State Forests of me southwestern slopes of New South Wales were surveyed for ground dwelling mammals utilizing hair baps (42 sites), small mammal traps (11 sites), nocturnal searches (253 sites), scat and animal sign observations, opportunistic observations and records from unpublished studies in me region. A total of 13 indigenous and 10 exotic ground-dwelling mammal species were identified. No threatened species were encountered, although some evidence suggesting the presence of a Potaoo Potorous sp. and Smoky Mouse Pseudomys fumeus was found in Bago and Maragle State Forests. Hair tube trapping (1 170 large baps for an average of 18 nights each and costing 226 person hours) revealed the presence of nine species/genera. Swamp Wallabies Wallabia bicolor, were the most commonly detected species. Small mammal trapping in swampy environments of Bago and Maragle State Forests (1 100 trap nights costing 52 person hours) detected the presence of Bush Rat Rattus fuscipes, Dusky Antechinus Antechinus swainsonii and Brown Antechinus Antechinus stuartii. Rattus fuscipes proved to be abundant in some localities. Records made by nocturnal survey (253 sites costing 306 person hours) revealed 14 ground-dwelling mammal species, notably Long-nosed Bandicoot Perameles nasuta. All the techniques were judged to be of value for broad forest surveys as no technique covered all species. Hair trapping had the greatest limitations in this study but is still of value if the method is used as a preliminary technique.
Research-Article|
March 17 2014
A survey of ground-dwelling mammals inhabiting forests of the southwestern slopes, New South Wales
Matthew Stanton;
Matthew Stanton
1
Research Division, State Forests of New South Wales, P.O. Box 100, Beecroft, New South Wales 2119
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Jason Anderson
Jason Anderson
1
Research Division, State Forests of New South Wales, P.O. Box 100, Beecroft, New South Wales 2119
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Australian Zoologist (1998) 30 (4): 480–491.
Citation
Matthew Stanton, Jason Anderson; A survey of ground-dwelling mammals inhabiting forests of the southwestern slopes, New South Wales. Australian Zoologist 1 April 1998; 30 (4): 480–491. doi: https://doi.org/10.7882/AZ.1998.014
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