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Decline and likely extinction of a northern Australian native rodent, the Brush-tailed Rabbit-rat Conilurus penicillatus |
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| Authors: | Ronald SC Firth Barry W Brook Damien A Fordham |
| Institution: | a School of Environmental and Life Sciences, Charles Darwin University, and CRC for Tropical Savannas Management, Darwin, Northern Territory 0909, Australia10.1016/j.biocon.2010.02.027 b Environment Institute and School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Adelaide, Australia 5005, Australia c Biodiversity Division, Department of Natural Resources, Environment, The Arts and Sport, P.O. Box 496, Palmerston, Northern Territory 0831, Australia d School for Environmental Research, Institute of Advanced Studies, Charles Darwin University, Darwin NT 0909, Australia |
| Abstract: | Contemporary fire patterns are considered the most likely cause for regional population decline amongst small to medium mammals in northern tropical Australia. Here we assess the extinction risk faced by a vulnerable north Australian native rodent, the Brush-tailed Rabbit-rat Conilurus penicillatus in relation to fire frequency. This species has recently suffered a significant contraction in range. We provide the first quantitative evidence to demonstrate the immediate threat destructive wildfires and regular annual fire pose to the long-term population persistence of C. penicillatus. We show that late-dry season fires cause a reduction in both juvenile and adult survival probabilities. However, abundance declined at the unburnt as well as a frequently burnt site, suggesting that fire exclusion alone does not guarantee the species’ long-term persistence. Our model projections indicate that the remaining populations of C. penicillatus on the Northern Territory mainland risk extirpation within the next ten years. Conservation requires decisive management action to ameliorate extensive and destructive fires. A multi-faceted management plan needs to focus on restoring a fire management regime which generates a fine-scale mosaic of burnt and unburnt habitat, and the release of captive bred animals into fenced reserves free of exotic predators. |
| Keywords: | Capture-mark-recapture (CMR) Threatened species Fire management Population viability analysis (PVA) Survival |
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