A total of 53 native Australian species (52x C3, 1x C4) were sampled from 22 plant families and 7 growth forms along a transect in WA spanning 9.56 degrees latitude and 6.85 degrees longitude. Samples were collected using the nationally-accepted AusPlots Rangelands methodology. Samples were stored to preserve isotopic signatures and analysed using standard techniques for mass spectroscopy, including internationally-calibrated standards. Technical replicates of 13% showed very low drift (0.07).

This dataset comprises of new, high precision radiocarbon dates for 20 mainland thylacines and 24 mainland devils. Metadata includes museum accession numbers and origin of specimens. We envision that this dataset could be used in studies of paleo-ecological reconstructions and for estimating extinction time for both devils and thylacines on mainland Australia. This dataset includes the youngest reliable fossil ages for both species on mainland Australia as per the criteria set out in Rodriguez-Rey at al (2015). <i>"Criteria for assessing the quality of Middle Pleistocene to Holocene vertebrate fossil ages."</i> Quaternary Geochronology 30 (2015): 69-79.

Invertebrates dominate the animal world in terms of abundance, diversity and biomass and play critical roles in maintaining ecosystem function. Despite their obvious importance, disproportionate research attention remains focused on vertebrates, with knowledge and understanding of invertebrate ecology still lacking. Due to their inherent advantages, usage of camera traps in ecology has risen dramatically over the last three decades, especially for research on mammals. However, few studies have used cameras to reliably detect fauna such as invertebrates or used cameras to examine specific aspects of invertebrate ecology. Twenty-four Reconyx PC800 HyperfireTM cameras were deployed on 7th July 2016 at Main Camp and left until 12th October 2016 (98 days, or 2352 h of deployment) in the Simpson Desert, south-western Queensland, capturing 372 time-lapse images of Wolf spiders (Family Lycosidae). Images were tagged with camera location, position, angle, camera ID and presence of lycosids. Additionally, spotlight surveys were conducted in October 2016 every hour between dusk (19:30 h) and dawn (05:30 h) over three nights with a total of 352 lycosids observed. This data set was used to determine whether: 1) camera traps provide a viable method for detecting wolf spiders, 2) diel activity patterns of the spiders can be ascertained, and 3) patterns in spider activity vary with environmental conditions, specifically between burned and unburned habitats and the crests and bases of sand dunes. This data presents a useful example of the utility of cameras as a tool for determining the diel activity patterns and habitat use of larger arthropods such as wolf spiders. Please note: Camera trap images are not provided and only species occurrence records are included. Also, image files were renamed after collection, resulting in a number versus time conflict. However, dates and times of sightings provided are correct.

Wood block decomposition assessment at the Great Western Woodlands site is part of a global program looking at the influence of microbes and invertebrates on wood decay. A common protocol was developed exposing small (~400 cm3) pieces of a wood-substrate (untreated Pinus radiata) to the environment excluding and not-excluding macroinvertebrates (e.g. termites) by the use of a plastic mesh.

The lesser hairy-footed dunnart (<i>Sminthopsis youngsoni, Dasyuridae</i>) is a generalist marsupial insectivore in arid Australia, but consumes wolf spiders (<i>Lycosa spp., Lycosidae</i>) disproportionately often relative to their availability. This project tested the hypothesis that this disproportionate predation is a product of frequent encounter rates between the interactants due to high overlap in their diets and use of space and time. This data set focuses on the dietary aspect. Specifically, invertebrate pitfall trapping was employed to quantify food availability and selectivity for both wolf spiders and <i>S.youngsoni</i>. Pitfall traps were deployed along trails left by tracked individuals, as well as control trails, of both species groups in the north-western Simpson Desert, Queensland. In total, invertebrate pitfall traps were deployed along 11 <i>S.youngsoni</i> and 8 <i>lycosa</i> trails in October 2016. Invertebrates were identified to the level of "Order", except for spiders (Order: Arachnida) and bees, wasps and ants (Order: Hymenoptera) which were identified to the "Family" level using identification keys and were also counted and grouped into seven size classes. This data was used for the following analyses: [1] a two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) to test whether total numbers of arthropods differed between trail type and species, [2] non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) and [3] permutational analysis of variance (PERMANOVA) to test whether assemblages of arthropod prey and prey sizes differed between the two trail types for each species and between each species.

