-sites.
QiteenrlandMuseumS5(1):248.1994. -NorthernAustraliais Five species of reptiles which are restricted to riparian
charaeleriaedrn Urgeareuxot \ein.ou;iUydrycucalyptwood- habitatswereobserved, includingonesnake {Fr&ptdoncpkU
landwilhnjUtit^nsystemsforminganetworkolnarrowI rfpfi mwri't), two li/ards (Phy\ii>ni4lhu\ U'suruni Jii Sphtrn
of relalivel) me*tc rmhttm within the doer fortxiv It is f>hux(/tunii)andrwolOlKklMS(fchey.ilaiixlrrtium&.Erny>/uru
generally accepted that riparian habitats ore viul to these krefiii).Allofthe 16speciesoffrogswererecordedinriparian
ecosystem* Riparian vegaiatlonisfte»erail> worestmctun * tutu whileOnly fivespecies weie reconlcdaw.iy from
lyandflomticuJlydiversethanthesurroundingwoodlandand the riparian xonc. Most Bpwfies offrogs were clearly more
could be expected it- contain a more diverse anil abundant abuikUMWithinthenpaii.in /one
buna. The Australian wet/dry tropics has hip.h seasonal Tr»c re-.ult', tiisrnvseil here suggest that verlebiuie funna!
variability inresource abundance as a result ofthe climatic djverstty and abundance is C0niddfcraW> ttrtatll m npari:*n
»!-fitTcrKe* tvt*<een the hot wet ^unmcrs and dry winterv vegctatKinthaninthesurroundinghabitat.Itmayseeminane
Ripariansystem*withinthisecosystemarelikelytotvvitully 10 Include t-xcliisive-ly aquatic specie*, tor eS;ui)[ile fiesh
important in providing water, shelter and food for fauna, watertunicsandwaterbirds,inthisdiscussion,however'bev;
especially 'Hiring the dry season. This paper is meant to be H|n;rii-s maki a ngniOcMii oonuibuiion cd local andraf^onaJ
suggestive,notconclusive,inanattempttopromoteresearch biodiversity and. as such, highlight the great importanceof
onripariansystem*. riparianhanitatwithinthisecosystem.
*ITieobservation*drMiiscil ii-rc weic madeifunng n wer- Theconservationandprotectionot riparian hatotats U Qd
tebrate F&uittsurtfejofDo<: liontojwovidebaseline p;iraoiouTU impoxtancc Itt pre8*fvl0£ Ihe Wodiver^lt) nt ttic
information for an environment*I impact assessment (Wil- eucalypt woodianda ol nOrtbcm Australia Tlw proaacGofl cd
liamsetal.,1993). riparian vegetation is also anessential partofany landcare
Thestudyareaof232(1km^iIXits*codStation]issituated program. Woodlands and forests arc one of the most
approximately 50 km south westofTownsville. fr*irmajor widespread and important habitatsin Australia,thereforean
siteswerechosen(A,B,CAD>.eachwithuptofoursub sites. understandingofripariansystems isnecessarytoenableIhe
Sitelibad no Bepdmlc Jtrb t-ii11 ien( preservation and wafl igenoeni ol ibteficoayw
Majorhabitattypesandassociatedintensivesamplesub sites Itwouldbeinterestingtocloselyexaminenpariarsystems
wereasfollows:operiwoodland,A2,A-\til.H-hopeaforest, in Australiaioinvestigatewhether:
B4, CI, C4, 1)4, Will open fafCfllfctotd fOftftt Dli P2 D 1.riparian habiUt.s conUtfl B higher diversity and abun-
riparian.AI,B2,C3,E;rockyoutcrops,C3. danceoffaunathantheadjacentwoodlands/forestsandthere-
TheripariansubsalesAI,B2,andC2arecharacterisedby bymakealargecontribution tolocal andregionaldivenaty
ileum-, stands ot ,V/.j...*.•. ,.- fewmfanffm oftcat with it mixed l. itiere are a 8i£nitfcani nui*rt>er of species u/hlctl •,r'"
shrublayer,while site dc4patches ot closed Tns- whollyorpartlydependentonripariansystem*foratleastpart
tuttiitftus t-\ilij)<iti4 gallery kuc-a gud nunc open Shittltu;*, oftheyear;
teuccutendra I Caltrsie*not\ **»p. forest. Woodland ttlb-siles ughci .ii'.risttv and atuindancc isdnctoacoanbiMitott
wereall muchmoreopen,drierand less flonsticallydivenae ofrnotravailablenichesandmoreabundantresources^result-
thanndjaccni rtpAnaA«ut>$li millionfronnhfcdciwe u :. truni higliei stiuctnoil eoinplexity RiKJ flOflstlC J".cjviIv
riparianvegetationtoirrrnpcnetK%ifyptwiMidlandwasusually ofthe rrpariHIl vegetation, and a htglier and more ^asorrally
abrupt (approximately 20metres). stoWe*productivity;
The fira ftwnsl survey was mmtminl U-jwt-cM N April-3 4,npanansyMcnivMCI;>\rclngesduringthedry wum^iand
May 1991 (latewet/earlydryseason)andthesecondbetween asourceofdispersalotthecommencementot ihe Wdseason;
7 AUgugt-25 Cictnbei (late dry season] Bacfa RutMvite ivaa ibC vjlne :%arefui;c rtuiid hedue to ^heller, hunt, ...iln <•.
