Phillip J Fuller’s research while affiliated with Department of Environment and Conservation (Western Australia) and other places

The Boodie or Burrowing Bettong Bettongia lesueur became extinct on the Australian mainland by about 1960 but, in some areas, left evidence of its previous distribution in the form of relict landscape features, which remain widespread in arid areas with hard soils. We recorded the location of landscape features ('mounds'), which we attributed to B. lesueur, in the western deserts during the 1980s and 1990s. There were two types of mounds - large, irregular shaped mounds of calcrete or clayey soils that were accumulated spoil from warren digging and smaller, regular, and largely circular mounds on lateritic surfaces. We mapped mounds, which are visible as obvious features in an otherwise often monotonous landscape, during vehicular traverses of desert tracks over a 10-15 year period. Mound density along one 215 km traverse in the northern Gibson Desert was 5.9±0.96 km-2. We measured attributes of both types of mound in the Gibson Desert. The former persist as warrens (often occupied by Rabbits Oryctolagus cuniculus), have many entrances, are often large in aerial extent, and often associated with rock capping. The latter are largely symmetrical mounds, smaller (typically < 20 m in diameter), and with soil penetrability typically far greater than surrounding soil that often has a hard pan.

There is little information on the response of birds to rainfall in the Australian arid zone. Counts of birds between 1988 and 1992 on paired 1-km(2) quadrats representing major landform and vegetation types in the Gibson Desert revealed significant changes in species richness, community composition and abundance during increasing drought and following drought- breaking high rainfall. Species considered sedentary or resident ( sedentary - resident), which were insectivorous or carnivorous, declined in abundance as the drought progressed, with at least one species, Rufous- crowned Emu- wren ( Stipiturus ruficeps), apparently disappearing from the quadrats and not reappearing following heavy rainfall. Irruptive species, which were granivorous, nectarivorous or insectivorous, included species first recorded after heavy rainfall. Some species often considered to be nomadic, such as White- fronted ( Phylidonyris albifrons) and Pied ( Certhionyx variegatus) Honeyeaters, appeared to be both sedentary - resident and irruptive. Most species were recorded in more than one quadrat- pair; a few were recorded only in Mulga ( Acacia aneura) tall shrubland - Common Bronzewing ( Phaps chalcoptera), Boobook Owl ( Ninox novaeseelandiae), Spotted Nightjar ( Eurostopodus argus), Ground Cuckoo- Shrike ( Coracina maxima) and Inland Thornbill ( Acanthiza apicalis). Breeding activity showed a strong correlation with rainfall, with more breeding occurring in spring than the previous autumn.

The relatively recent exodus of Aboriginal people from parts of the Western Desert region of Australia has coincided with an alarming decline in native mammals and a contraction of some fire sensitive plant communities. Proposed causes of these changes, in what is an otherwise pristine environment, include an altered fire regime resulting from the departure of traditional Aboriginal burning, predation by introduced carnivores and competition with feral herbivores. Under traditional law and custom, Aboriginal people inherit, exercise and bequeath customary responsibilities to manage their traditional country. Knowledge of the fire regime during an estimated 30 000 years of Aboriginal occupation of these lands and the involvement of Aboriginal communities in contemporary land management are important issues to be addressed if conservation lands are to be managed appropriately. As part of this process, Pintupi Aboriginal people were interviewed and observed in the field to obtain information about their traditional use of fire and to obtain their views on how country could be managed with fire. Of particular interest were the reasons for burning country and the temporal and spatial variation in the size and distribution of burnt patches. This valuable but largely qualitative oral information was supplemented with a quantitative study of fire scars in a chronological sequence of early black and white aerial photographs and more recent satellite imagery. The study focused on a remote region of the Western Desert, an area from which Aboriginal people living a traditional lifestyle had most recently departed. The earliest aerial photographs (1953) were taken as part of a military rocket development project over an area that was occupied by Aboriginal people living in a traditional manner at the time of the photography. The photography revealed a landscape mosaic of small burnt patches of vegetation at different stages of post-fire succession. This pattern was consistent with information provided by Pintupi; that fire was used purposefully, frequently and regularly across the landscape for many reasons but mainly to acquire food. Analysis of satellite imagery since the early 1970s, and since the cessation of traditional burning practices, revealed that the fine-grained fire mosaic has been obliterated in recent times and replaced by a simpler mosaic consisting of either vast tracts of long unburnt and senescing vegetation or vast tracts of vegetation burnt by lightning-caused wildfires.