The lesser hairy-footed dunnart (<i>Sminthopsis youngsoni, Dasyuridae</i>) is a generalist marsupial insectivore in arid Australia, but consumes wolf spiders (<i>Lycosa spp., Lycosidae</i>) disproportionately often relative to their availability. This project tested the hypothesis that this disproportionate predation is a product of frequent encounter rates between the interactants due to high overlap in their diets and use of space and time. This data set focuses on overlap in the diel acttivity patterns wolf spiders (<i>Lycosa spp.</i>) and the lesser hairy-footed dunnart (<i>Sminthopsis youngsoni</i>) in the Simpson Desert, south-western Queensland Australia. To quantify the temporal activity of lycosids, spotlight surveys were conducted in October 2016 every hour between dusk (19:30 h) and dawn (05:30 h) over three nights. Additionally, remote camera traps were deployed to further quantify patterns in the activity of lycosids and S. youngsoni. Twenty-four Reconyx PC800 HyperfireTM cameras were deployed on 7th July 2016 at Main Camp and left until 12th October 2016 (98 days, or 2352 h of deployment). Images were tagged with camera location, position, angle, camera ID number, species and confidence and date and time data were extracted from each image. This data was used to identify mean activity times for each species (with confidence intervals) and to assess overlap in nocturnal activity patterns between lycosids and S. youngsoni, and thus the potential for competition and predation using the Overlap v 0.2.7 package in R. This data presents a useful example for investigating how the 'Overlap' package works and the benefits it provides.

Wood block decomposition assessment at the Alice Mulga site is part of a global program looking at the influence of microbes and invertebrates on wood decay. A common protocol was developed exposing small (~400 cm3) pieces of a wood-substrate (untreated Pinus radiata) to the environment excluding and not-excluding macroinvertebrates (e.g. termites) by the use of a plastic mesh.

The lesser hairy­footed dunnart (<i>Sminthopsis youngsoni, Dasyuridae</i>) is a generalist marsupial insectivore in arid Australia, but consumes wolf spiders (<i>Lycosa spp., Lycosidae</i>) disproportionately often relative to their availability. Here, we tested whether lycosids have relatively high energy or nutrient contents compared to other invertebrates, and hence whether these aspects of food quality can explain selective predation of lycosids by <i>S.youngsoni</i>. Energy, lipid and protein composition of representatives of 10 arthropod families that are eaten by <i>S. youngsoni</i> in the Simpson Desert were ascertained using microbomb calorimetry, chloroform-methanol extraction and Dumas combustion. Differences between invertebrate groups were assessed using separate analyses of variance (ANOVAs) and appropriate post-hoc tests. These analyses were performed using this data.

This dataset contains information on vegetation at a set of field sites along with associated environmental data extracted from spatial layers and selected ecological statistics. Measurements of vascular plants include species, growth form, height and cover from 1010 point intercepts per plot as well as systematically recorded absences, which are useful for predictive modelling and validation of remote sensing applications. The derived cover estimates are robust and repeatable, allowing comparisons among environments and detection of modest change. The field plots span a rainfall gradient of 129-1437 mm Mean Annual Precipitation ranging from aseasonal to highly seasonal. The dataset consists of a processed version the AusPlots Rangelands dataset with three components: 1) a site table with locality, environmental and summary ecology statistics for each plot; 2) a set of compiled point intercept records identified by individual hits, site visits and plots and; 3) a processed species percent cover against site/visit matrix for ecological analysis. The data have re-use potential for studies on vegetation properties in the Australian rangelands or as a species presence/absence dataset for testing ecological models. The dataset also provides opportunities for generic application such as testing community ecology theories or developing or demonstrating community ecology software, whether using the raw point by point intercept data or the derived percent cover matrix.

The lesser hairy-footed dunnart (<i>Sminthopsis youngsoni, Dasyuridae</i>) is a generalist marsupial insectivore in arid Australia, but consumes wolf spiders (<i>Lycosa spp., Lycosidae</i>) disproportionately often relative to their availability. This project tested the hypothesis that this disproportionate predation is a product of frequent encounter rates between the interactants due to high overlap in their diets and use of space and time. This data set focuses on dietary overlap, with diet and predatory behaviour of wolf spiders (<i>Lycosa spp.</i>), the lesser hairy-footed dunnart (<i>Sminthopsis youngsoni</i>) and prowling spiders (<i>Miturga spp.</i>, which represent other common invertebrate predators) were determined by tracking individuals and directly observing prey captures. Seventeen wolf spiders, 10 prowling spiders and 5 dunnarts were captured from Main Camp site in the Simpson Desert, south-western Queensland during 2016 with 30, 13 and 13 direct prey captures witnessed for each species respectively. This data is used for calculating overlap between prey taxa and prey size between these predators using the symmetrical version of MacArthur and Levin's and Pianka's overlap equation. However, it can also be used as a case study for calculating overlap between other species-groups.