Possum assemblages in rainforest of Carbine uplands, NEQ, with special reference to Hemibelideus lemuroides

1 Pages·1993·0.35 MB·English

by  M P Trenery

.
188 MEMOIRS OFTHEQUEENSLANDMUSEUM
POSSUMASSEMBLAGES IN RAINFOREST OFTHE TABLE 1. Possumson MtLewisRd,CarbineUplands.
CARBINEUPLANDS, NEQ, WITH SPECIALREFER-
ENCE TO HEMBELWEVS LEMVROIDES.Memoirsof Altitude P.cinereus H.lemuroides P.archeri D.trivirgata Totalper
theQueenslandMuseum34(/):}88. 1993:-Fourringtailpos- (m) (dark/pale) spoiliglit
sum (Pseudocheiridae) species are confined to the upland hour
rainforestsofnortheasternQueensland’sWetTropics.These 1101-1200 65 98(66/32) 1 16.40
arethe LemuroidPossum(Hemibelideuslemuroides).Green 1001-1100 34 3(3/0) 2 1 121
Possum{Pseudochiropsarcheri),DaintreeRingtail{Pseudo- 901-1000 18 1 1 4.71
cheirus cinereus) andHerbert River Ringtail {P. herberten- 801-900 13 2 5.00
sis).Atleastfiveother,wider-rangingspecies(theLong-tailed 701-800 4 1 2.00
PygmyPossum,Cercartetuscaudatus\StripedPossum,Dae- 601-700 2 2.67
tylopsila trivirgala; Common Ringtail, P.peregrinus\ Sugar 501-6002 4.00
Glider, Petaurus breviceps and Coppery Brushtail, Totals 138 101(69/32) 7 2 9.36
Trichosurus vulpecuta johnstonii) are also regularly en-
countered. These high altitude rainforests are not uniformly
distributed. Mountainousterraindividestheareaintodiscrete TherainforestpossumassemblageoftheCarbineUplands
blocks, montane subregions (sensu Winter el al., 1984; differs in several ways from that oftheAtherton Tableland.
Winter, 1991). A major altitudinal discontinuity exists be- ReplacementofF. herbertensisv^ithP. d/ierewj,andabsence
tween the Atherton Tableland and the Carbine Uplands. ofT. vulpeculajolmstoniifrom theCarbineUplands aresig-
Geographic separation is evident for upland obligate fauna nificant differences. Leucism in the Atherton population of
unabletonegotiatetherelativelylowaltitudeBlackMountain H. lemuroides is alsoararity. Onebiologistnotedonlythree
rainforestcorridorconnectingthem.Withisolation,allopatric pale individuals in thousands ofrecords made overaperiod
speciationhasoccurred.Thisisreflectedintheseparationof of 6 years of upland possum research on the Atherton
P. cinereus, of the Carbine Uplands (Murray et al., 1989), Tableland (N. Goudberg, pers. comm.). Further, the sug-
from P. herbenensisofthe AthertonTableland The former gested loweraltitudinal limitof480m(Winteretal., 1984)is
wasknownastheashen-colouredraceorsubspeciesofP.her- substantiallylowerforAthertonTablelandH. lemuroidesthan
bertensis both the suggested Carbine Uplands lower limit of 900m
Vehicular spotlight runs were conducted along the Ml (Winteretal.,1984)and 1070m,whichwasthelowestrecord
LewisForestryRd(approximately 110kmNWCairns,NEQ) made in this survey. (Manyhoursoftraversepriorand sub-
during the summers of 1986/87 and 1987/88. Altitudes be- sequent to those reported here have failed to reveal any
tween 500-1200mweresurveyedduring 13spotlight traver- H. lemuroides at lowerelevations). These observations sug-
ses,averagingapproximately6kmand2hoursduration. Most gestinvestigationofthetaxonomicstatusofanimalsfromthe
of this survey was undertaken at altitudes exceeding 900m northernmostpopulationwouldbe worthwhile.
(19.75hours)withonly6.75hoursofsurveycarriedoutbelow
this. Onlywhenpossumscouldbepositivelyidentifiedwere Acknowledgments
they accepted and recorded. Altitudes were recorded by al- SupportedbytheRectoroftheUniversityCollege,Univer-
timeter. This method was employed to detect changes in sity of New South Wales, Australian Defence Forces
possum density and community make-up with changes in Academy, Prof.G. V. H. Wilson. Specialthanksareduealso
altitudealongthetraverse. Inaddition, itwasanticipatedthat toMrJohnMeade.
a sufficientnumber ofH. lemuroides sightings couldbe ob-
tainedtoestimatetherelativeproportionofleucislindividuals
within the population, and provide evidence to support or LiteratureCited
refute llie suggested lower altitudinal limit of900m (Winter Murray,!.D.,McKay,G.M.,Winter,J.W.&lngelby,S.1989.
etal., 1984)oftheCarbinepopulation. Resultsofthe survey CytogenehesoftheHerbertRiverringtailpossum,Pseu-
docheirus herbertensis (Diprotodonta: Pseudo-
aresummarised inTable 1.
Whileonly fourpossum species wererecordedduringthe cheiridae): evidence for two species. Genoma, 32:
periodofthe survey (Table 1), an additionaltwospeciesare 1119-1123.
known to occur In rainforests of the Carbine Uplands. ’ITie Winter,J. W. 1991. Mammals.P.43. InNix, H. A.&Switzer,
species C. caudatus and P. breviceps are recorded only oc- M. A. (eds), ’Rainforest animals:allas of vertebrates
casionally. The numerically dominant species within all al- endemictoAustralia’sWetTropics’, Kowari 1.(CRES-
titudinal bands between 501-1100 was P. cinereus. Above ANU/ANPWS: Canberra).
1100m, more //. lemuroideswere recorded. A general trend Winter,J. W., Bell. F. C, Pahl,L. 1. &Atherton, R. G. 1984.
ofincreasingpossumabundanceswithincreasingaltitudewas ThespecifichabitaisofselectednortWheWasFternAustralian |)l
partiallyduetothissuddenappearanceof//. lemuroidesatthe rainforest mammals’. Report to (Australia).
higher elevations. The lowest elevation al which 135pp.
H. lemuroides was recorded was 1070m. If such a lower
altitudinallimitisconsistentfortheentirenorthernpopulation
isolate of this species, it may indicate a restricted relictual M. P. Trenerry, 4/14 Casella St., Earlville,
distributionandlengthy.separationfromthepopulationonthe Queensland, 4870, Australia.; G. L. Werren, cf-
Atherton Tableland. The incidence of leucism among this Douglas Shire Council, PO Box 357, Mossman, ,
populationwas high, 31.56% ofindividualsrecorded. Queensland, 4873, Australia.