The relatively recent exodus of Aboriginal people from parts of the Western Desert region of Australia has coincided with an alarming decline in native mammals and a contraction of some fire sensitive plant communities. Proposed causes of these changes, in what is an otherwise pristine environment, include an altered fire regime resulting from the departure of traditional Aboriginal burning, predation by introduced carnivores and competition with feral herbivores. Under traditional law and custom, Aboriginal people inherit, exercise and bequeath customary responsibilities to manage their traditional country. Knowledge of the fire regime during an estimated 40 000 years of Aboriginal occupation of these lands and the involvement of Aboriginal communities in contemporary land management are important issues to be addressed if conservation lands are to be managed appropriately. As part of this process, Pintupi Aboriginal people were interviewed to obtain information about their traditional use of fire and to obtain their views on how country could be managed with fire. Of particular interest were the reasons for burning country and the temporal and spatial variation in the size and distribution of burnt patches. This valuable but largely qualitative oral information was supplemented with a quantitative study of fire footprints in a chronological sequence of early black and white aerial photographs and more recent satellite imagery. The study focussed on a remote region of the Western Desert, an area from which Aboriginal people living a traditional lifestyle had most recently departed. The earliest aerial photographs (1953) were taken as part of a military rocket development project over an area that was occupied by Aboriginal people living in a traditional manner at the time of the photography. The photography revealed a landscape mosaic of small burnt patches of vegetation at different stages of post-fire succession. This pattern was consistent with information provided by Pintupi people; that fire was used purposefully, frequently and regularly across the landscape for many reasons but mainly to acquire food. Analysis of satellite imagery since the 1970s, and since the cessation of traditional burning practices, revealed that the fine-grained multi-phased mosaic has been obliterated in recent times and replaced by a simpler mosaic consisting of either vast tracts of long unburnt and senescing vegetation or vast tracts of vegetation burnt by lightning-caused wildfires.

The relatively recent exodus of Aboriginal people from parts of the Western Desert region of Australia has coincided with an alarming decline in native mammals and a contraction of some fire sensitive plant communities. Proposed causes of these changes, in what is an otherwise pristine environment, include an altered fire regime resulting from the departure of traditional Aboriginal burning, predation by introduced carnivores and competition with feral herbivores. Under traditional law and custom, Aboriginal people inherit, exercise and bequeath customary responsibilities to manage their traditional country. Knowledge of the fire regime during an estimated 40 000 years of Aboriginal occupation of these lands and the involvement of Aboriginal communities in contemporary land management are important issues to be addressed if conservation lands are to be managed appropriately. As part of this process, Pintupi Aboriginal people were interviewed to obtain information about their traditional use of fire and to obtain their views on how country could be managed with fire. Of particular interest were the reasons for burning country and the temporal and spatial variation in the size and distribution of burnt patches. This valuable but largely qualitative oral information was supplemented with a quantitative study of fire footprints in a chronological sequence of early black and white aerial photographs and more recent satellite imagery. The study focussed on a remote region of the Western Desert, an area from which Aboriginal people living a traditional lifestyle had most recently departed. The earliest aerial photographs (1953) were taken as part of a military rocket development project over an area that was occupied by Aboriginal people living in a traditional manner at the time of the photography. The photography revealed a landscape mosaic of small burnt patches of vegetation at different stages of post-fire succession. This pattern was consistent with information provided by Pintupi people; that fire was used purposefully, frequently and regularly across the landscape for many reasons but mainly to acquire food. Analysis of satellite imagery since the 1970s, and since the cessation of traditional burning practices, revealed that the fine -grained multi- phased mosaic has been obliterated in recent times and replaced by a simpler mosaic consisting of either vast tracts of long unburnt and senescing vegetation or vast tracts of vegetation burnt by lightning-caused wildfires.

