DARLING RIVERINE PLAINS BIOREGION Background Report

16/08/02 Darling Riverine Plains Bioregion Background Report
5.6 SUMMARY AND PROPOSED FURTHER WORK
5.6.1 Summary
Information about the distribution and abundance of the terrestrial vertebrate fauna across the
bioregion is based on a few scattered systematic surveys and incidental records. As is
illustrated on Maps 30, 32, 35 and 39, there are substantial gaps in the coverage of records
and most of the mapsheets have been inadequately sampled. An exception is the number of
bird records (5 001-26 785) for the Macquarie Marshes and the northern floodplains which
are the most intensively sampled areas. Some mapsheets have no mammal, reptile or
amphibian records and the areas with the lowest number of terrestrial vertebrate records are
the upper and lower Bogan River. These areas should be targeted for fauna survey.
Planning for future surveys within the DRP should focus on vegetation communities and
landscapes that have not been intensively sampled. Habitat preference and expected
distribution throughout the bioregion can be predicted from this data. Population viability
assessments are also required for threatened vertebrate fauna in the DRP. In summary the
status of the four terrestrial vertebrate taxa are shown in Table 5.7. In this table: listed species
means those species which are listed under the TSC Act as endangered or vulnerable; species
of concern are those species which are considered of concern as outlined in sections 5.2.2,
5.3.2, 5.4.2 and 5.5.2; and predicted listed species are those species listed on the TSC Act
which have been predicted to occur within the DRP using bioclimatic analysis.
Taxon Total recorded
species diversity
Table 5.7 Summary of vertebrate taxa in the DRP
Listed species
(TSC Act)
Species of
concern
Amphibians 25 0 5 0
Reptiles 104 6 25 2
Birds 319 40 25 7
Mammals 58 19 8 10
Predicted listed
species (TSC Act)
There are also six feral bird species and 12 feral mammal species known to occur within the
DRP.
On the basis of existing records, the Macquarie Marshes and part of the Menindee Lakes have
most records of vulnerable species (Map 42). There is an apparent bias in the distribution of
threatened species to the areas which have been more intensively surveyed suggesting that the
gaps in the distribution of vulnerable species (Map 42) reflect a lack of survey effort rather
than an absence of these species.
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