Population Ecology and Reproductive Seasonality in Three Species of Antechinus (Marsupialia : Dasyuridae) in the Wet Tropics of Queensland

Abstract

The population and reproductive ecologies of three sympatric species of antechinus were examined in upland rainforests in the wet tropics of Queensland. The three species, Antechinus stuartii adustus, A. flavipes rubeculus and A. godmani, exhibited unusually low trapping success compared with that of sites in temperate regions of Australia. Spatial distributions were extremely patchy both between and within study sites. Comparison with trapping data for temperate populations of A. stuartii and A. flavipes suggests that densities in the wet tropics are among the lowest in Australia. The reproductive season was similar for the three species, commencing during the mid-dry season with juveniles weaned by the early to mid-wet season. The phenomenon of male die-off was observed in the three species. However, the highly synchronous two- week breeding season observed in temperate populations of A. stuartii and A. flavipes was not observed in the tropical populations. The breeding season of the tropical species extended over a six- week period. Timing of reproduction in A. s. adustus and A. f. rubeculus was more similar to temperate than to subtropical populations of A. s. stuartii and A. f. flavipes.