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The Pilliga Forest is one of the largest surviving woodland remnants on the New South Wales western slopes in inland eastern Australia. Collation of personal observations by a resident herpetologist working in the Pilliga Forest over a 12-year period identified 18 frog species and 49 reptile species. One additional reptile species was identified from museum specimen records, and unconfirmed reports of another one frog and seven reptile species are also noted. This paper provides the most comprehensive published account of the herpetofauna of the Pilliga Forest to date, and illustrates the value of observations over an extended period. Comparison with other locations across western New South Wales highlights the high species richness of the Pilliga Forest for both frogs and reptiles. This is in part a function of its location in a biogeographic overlap zone between eastern, western and northern faunal assemblages. Species of particular conservation concern found in the Pilliga Forest include the threatened Hoplocephalus bitorquatus, near-threatened Pseudophryne bibronii and declining woodland reptiles such as Ctenotus allotropis, Diporiphora nobbi, Morelia spilota metcalfei, Acanthophis antarcticus, Brachyurophis australis and Vermicella annulata. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seven sandstone caves in the Pilliga forest, in northern inland New South Wales, were identified as diurnal roosting sites used by the Eastern Horseshoe Bat Rhinolophus megaphyllus. The population of R megaphyllus in the Pilliga forest is considered to be of regional conservation significance, being on the western inland edge of the species' Australian distribution in a bioregion predominantly devoted to agriculture. Data derived from diurnal counts of roosting bats in the seven caves over the period 2007-2014 is presented here, together with a description of the caves and a review of the spatial and temporal distribution of local records of the species. Rhinolophus megaphyllus is an uncommon resident in the Pilliga forest with the core area of distribution coinciding with the most topographically rugged areas in the south-eastern and eastern parts of the forest. The roosting caves were between 10 and 30 m deep with bats generally occupying the darkest available recesses. All of the caves had either restricted entrances into or restricted dimensions within the roosting chamber. The maximum colony size noted during diurnal counts was nine bats, although observations of bats emerging at dusk indicated that under-estimation during diurnal counts was likely. Roosting R. megaphyllus were alert and active from late August to mid June and were generally inactive in July, remaining motionless with wings closely furled. Additional microchiropteran species co-habiting caves in the Pilliga forest were the Large-eared Pied Bat Challnolobus dwyeri and Eastern Cave Bat Vespadelus troughtoni [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The New South Wales South Western Slopes bioregion has been significantly altered by agricultural development and is likely to experience additional significant impacts as a result of anthropogenic climate change. A simple inventory survey of the vertebrate fauna of Currawananna State Forest, a small woodland remnant on the Murrumbidgee River in the south of the bioregion, over the period 2002-2010 identified 172 vertebrate fauna species. This included three species of national conservation concern (the Trout Cod Maccullochella macquariensis, Murray Cod Maccullochella peelii and Superb Parrot Polytelis swainsonii) and another 16 species (5 fishes, 8 birds and 3 mammals) of state-level concern, as well as diverse frog, reptile, woodland and wetland bird and microchiropteran bat assemblages. This study demonstrates that even small remnants play an important role in supporting biodiversity in agricultural landscapes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bruxner Park Flora Reserve and the adjoining Ulidarra National Park, on the NSW north coast, comprise a dual-tenure conservation area of 1090 ha dominated by rainforest and old-growth moist eucalypt forest. A field survey of the area's vertebrate fauna over the period 1996-2005 detected 224 native species and nine introduced species. Incorporating records from secondary sources, the Bruxner-Ulidarra conservation area is known to support 230 native vertebrate species (39 mammals, I 24 birds, 36 reptiles, 21 frogs and 10 fishes), including 20 species that are currently listed as threatened under NSW legislation. One hundred and ninety vertebrate species (79% of the total) were recorded during a systematic survey, with the remainder of records from opportunistic survey (18%) or secondary sources (3%).The effectiveness of the systematic survey effort in detecting the full inventory of species known from the study area ranged from 100% for freshwater fishes to only 61% for reptiles. Many reptile species were cryptic and/or at low density, and the resulting low detectability could easily have been mistaken for low reptile species diversity.This study demonstrates that a range of complementary survey methods over an extended period of time is needed to adequately sample the largest proportion of an area's total suite of vertebrate fauna. Suggestions are made concerning how to optimise results from vertebrate fauna inventory surveys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]