Stick-nest rat middens are preserved piles of macrofossils that record changes in plants and animals during the late Holocene at White Range. The builders, Lesser Stick-nest Rats (Leporillus apicalis), after at least 2500 years in the area, became extinct during the Modem radiocarbon period. The rats' collection of plant and animal material provides an ecological survey of the site during this period. The species composition of the vegetation has apparently responded to increased Aboriginal populations, fire incidence or rainfall in the last 2500 years. A dramatic increase in tree and shrub material between 2510 +40 BP and 835 +62 BP at the expense of herbs is possibly related to increasing moisture availability. The middens record a collapse of trees and shrubs by 606+136 BP then a strong recovery. Grasses have generally decreased in importance throughout the record. Bones of the Central Rock Rat (Zyzomys pedunculatus), which is currently restricted to the western MacDonnell Ranges, were found in middens dated at 433 +60 BP. Information about long-term changes in Australia's arid areas is accessible using the middens of stick-nest rats and provides a useful long-term perspective for environmental management.
Albrecht, D.E. , Duguid, A.W. , Latz, P.K. , Coulson, H. and Barritt, M.J.1997: Vascular plant checklist for the southern bioregions of the Northern Territory: nomenclature, distribution and conservation status. Alice Springs: Parks and Wildlife Commission of the Northern Territory .
2.
Allen, V. , Head, L. , Medlin, G. and Witter, D.2000: Palaeoecology of the Gap and Coturaundee Ranges, western New South Wales, using stick-nest rat (Leporillus spp.) (Muridae) middens . Austral Ecology39, 305-313 .
3.
Barker, W.R. and Greenslade, P.J.M.1982: Evolution of theflora andfauna of arid Australia. South Australia: Peacock Publications .
4.
Berry, S.L.1993: The potential of fossil middens as indicators of vegetation history in central Australia . Australian Journal of Botany39, 305-313 .
5.
Betancourt, J.L. , Van Devender, T.R. and Martin, P.S. , editors 1990: Packrat middens: the last 40,000 years of biotic change. Tucson AZ: The University of Arizona .
6.
Betancourt, J.L. , Latorre, C. , Rech, J.A. , Quade, J. and Rylander, K.A.2000: A 22,000 year record of monsoonal precipitation from northern Chiles' Atacama Desert . Science289, 1542-1546 .
7.
Copley, P.1988: The stick-nest rats of Australia. Adelaide: Department of Environment and Planning .
8.
Copley, P.1999: Natural histories of Australian stick-nest rats genus Leporillus (Rodentia, Muridae) . Australian Wildlife Research26, 513-559 .
9.
Edwards, G.2001: Implementation of the recovery plan of the central rock rat. Annual Report to Environment Australia. Canberra, Endangered Species Programme .
10.
Foley, J.C.1957: Droughts in Australia; review of records from earliest years of settlement to 1955. Melbourne: Melbourne Bureau of Meteorology, Bulletin 43 .
11.
Friedel, M.H.1981a: Studies of central Australian semidesert rangelands. I Range condition and the biomass dynamics of the herbage layer and litter . Australian Journal of Botany29, 19-31 .
12.
Friedel, M.H.1981b: Studies of central Australian semidesert rangelands. II Range condition and the nutrient dynamics of the herbage layer, litter and soil . Australian Journal of Botany29, 233-245 .
13.
Gibson, D.F. , Thomson, B.G. , Coleman, M.N. , Cole, J.R. , Ginns, A.J. and Soos, A.1992: A resource survey of northern Loves Creek Pastoral Lease and Ruby Gap Nature Park, Northern Territory. Technical Report 53. Alice Springs: Conservation Commission of the Northern Territory .
14.
Griffin, G.F. and Friedel, M.N.1984a: Effects of fire on central Australian rangelands. I Fire and fuel characteristics and changes in herbage and nutrients . Australian Journal of Ecology9, 381-393 .
15.
Griffin, G.F. and Friedel, M.N.1984b: Discontinuous change in central Australia: some implications of major ecological events for land management . Journal of Arid Environments9, 63-80 .
16.
Head, L. , McCarthy, L. , Quade, J. , Witter, D. , Allen, V. and Lawson, E.1998: Classification and radiocarbon dating of Leporillus nests in semi-arid Australia and palaeoclimatic implications . Palaeoclimates3, 161-177 .
17.
Keast, A.1981. Ecological biogeography of Australia. Boston MA: W Junk .
18.
