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150 years of mammal extinction and invasion at Koonchera Dune in the Lake Eyre Basin of South Australia

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Abstract

Koonchera Dune is a prominent sand ridge fringed by a complex of ephemeral swamps and open plains on the edge of Sturt Stony Desert, northeastern South Australia. In 1931 mammalogist Hedley Herbert Finlayson rediscovered the desert rat-kangaroo or ngudlukanta (Caloprymnus campestris) here, and also captured lesser bilby or yallara (Macrotis leucura), bilby (Macrotis lagotis), and plains mouse (Pseudomys australis). This was the last time any of these mammals were recorded at Koonchera; ngudlukanta and yallara are globally extinct, the bilby is extinct on mainland South Australia, and the plains mouse is listed as vulnerable throughout its diminishing range. Prior to these and other recent extinctions totalling a minimum six species, we estimate that Koonchera supported at least 24 native mammals. In 2018 and 2019 we surveyed mammals here, detecting 11 native mammals including three rare or threatened species: fawn hopping mouse (Notomys cervinus), dusky hopping mouse (N. fuscus), and long-haired rat (Rattus villosissimus). We also detected seven introduced species, including feral cat (Felis catus), fox (Vulpes vulpes), European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus), and feral pig (Sus scrofa). Physically, Koonchera and the Lake Eyre Basin region is much the same as Finlayson would have found it in 1931, but our work shows a proliferation of feral and introduced species and a decline of native mammals, especially medium-sized Critical Weight Range (CWR) species. If Koonchera and the surrounding landscape is to hold on to its remaining native mammal diversity, coordinated management of threats, principal of which is predation by cats and foxes, and impacts on vegetation and soil from a host of introduced herbivores, is required.

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All data are archived within the University of New England’s research data repository, available on request from the corresponding author

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Acknowledgements

We are indebted to the 100 generous people who donated to this project through the crowd funding platform Experiment.com (for work undertaken in 2018), and to the Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund for funding work undertaken in 2019. We are grateful to David Harvey and Peter Nunn, the managers of Clifton Hills Station, for allowing us to work on the property, and to Margie who fed us whenever we stopped by the station kitchen. David Harvey also generously provided many insights into the history of Clifton Hills Station, and the environmental changes he witnessed over several decades. We also thank Kelsey Myers Elliott for helping to collect some of the data, Georgeanna Story (www.scatsabout.com.au) for predator scat analysis, Steven Carr for his perceptiveness about the study site and its fauna, and Robert Brandle for his provision of data that allowed us to accurately pinpoint the locations of his faunal records in the landscape around Koonchera Dune. The study also benefited from logistical advice from Bronwyn Fancourt and Paul Meek. Andrew Harper and Australian Desert Expeditions generously provided transportation and logistics that allowed us to recover our camera traps in 2019.

Funding

This research was supported by donations through the crowd-funding platform Experiment.com, and a grant from the Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund (Grant No. 182511500).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ecosystem Management, University of New England, Armidale, NSW, 2351, Australia

    Karl Vernes & Todd F. Elliott

  2. Biosecurity NSW, NSW Department of Primary Industries, Orange, NSW, 2800, Australia

    Stephen M. Jackson

  3. School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia

    Stephen M. Jackson

  4. Division of Mammals, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, 20013-7012, USA

    Stephen M. Jackson

  5. Australian Museum Research Institute, Australian Museum, 1 William St., Sydney, NSW, 2010, Australia

    Stephen M. Jackson

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  1. Karl Vernes
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KV designed the research in consultation with TFE and SJ; KV, SJ, and TFE obtained funding and collected the data; KV analysed the data and prepared the manuscript with collaborative input from TFE and SJ.

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Correspondence to Karl Vernes.

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Vernes, K., Elliott, T.F. & Jackson, S.M. 150 years of mammal extinction and invasion at Koonchera Dune in the Lake Eyre Basin of South Australia. Biol Invasions 23, 593–610 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-020-02387-2

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