Journal article
Declining populations in one of the last refuges for threatened mammal species in northern Australia
HF Davies, MA McCarthy, RSC Firth, JCZ Woinarski, GR Gillespie, AN Andersen, W Rioli, J Puruntatameri, W Roberts, C Kerinaiua, V Kerinauia, KB Womatakimi, BP Murphy
Austral Ecology | WILEY | Published : 2018
DOI: 10.1111/aec.12596
Abstract
Australia has contributed a disproportionate number of the world's mammal extinctions over the past 200 years, with the greatest loss of species occurring through the continent's southern and central arid regions. Many taxonomically and ecologically similar species are now undergoing widespread decline across the northern Australian mainland, possibly driven by predation by feral cats and changed fire regimes. Here, we report marked recent declines of native mammal species in one of Australia's few remaining areas that support an intact mammal assemblage, Melville Island, the largest island off the northern Australian coast. We have previously reported a marked decline on Melville Island of ..
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Awarded by Holsworth Wildlife Research Endowment
Funding Acknowledgements
We thank the Tiwi Land Council and the Tiwi traditional owners for their ongoing support of scientific research on their land. We also acknowledge the amazing assistance provided by Jaime Heiniger, Casey Visintin, Jose Lahoz-Monfort, Fin Roberts, John van Osta, Phoebe Burns, Amelie Corriveau, Chris Davies, Hayley Geyle and Tiwi College staff and students. This work was supported by the Australian Research Council (DE130100434 and LP150100615), Hermon Slade Foundation, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Northern Territory Department of Land Resource Management, National Environmental Science Programme's Threatened Species Recovery Hub, Paddy Pallin Foundation and Holsworth Wildlife Research Endowment. We recognise also the contributions of Kym Brennan, Martin Armstrong, Alaric Fisher, Jenni Low Choy and Simon Ward to the 2000-2002 sampling.