West, Sir Ed Pellew, NT, 13373 ha. 11. 275 ... Antechinus. Augustus. WA, 19023 ha. South Keywood, WA, 768 ha. 7,22. 16. 3, 16 ..... Fitzroy, QLD, 325 ha.
CALMSciencel(3): 259 324(1995)
The occurrenceof marnmalspecieson the islands of Australia: a summaryof existing knowledge IAN ABBOTTT nruoANDREWA. BURBIDGE,
rscienceand Information Division, Deparament of Conservationand Land Management,Hackell Drive. Crawley 6009,WestemAustlalia. ' Scienceand Information Division, Department of Conservationand Land Management,Wildlife ResearchCentre,PO Box 51, Wanneroo6056. WestemAustralia.
secorldaim is that this paperservesas the basisofour amlysis of the ecologicaland conservationsignificanceof mammaldistributionon Australianislands@urbidgeer al. in prep.). The informationcontainedin the databases is corect up to 30 April 1992.
METHODS Mammal species
SUMMARY We presentdatabases summarizingthe most recent availableinformationon the occurreDce of speciesof mammalson Australianislands. Thesedatabases include 512islands,l7l species of mammal,and 1768 authenticated insularrecords.Relevantphysical,climatic and anthropologicaldatafor eachislandandthe sourceof eachrecord(320 references)are alsoprovided.
Introduction This project beganin 1987. In 1979one ofus commenced a card index of mammalrecordsfrom Australianislands, basedon publishedlitelat]lre ard ad hoc unpublished literature. The other had kept an inventoryof mammals presenton islandsof WestemAustralia,basedon published literatureand on-goingbiologicalsurveys. We subsequentlycombinedthesetwo sourcesinto a microcomputerdatabase, using dBASE III Plus (AshtonTate,USA). Since 1989lists tbr eachState/fbnitoryhavebeen circulatedto authoritiesfor commentandconection. This processyielded fudher recordswhich were incorporated into the databases.Then, astime permitted,we added relevantinformationaboutthe physical,climatic and anthropologicalattributesof eachisland,andofthe feeding nicheand body massofeach mammalspecies. The aim ofthis paperis twofold. Firstly, we would like to makethis informationmore widely available,so that other researchers will know wherethe gapsin knowledge are. Hopefully,this will eventuallyincreasethe comprehensiveness of knowledgeand we seekinput from thosewith additionsor correctionsto the databases.Our
Each mammal record (Database1) is authenticatedby a refercnce(Database 4), eitherfrom the literatureor fiom unpublishedsources.Severalrecordsof rock-wallabies ftom Nofihem Territoryislandsin Abbott (1980) are based on inconectinformation(K.A. Johnson,in litt,)i these havebeendeleted.The feedingniche and meanadult body weight havebeentakenfrom the mosrrccenr standardsources(Strahan1983;Guiler 1985;Burbidge andMcKenzie 1989). Nomenclaturefollows Walton (1988)and morerecenttaxonomicpapers.
Islands The currentofficial nameis used(DatabasesI and 2); however,whereothernameshavebeenusedin the literaturetheseare includedin parcntheses.Duplicated names,suchasNorth Island,are qualifiedby the addition ofthe groupto which the islandbelongsor someother relevantattribute.In orderto facilitatethe locatabilityof islands,their geographicalpositionhasusuallybeen indicatedby the Ocean,Bay, Groupor Archipelagoin which the islandoccurs. The controllingpolitical authority(Commonwealth,Stateor Te[itory) is also indicated.IslandsunderIndonesianor PapuaNew Guineansovereigntyare excludedfrom consideration. Islandarea,maximumelevationandisolation(distance from the nearestlargerlandmass,whetherthe mainlandor anotherisland)werc determinedfrom I : 100000 saale mapspublishedby the DepartmentofNational Resources, Division of NationalMapping. In severalinstanceswhere sheetswerenot availablein local libraries.other scale mapswereconsulted.Area wasdeterminedby planimeter or by dolcounting. Maximum elevationswere sometimes intemolatedfrom contoursshown.and a few were taken
259 CALMScience
from the AustraliaPilot (1969-1973).Someislandsjoined by sandspitsor drying mudflats/rockshavebeenfeated as a singleunit (e.9.Erith-Dover). Bathymetricdatawere takenftom the bestpublished informationavailable. For partsof theAustalian coastline,the I : 250 000 scalemapspublishedby the Departmentof NationalResources,Division of National Mapping,providethe most recentinformationfor depths exceeding20 m. Certainportionsof the coastlinecloseto major shippingrouteshavebeensoundedto minimum depthsof 2 m. Whereavailable,suchinformationhasbeen takenfrom the hydrographicchartspublishcdby the Royal AustralianNavy and the British Admiralty. For example,a depthof 35 m signifiesthat the landmassspecifiedbecame an island when a sealevel of 35 m below presentsealevel was reached.Adepth of
