Monitoring of biodiversity is a critical component of effective conservation, enabling a greater understanding of the distribution and abundance of species and changes in faunal assemblages, while allowing the evaluation of land management actions. Here we report on the first systematic fauna surveys conducted on Edgbaston Reserve between 2018 and 2020. Data were analysed to understand mammal, reptile and amphibian species composition, richness, and abundance in relation to six habitat types (Mitchell Grass, Spinifex, Springs, Ironbark, Gidgee and Escarpment) and over five different survey periods (spanning October 2018 to October 2020). This study reports on a species assemblage typical of Northern Australia savanna environments, with some distinction between key habitats, namely grassland and woodlands. We recorded a total of 13 native and one introduced amphibian species, 12 native and three introduced mammal species, and 54 reptile species comprising 1384 records across 24 sites. Twelve species were only recorded once in all five surveys. The ten most frequently recorded species were Heteronotia binoei, Gehyra versicolor, Litoria caerulea, Ctenotus capricorni, Planigale tenuirostris, Oedura cincta, Gehyra catenata, Strophurus williamsi, Menetia greyii and Ctenotus pantherinus. In general, the faunal communities across the habitat types had a high degree of overlap due to the interconnectedness of the vegetation across the reserve. This short study demonstrated the significance of this small conservation reserve for the protection of a high diversity of terrestrial vertebrate fauna due to its location in a biogeographic transition zone from the wetter east coast of Australia, into the arid interior. These data are an important foundation for continued monitoring that can be used to investigate responses to management and environmental perturbation.

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