v.riinptcilhysittalIitlanirnalti.'tppiti^.ptMrlipping,ohserv^lion- hier.ling/neslingsites,
itItransects(lotbirds),spotlighting,activesearchingandmist 5.riparianhabitatsprovide seasonallyabundanttwaurccs
tneetcthinnigqu(ebastsa)n.dFiorr.udeltuaisleseoWfilslitieamsesleecltailon.(IRWum)plingdesign, sIuchaashne:c:ftatrh,eibnls0edcltVs,Crw8alttyeroalnldllbCr*CeetdtiInogy*slite-siwohictinr
Mostt»hsri\aiionsindic»teiJa^k-ari.hnetrt)i;cbctweenllu: 6ri|U**'ij stripscanactUCdtrJdttS''cr Spodod Mrllictl tmil
vertebratespeciesassemblagesofrRipmarKian sub sitesandsub open,itry Kibiiats .1 boraertorlfipir[aal; and
sites in the adjacent drier torexl exhibited Hie \t->-.\ ti.-M-':-.oi rfpariafi i'i bitao mcreate in Eanponanc*
obvious ('tffetence between habitats'. Riparian sub-sites lie cencraJaridityoftiiearea.
rex tided.Oilaveinyc.73%oftllCbirdspeciesrcioule.dforlIlC
vilefcXCltidingwaterbirds),ascomparedtoanaverageol Vi\ AckfKiH'kd^emenls
fordrysub-sites.Theaveragebirdspeciesrichnessofriparian
ssw^iu1eibih-s-espKieietcIxecicssels(u(s1(37i4WvWses.plpeyecocifrieeetscso)t)oar(lwdFJea-od1st3ab.sli5tnog.trnsndgtf(t-wic1tanu,trte|lprnl-cdy0oe.u\g0rrws0e.e2as3Ut.e)nr.ianTnLnhdhKaeanirneawtaiwdneJdcrrihev- bfBoyurn]tcwh*oeknmsDmhfeebtprnoaattariahitnaingmlkieioPmlrngoofafi.nnIDifeheeeafrkeflcniyeecledMdra*atrfohtsrrhloi.u.a4gmTht!hieonDsr^ctorRtnuxxtplhryeaarcwntaaisnwPdiTetnahSnrcdsotcothdtne
tional 26 species (14%) occurred in greater abundance at iit*nCenircforplP^ahwatoi '
ripariansub-sitesthanwoodlandsub-sites,givingatotalof57
Species(51%)ofthebirdswhichwereat leastpartlydepend- LitcmlurfCited
ent on riparian systems. In contrast, there were only two Williams S.E_ PearsonR.G. & BurneUSE I993.Stmeyctf
Specie*©I bin!observedexclusively atwoodlandsub sicoi Ihe veitebrale fauna of »be Dotfwood area. North
Differencesbetweensub sitesinthemamma!assemblages Queensland. Mem-airs of the Queensland Mtaeum
were less cleat However, Wate* RalJ {Hydromys
chrysoxaster)wereobservedonlyatripanansub Kites, w-.tle
Greater Gliders {I'aautotdrs wfans), lirushtad Hosstmn -.-,«.Departmentof2kk>tt>gy,JamesCookVmvcr
a(TnrdtiBhroo\wurnu\Bavntdtilpcrotoutlus),[IAxj'o.oidlranWmnatchriohuireiviS()Mraul-lranpppnesaOrgetdtist)o •J4Xitt All I-Mbtf