The indigenous terrestrial vertebrate fauna of the Montebello Islands consists of five mammal, 70 bird and 21 reptile species. Three species of exotic mammals occur: Feral Cats and Black Rats were introduced in the 19(th) Century and the House Mouse was first recorded in 1983. Black Rats have probably been eradicated. Extinctions of the Spectacled Hare-wallaby (Hermite and Trimouille Islands) and the Golden Bandicoot (Hermite Island) are attributed to the exotic mammals. Extinctions of the Black-and-white Fairy-wren and Spinifexbird are attributed to exotic mammals on Hermite Island, but nuclear weapons testing in the 1950s may have been the cause if these species occurred on Trimouille Island in 1950.

Surveys during May and September 1997 and collation of existing data reveal that 16 species of birds that depend on the ocean for food have been recorded breeding on 42 islands and islets in Shark Bay. Eleven of these are considered to be true seabirds: Wedge-tailed Shearwater, Australian Pelican, Pied Cormorant, Silver Gull, Pacific Gull, Caspian Tern, Crested Tern, Lesser Crested Tern, Roseate Tern, Bridled Tern and Fairy Tern. The other breeding species that depend on the ocean for their food and breed mainly on islands are Eastern Reef Egret, Whitebellied Sea-Eagle, Osprey, Pied Oystercatcher and Sooty Oystercatcher. All the true seabirds have tropical or subtropical affinities except the Pacific Gull, which is a temperate species and is at the northern end of its range at Shark Bay. Shark Bay is at the southern edge of the breeding distribution of the Lesser Crested Tern. The other species have widespread distributions and are found along most of the Australian coastline. Pied Cormorants are particularly numerous at Shark Bay and the breeding colonies at Quoin Bluff South on Dirk Hartog Island, Freycinet Island and Pelican Island are the three largest reported in Western Australia. A significant Australian Pelican rookery occurs at Pelican Island. Seabirds breed on most of the smaller islands in Shark Bay, with a few species, such as White-bellied Sea-Eagles, Ospreys and Caspian Terns, breeding in low numbers on the larger island (Faure, Dirk Hartog, Dorre, Bernier).

More than one-third of the terrestrial mammal species of the central deserts of Australia have vanished in the past 50 years. Few of these have been the subject of even preliminary scientific study, and data as basic as geographic range and preferred habitat are lacking for many species. Aborigines, many of whom lived traditionally in the central deserts until recently, still retain a profound knowledge of the mammals, but this knowledge, too, is fast disappearing. Aboriginal people living in communities scattered through and around the edges of the 1645 000 km² of the study area, comprising the Great Sandy, Little Sandy, Tanami, Gibson and Great Victoria Deserts and the Central Ranges district, were shown museum skins and asked to provide information about local names, current and past status, and aspects of biology and ecology. Most species, including some thought to have become extinct early this century, persisted in the deserts until 30–50 years ago. New data are presented on former distribution and on the biology and ecology of many species. The mammal fauna of the central deserts was richer and more widespread than generally believed, but the area has suffered a massive and sudden loss of species, probably unparalleled in extent elsewhere in Australia.

During the winter of 1982 we visited all known Western Australian breeding colonies of the Brown Booby Sula leucogaster, Masked Booby S. dactylatra and Lesser Frigate-bird Fregata ariel. Nesting islands have been listed by Serventy (1952), Serventy et aL (1971) and Nelson (1978). We also revisited Bedout Island in 1984 and visited White Island in 1986. Numbers of occupied nests (eggs or chicks) were count- ed or calculated on each island. On the large Adele Island only the nests of Masked Boobies and Lesser Frigate-birds could be counted; the number of nesting pairs of Brown Boobies was calculated by a combination of counting all occupied nests on beaches and lagoon shores and by count- ing occupied nests in 250 m2 quadrants in Spinifex grass- land. The same method was used on the densely vegetated but smaller Bedout Island, while on the sparsely vegetated Lacepede Islands it was possible to count every nest. Re- sults are given in Table 1.