Editing Houtman Abrolhos (section)

==Terrestrial fauna==

===Birds===
[[File:Terns, Pelsaert Island.jpg|thumb|[[Tern]]s, [[Pelsaert Island]], 1895]]

The Houtman Abrolhos is home to around 100 species of bird; for a complete list, see [[list of birds of the Houtman Abrolhos]]. Six species are land birds, and three are shore birds. The remainder, the vast majority, are [[seabird]]s. Most seabird species have a tropical distribution, but some occur in both tropical and warm-temperate seas, and a small number are warm-temperate only.<ref name="Storr 1986">{{cite journal | author1 = Storr, G. M. | author2 =  Johnstone, R. E.  | author3 =  Griffin, P. | year = 1986 | title = Birds of the Houtman Abholhos, Western Australia | journal = Records of the Western Australian Museum | issue = Supplement No. 24}}</ref>

When numbers of individuals are taken into account, the tropical birds overwhelmingly dominate. The islands are one of the most important breeding sites for tropical seabirds in Australia and have been identified by [[BirdLife International]] as an [[Important Bird Area]] (IBA).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.birdata.com.au/iba.vm |title=IBA: Houtman Abrolhos |access-date=2011-07-08 |work=Birdata |publisher=Birds Australia |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706102341/http://www.birdata.com.au/iba.vm |archive-date=6 July 2011 }}</ref> They contain by far the largest colonies of [[wedge-tailed shearwater]] in the eastern Indian Ocean, with over a million breeding pairs recorded there in 1994.<ref name="Fuller 1994">{{cite journal |author1=Fuller, P. J. |author2=Burbidge, A. A. |author3=Owens, R. | year = 1994 | title = Breeding seabirds of the Houtman Abrolhos, Western Australia | journal = [[Corella (journal)|Corella]] | volume = 18 | issue = 4 | pages = 97–113}}</ref> They also contain Western Australia's only breeding [[seabird colony|colonies]] of the [[lesser noddy]], and the largest colonies in Western Australia of the [[little shearwater]], [[white-faced storm petrel]], [[common noddy]], [[Caspian tern]], [[crested tern]], [[roseate tern]] and [[fairy tern]]. In addition, they contain important breeding areas for the [[Pacific reef heron]], [[Pacific gull]], [[bridled tern]], [[white-bellied sea eagle]] and [[osprey]].<ref name="Storr 1986"/><ref name="Fisheries 2003"/>

There are two subspecies of bird endemic to the islands. The [[Abrolhos painted button-quail]] occurs only on five islands in the Wallabi Group, and is protected as rare under the ''[[Wildlife Conservation Act 1950]]''. Also gazetted as rare, the Australasian subspecies of the lesser noddy, ''Anous tenuirostris melanops'', breeds only on [[Wooded Island]], [[Morley Island]] and [[Pelsaert Island]].<ref name="Fisheries 2003"/>

===Mammals===
[[File:Abrolhos North-Island3.jpg|thumb|A [[tammar wallaby]] on North Island]]

Only two species of land mammal are indigenous to the Houtman Abrolhos, the [[tammar wallaby]] (''Macropus eugenii'') and the [[bush rat]] (''Rattus fuscipes''). Both are native only to West and East Wallabi Islands,<ref name="Abbott 1995">{{cite journal |author1=Abbott, I.  |author2=Burbidge, A. A. | year = 1995 | title = The occurrence of mammal species on the islands of Australia: A summary of existing knowledge | journal = CALMScience | volume = 1 | issue = 3 | pages = 259–324}}</ref> although ''R.&nbsp;fuscipes'' has not been collected on East Wallabi Island since August 1967, and is probably extinct there.<ref name="Cooper 2006">{{cite journal |author1=Cooper, N.K. |author2=How, R.A. |author3=Desmond, A. | year = 2006 | title = Probable local extinction of the Bush Rat, ''Rattus fuscipes'', on East Wallabi Island in the Houtman Abrolhos | journal = [[Western Australian Naturalist]] | volume = 25 | issue = 2 | pages = 61–71}}</ref> The tammar wallaby was seen on West Wallabi Island by survivors of the ''Batavia'' shipwreck, and recorded by [[Francisco Pelsart]] in his 1629 ''Ongeluckige Voyagie''. This represents the first recorded sighting of a [[Macropodidae|macropod]] by Europeans,<ref name="Pearson 2005">{{cite book|first=Michael |last=Pearson |year=2005 |title=Great Southern Land: The maritime exploration of Terra Australis |publisher=Department of the Environment and Heritage, Government of Australia |url=http://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/publications/pubs/great-southern-land.pdf |access-date=2007-12-21 |isbn=978-0-642-55185-6 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929132830/http://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/publications/pubs/great-southern-land.pdf |archive-date=29 September 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and probably also the first sighting of an Australian mammal.<ref name="Storr 1965">{{cite journal | first = Glen | last = Storr | year = 1965 | title = The physiography, vegetation and vertebrate fauna of the Wallabi Group, Houtman Abrolhos | journal = Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia | volume = 48 | issue = 1 | pages = 1–14}}</ref> Tammar wallabies were introduced to North Island from East Wallabi Island by fishermen, probably in the 1950s, but failed to establish themselves. In 1987 they were reintroduced again, this time successfully. By the 2000s, there were over 400 wallabies on the island, resulting in [[overgrazing]] of native vegetation and increased [[erosion]]. Research into the effectiveness of controlling population levels by the use of implanted contraceptives was begun in 2005,<ref name="ABC">{{cite web | title = "Pill" plan for growing wallaby population | url = http://www.abc.net.au/news/2005-06-16/pill-plan-for-growing-wallaby-population/1593926 | publisher = ABC News Online |date = 15 June 2005 | access-date = 6 September 2015}}</ref> but in July 2007 the research was discontinued and the population culled instead.<ref>{{cite news |url = http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-12-24/plan-to-cull-wallabies-on-abrohlos-island/4442908 | title = Wallabies may be culled on Abrolhos island | publisher = ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Company) | access-date = 26 November 2017 | date = 24 December 2012 | first = Sarah | last = Taillier}}</ref>

