Haematology of the Sleepy Lizard (Tiliqua rugosa) in Australia's cereal croplands, 2010 

The qualities of these data include: (i) sound experimental design to detect a change between confounding factors, (ii) large sample size, (iii) microchipped animals, (iv) validated heamatological processing on the wild Australian lizard Tiliqua rugosa involving a collaboration between wildlife ecologists and veterinary scientists. Its reuse potential may involve a comparative analysis of body size, haematological parameters with other long-lived, medium-sized lizards, ectoparasite studies (Aponomma hydrosauri, Amblyomma libatum) for different host populations, and background justification for ecotoxicological (pesticide) studies in farmland. Using a using a multivariate, one-way nested Type I PERMANCOVA (analysis of covariance) design, body size, blood samples and ectoparasite presence was collected on a total of 119 animals from two different populations in southern Australia. One population was from an intensively managed cropping environment and one was from an adjacent a less intensively managed grazing environment. This study took place in extensive rangelands and the fragmented landscapes of the South Australian Murray Mallee cereal cropland in southern Australia. Adult and juvenile T. rugosa were captured for sampling at one rangeland (baseline) site and three severely modified (severe) landscape-scaled sites (LS1, LS2, LS3) over a large area (68 km × 84 km or 571,200 ha) across the croplands. Two animal sampling designs were used to collect data on physiological health (Design 1: Baseline vs Severe and Design 2 - Severe only). Data collected: Record No., Animal No., Treatment, Habitat Type, Landscape No., Connectivity Class, Age Class, Linear Body Size Index (LBSI), Heterophil (H) Field of View, Heterophil per microlitre, Total White Blood Cell Count, Absolute Heterophil Count, % Heterophil Count, Absolute Lymphocyte (L) Count, % Lymphocytes, H:L Ratio (Absolute), H:L Ratio (%), Absolute Monocytes, % Monocytes , Absolute Other Granulocytes , % Other Granulocytes, % Polychromasia, Snout-Vent Length (mm), Total No. Ectoparasites per Animal. 

We at TERN acknowledge the Traditional Owners and Custodians throughout Australia, New Zealand and all nations. We honour their profound connections to land, water, biodiversity and culture and pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging. We gratefully acknowledge the farmers who gave us permission to work on their farms. 

Native biodiversity in Australian agricultural landscapes continues to decline in response to a range of threatening processes. Woody perennial farming systems are being established across southern Australia as land managers strive to achieve more sustainable and profitable farming practices. Woody perennial farming systems can improve the persistence of biota either directly, for example, by providing additional food resources; or indirectly by ameliorating risk factors, such as altered hydrological processes, that are threatening biota. The focus of the program is on the food, shelter and breeding resources that perennial farming systems can provide for native biota and thus potentially contribute to the persistence of a range of native species in agricultural landscapes. Native biodiversity in Australian agricultural landscapes continues to decline in response to a range of threatening processes. Woody perennial farming systems are being established across southern Australia as land managers strive to achieve more sustainable and profitable farming practices. Woody perennial farming systems can improve the persistence of biota either directly, for example, by providing additional food resources; or indirectly by ameliorating risk factors, such as altered hydrological processes, that are threatening biota. The focus of the program is on the food, shelter and breeding resources that perennial farming systems can provide for native biota and thus potentially contribute to the persistence of a range of native species in agricultural landscapes. There were four studies: (i) Study 1 was a review of the resource requirements of all terrestrial vertebrate species found in the temperate agricultural landscapes of South Australia and Western Australia, (ii) Study 2 studied the potential of planted saltbush (Atriplex nummularia) to support avian biodiversity in the Murray Mallee of South Australia, (iii) Study 3 explored the use of native perennial (saltbush) plantations Atriplex numularia numularia by the sleepy lizard (Tiliqua rugosa) an endemic Australian species common in the South Australian Murray Mallee region (SAMM), and (iv) Study 4 assessed the body condition and haematology of the sleepy lizard in grazed rangelands (native vegetation relatively intact) and severely modified cropping landscapes (remnants of native vegetation surrounded by cereal crops) to determine lizard health and make inferences about the vulnerability of habitats under extreme of habitat modification and discuss implications for the species persistence and farming systems management. This dataset is for Study 4. 

Data not provided.