Pre-release Articles

Download	1. Land snails associated with limestone outcrops in northern Australia – a potential bioindicator group
Authors	Michael F. Braby, Richard C. Willan, John C.Z. Woinarski and Vince Kessner
Abstract	Limestone outcrops and their associated monsoon vine thickets (dry rainforest) comprise a distinctive but poorly-known ecological community in northern Australia. Currently, most outcrops are poorly protected and lack adequate conservation management, the fire-sensitive rainforest vegetation is threatened by increased levels of landscape burning, and many outcrops are in need of restoration. Land snails obligatorily associated with this ecological community are particularly susceptible and have been identified as a potential bioindicator group for monitoring environmental health and for biodiversity conservation. These invertebrates are characterised by high levels of narrow-range endemism and beta-diversity. In the Tindall Limestone Formation at Katherine, NT, at least seven species of camaenid land snails have been recorded, of which five are endemic to the area. We describe a quantitative sampling protocol based on nocturnal counts to assess snail abundance in this formation at locations currently subjected to varying management regimes. Our preliminary observations indicate that snail assemblages in this area may be affected by an unbalanced grass-fire cycle driven by an increase in fire frequency and abundance of Sorghum macrospermum, an annual grass which is endemic to the Katherine region. At one site, for which snail abundance had been reported 30 years previously, it appears that this grass-fire cycle may have led to a dramatic loss of the understorey monsoon vine thicket habitat and the concomitant decline in abundance of a highly localised species of land snail. We conclude that the endemic land snails can be used as bioindicators for developing conservation management strategies of limestone–monsoon vine thicket associations, and recommend that this ecological community be better managed to minimise the incidence and intensity of fire.
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Download	2. Butterfly counts at Casuarina Coastal Reserve in the seasonal tropics of northern Australia
Authors	Donald C. Franklin
Abstract	Seasonal rhythms underlie most ecological phenomena, but the seasonality of butterfly assemblages in the monsoonal tropics of the Top End of northern Australia remains unquantified. I counted butterflies along a 2.9-km transect through the Casuarina Coastal Reserve near Darwin in northern Australia on 23 occasions during eight census periods over a 14-month period. Both the number of taxa and number of individuals peaked during the wet season, but the latter peak continued into the early dry season. The dry season troughs in activity were about 50% by taxa and 35% by number compared with wet season peaks. Eight taxa demonstrated clear seasonal peaks, four in the wet season, two in the late wet – early dry season and two in the dry season. Much remains to be learnt about the seasonality of butterflies in the Australian monsoon tropics.
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Download	3. DNA analysis identifies Solanum from Litchfield National Park as a lineage of S. dioicum
Authors	Christopher T. Martine, Elizabeth M. Lavoie, Nicholas P. Tippery, F. Daniel Vogt, and Donald H. Les
Abstract	The uncommon reproductive system of dioecy is somewhat widespread in Solanaceae, being exhibited by members of five genera within this family. These members represent, however, only around 1% of species within the Solanaceae. The highest incidence of dioecy is found in the genus Solanum, where around 15 species have been described as consisting of populations in which individual plants are either “male” (staminate) or “female” (pistillate). Ten of these Solanum species, commonly known as ‘bush tomatoes’, are endemic to the Australian monsoon tropics. During recent fieldwork in the Northern Territory, non-reproductive collections were made of a morphologically distinct population of Solanum (Solanum sp. Litchfield I.D.Cowie 1428) from Litchfield National Park. We generated the first DNA sequences of these exceptional plants, amplifying the ITS (nuclear) and trnK-matK (chloroplast) DNA regions. Phylogenetic analysis comparing molecular data of Solanum sp. Litchfield with previously sequenced relatives infers that the taxon is closely allied to S. dioicum, a widespread species already considered to be morphologically diverse. However, we consider Solanum sp. Litchfield to represent a morphologically and geographically distinct taxon. Although all specimens collected to date lack reproductive features, the phylogenetic placement of Solanum sp. Litchfield infers that the species is likely to be dioecious, thus broadening our understanding of the distribution and circumscription of dioecious lineages of Solanum in Australia.
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Download	4. Shallow water foraging using a shoreline boundary by the Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphin Sousa chinensis in northern Australia
Authors	Scott D. Whiting
Abstract	Observations of two specialised feeding behaviours (strand-feeding and repetitive tail-slapping) by the Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphin Sousa chinensis during one feeding event in northern Australia are reported for the first time. These observations provide insights into the type of foraging habitats and niches of this shy coast dwelling species. The feeding behaviours are compared with similar behaviours of other toothed whales and dolphins.
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Download	5. New island records of Eucalyptus alba sensu lato for Damar and Romang, Lesser Sundas, Indonesia
Authors	Colin R. Trainor
Abstract	Eucalyptus alba sensu lato is currently distributed through northern Australia and Papua New Guinea, as well as the Lesser Sunda islands of Indonesia and Timor-Leste. In the Lesser Sundas the distribution of E. alba is poorly-known, but it has been recorded from the central islands of Flores, Solor, Adonara, Lembata, Pantar, Alor, Atauro, Wetar and Timor. Here, I document the first E. alba records for two remote volcanic Lesser Sunda islands - Damar and Romang. I also note new E. alba records from the less isolated Lesser Sunda islands of Lirang, Leti and Moa. Further study of these populations is needed to clarify the relationships, taxonomic status and dispersal among members of the E. alba species complex.
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Download	6. Short-tailed Shearwater Ardenna tenuirostris in the Northern Territory
Authors	Peter M. Kyne and Micha V. Jackson
Abstract	The Short-tailed Shearwater Ardenna tenuirostris is a trans-equatorial migrant seabird that breeds in the austral summer in southern Australia (principally in Tasmania and Victoria, with smaller numbers breeding in New South Wales, South Australia and southern Western Australia) (Marchant & Higgins 1990). Post-breeding, the species migrates to the north Pacific where non-breeding colonies stay during the months of May–September (Marchant & Higgins 1990). This is Australia’s most abundant seabird, population estimate 13.1–16.5 million breeding pairs (Ross et al. 1996), and can be seen in considerable numbers off eastern and southern Australia during migration and the breeding season. Migrating birds are regularly recorded from Tasmania to south-eastern Queensland (Marchant & Higgins 1990), but do not generally occur in tropical northern Australian waters. We report the first confirmed record of Short-tailed Shearwater in the Northern Territory, and one of the few tropical Australian records of the species.
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Download	7. Waiting for the wet: out-of-season records for adult Leichhardt's Grasshopper Petasida ephippigera (Orthoptera: Pyrgomorphidae)
Authors	Peter Holbery
Abstract	A number of adult Leichhardt's Grasshopper Petasida ephippigera White, 1845, were recorded in July, about two months earlier in the year than they are usually observed. This early adult phenology may have been the result of unusually high rainfall experienced during the preceding wet season. It was also noted that all developmental stages of Leichhardt's Grasshoppers were more often found on less vigorous shrubs of their food plants, Pityrodia spp.
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Download	8. Book Review: Stray Feathers: Reflections on the Structure, Behaviour and Evolution of Birds
Authors	Lynda Prior
Abstract	Richard Schodde introduces this book by stating that knowledge of the what and the where of Australia’s birdlife abounds, but we know very little about the how: how they move, feed and have evolved their life forms. ‘Stray Feathers’ focuses on the how, and it was this approach that enticed me to buy a copy.
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