Latz, P.1996: Bushfires and bushtucker, Aboriginal plant use in central Australia. Alice Springs: Institute for Aboriginal Development Press .
19.
Martin, H. , 1973: Palynology and historical ecology of some cave excavations in the Australian Nullarbor . Australian Journal of Botany21, 283-316 .
20.
McCarthy, L. , Head, L. and Quade, J.1996: Holocene palaeoecology of the northern Flinders Ranges, South Australia, based on stick-nest rat (Leporillus spp.) middens: a preliminary overview . Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology123, 205-218 .
21.
Nelson, D.J. , Webb, R.H. and Long, A.1990: Analysis of stick nest rat (Leporillus: Muridae) middens from central Australia. In Betancourt, J.L. , Van Devender, T.R. and Martin, P.S. , editors, Packrat middens: the last 40,000 years of biotic change. Tucson AZ: The University of Arizona , 428-434.
22.
Parks and Wildlife Commission of the Northern Territory (PWCNT)2000: Arltunga historical reserve plan of management. Alice Springs: Southern Office of the Strategic Planning and Development Unit .
23.
Patton, P.C. , Pickup, G. and Price, D.M.1993: Holocene palaeofloods of the Ross River, central Australia . Quaternary Research40, 201-212 .
24.
Pearson, S.1999: Late Holocene biological records from the middens of stick-nest rats in the central Australian arid zone . Quaternary International59, 39-46 .
25.
Pearson, S. and Betancourt, J.L.2002: Understanding arid environments using fossil rodent middens , Journal of Arid Environments50, 499-511 .
26.
Pearson, S. , Lawson, E. , Head, L. , McCarthy, L. and Dodson, J.1999: The spatial and temporal patterns of stick-nest rat middens in Australia . Radiocarbon49, 295-308 .
27.
Pearson, S. , Baynes, A. and Triggs, B.E.2001: The record of fauna, and accumulating agents of hair and bone, found in middens of stick-nest rats, genusLeporillus (Rodentia: Muridae). Wildlife Research28, 435-444 .
28.
Pickup, G.1991: Event frequency and landscape stability on the floodplain systems of arid central Australia . Quaternary Science Reviews10, 463-473 .
29.
Pickup, G. and Stafford-Smith, D.M.1993: Problems, prospects and procedures for assessing the sustainability of pastoral land management in arid Australia . Journal of Biogeography20, 471-487 .
30.
Pickup, G. , Bastin, G.N. and Chewings, V.H.1994: Remote sensing-based condition assessment for nonequilibrium rangelands under large scale commercial grazing . Ecological Applications4, 497-517 .
Smith, M.A.1987: Pleistocene occupation in arid Central Australia . Nature328, 710-711 .
33.
Smith, M.A. 1988: The pattern and timing of prehistoric settlement in central Australia. Unpublished PhD Thesis, University of New England, Armidale.
34.
Smith, M.A. , Williams, E. and Wasson, R.J.1991. The archaeology of the JSN site: some implications for the dymanics of human occupation in the Strzelecki Desert during the late Pleistocene , Records of the South Australian Museum25, 175-192 .
35.
Smith, M.A. , Vellen, L. and Pask, J.1995: Vegetation history form archaeological charcoals in central Australia: the late Quaternary record from Puritjarra rock shelter . Vegetation History and Archaeobotany4, 171-177 .
36.
Spaulding, W.G. , Betancourt, J.L. , Croft, L.K. and Cole K.L.1990: Packrat middens: their composition and methods of analysis. In Betancourt, J.L. , Van Devender, T.R. and Martin, P.S. , editors, Packrat middens: the last 40,000 years of biotic change. Tucson AZ: The University of Arizona , 59-84.
37.
Stafford-Smith, M. , West, J. and Thiele, K.1996. Biogeographic patterns in inland Australia: the role of isolation and uncertainty. In Norton, S.R. and Mulvaney, D.J. , editors, Exploring central Australia: society, the environment and the 1894 Horn Expedition. Chipping Norton: Surrey Beatty & Sons , 368-378.
38.
Strong, B.W.1983: The invasion of the Northern Territory by the wild European rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus. Alice Springs: Conservation Commission of the Northern Territory .
39.
Stuiver, M. and Reimer, P.J.1993. Extended 14C database and revised CALIB radiocarbon calibration program . Radiocarbon35, 215-230 .
40.
Thompson, R.S. 1984: Late Pleistocene and Holocene environments of the Great Basin. Ph.D. dissertation. Tucson AZ: University of Arizona.