Two introduced mammals are established on the islands. The [[domestic cat]] (''Felis silvestris catus'') was introduced to Rat Island around 1900, and the [[house mouse]] (''Mus musculus'') was introduced onto North Island in the 1970s, presumably with food. In 1995 the house mouse was reported as also present on Rat Island for many years before 1987,<ref name="Abbott 1995"/> but a recent report makes no mention of this.<ref name="Burbidge 2004">{{cite book|author=Burbidge, A. A. |year=2004 |title=Introduced mammals on Western Australian islands: Improving Australia's ability to protect its island habitats from feral animals |edition= Final report for the Australian Government Department of the Environment and Heritage |publisher=Department of Conservation and Land Management, Government of Western Australia |url=http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/invasive/publications/wa-islands/index.html |access-date=2007-12-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071021093319/http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/invasive/publications/wa-islands/index.html |archive-date=21 October 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In addition, three introduced mammals were previously established in the Houtman Abrolhos, but have since been eradicated. The [[black rat]] (''Rattus rattus'') was established on Pigeon and Rat Islands, but has been eradicated by poisoning. The [[European rabbit]] (''Oryctolagus cuniculus'') has been introduced at various times onto Leo Island, Middle Island, Morley Island, Pelsaert Island and Wooded Island. In the case of Pelsaert Island, it is not clear whether it ever established; in all other cases, established populations have been eradicated by poisoning.<ref name="Abbott 1995"/><ref name="Burbidge 2004"/> The [[domestic goat]] (''Capra aegagrus hircus'') is also reported to have been present on East Wallabi Island, but is no longer.<ref name="Storr 1986"/>

===Reptiles===
[[File:Abrolhos West Wallabi Is DSCN7917.JPG|thumb|An [[Abrolhos dwarf bearded dragon]] (''Pogona minor minima'') on West Wallabi Island]]

23 terrestrial reptile species are known to occur on the islands of the Houtman Abrolhos.<ref name="How 2004">{{cite journal | author1 = How, R. A. | author2 =  Pearson D. J. | author3 =  Desmond, A. | author4 =  Maryan, B. | year = 2004 | title = Reappraisal of the reptiles on the islands of the Houtman Abrolhos, Western Australia | journal = [[The Western Australian Naturalist]] | volume = 24 | issue = 3 | pages = 172–178}}</ref> This relatively low biodiversity is apparently due to the homogeneity of habitat on the islands, which provide few distinct [[ecological niche]]s.<ref name="Kitchener 1982">{{cite journal |author1=Kitchener, D. J.  |author2=How, R. A. | year = 1982 | title = Lizard species in small mainland habitat isolates and islands off south-western Western Australia | journal = Australian Wildlife Research | volume = 9 | pages = 357–363 | doi = 10.1071/WR9820357 | issue = 2}}</ref> The most significant terrestrial reptile species are the spiny-tailed skink (''[[Stokes's skink|Egernia stokesii stokesii]]'') and the carpet python (''[[Morelia spilota imbricata]]''), both of which are listed as rare and therefore afforded special protection under the ''[[Wildlife Conservation Act 1950]]''; and the Abrolhos dwarf bearded dragon (''[[Pogona minor minima]]''), a Houtman Abrolhos endemic that is listed as a Priority 4 species by the [[Department of Environment and Conservation (Western Australia)|Department of Environment and Conservation]].<ref name="Fisheries 2003"/> For a full list of species, see [[list of reptiles of the Houtman Abrolhos]].

===Amphibians===
Specimens of the pobblebonk (''[[Limnodynastes dorsalis]]'') and the turtle frog (''[[Myobatrachus gouldii]]'') were collected from the Houtman Abrolhos during the Percy Sladen Trust Expedition of 1913 and 1915, but no amphibians have been recorded on the islands since that time.<ref name="How 2004"/>