The Spinifexbird Eremiornis carteri in the Desert Uplands Bioregion, north-central Queensland: a geographic isolate or a nomadic metapopulation?

Abstract

The Spinifexbird Eremiornis carteri is an inland species exclusively associated with mature Triodia spp. grasslands. Despite its wide distribution throughout arid and semi-arid Australia, a history of range expansion and contraction, and concentration into a number of core population centres, the species is considered monotypic. Two disjunct eastern localities were recorded during a vertebrate fauna survey of the Desert Uplands Bioregion in central-north Queensland, both in mature Triodia longiceps grasslands. These localities are described and reasons for the Jack of speciation within this taxon are reviewed. Nomadism in response to fire and climate pressures, discrete habitat specificity and current land use patterns are discussed as possible causes of lack of morphological differentiation, though the possibility of cryptic genetic variation in sub-populations is canvassed.