The significance of topographic complexity in habitat selection and persistence of a declining marsupial in the Kimberley region of Western Australia

Hohnen, R; Tuft, K; Legge, S; Walters, N; Johanson, L; Carver, S; Radford, IJ; Johnson, CN

The significance of topographic complexity in habitat selection and persistence of a declining marsupial in the Kimberley region of Western Australia

Hohnen, R Tuft, K Legge, S Walters, N Johanson, L Carver, S Radford, IJ Johnson, CN

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Publisher:: CSIRO Publishing
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Australian Journal of Zoology, 2016, 64 (3), pp. 198 - 198
Issue Date:: 2016

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Hohnen, R	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Tuft, K	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Legge, S	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Walters, N	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Johanson, L	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Carver, S	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Radford, IJ	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Johnson, CN	en_US
dc.date.issued	2016	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Australian Journal of Zoology, 2016, 64 (3), pp. 198 - 198	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	0004-959X	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/130339
dc.description.abstract	<jats:p> Mammalian species in northern Australia are declining. The resources that many species from this region require to persist in the landscape remain poorly understood. We examined habitat selection and diet of the scaly-tailed possum (Wyulda squamicaudata, hereafter called Wyulda) in the north-west Kimberley, Western Australia, in relation to variation in complexity of rocky habitat, habitat heterogeneity, and recent fire history. We fitted GPS tags to 23 Wyulda between January 2013 and February 2014 and analysed step selection between GPS fixes to describe habitat choice. We assessed diet by microscopic analysis of plant fragments from 47 faecal samples. Individual Wyulda preferentially foraged in locations with high rock complexity and high habitat heterogeneity in a wide variety of habitats, but denned exclusively in complex rock piles. They used savannas of a range of post-fire ages, including recently burnt (1–2 months after fire) and long unburnt (>24 months after fire). They were highly frugivorous with, on average, 77% of plant fragments per scat sample identified as fruit epidermal layers. Overall, rock complexity appears to be an important landscape attribute for Wyulda, as it may provide den sites and protect fire-sensitive landscape features such as fruiting trees and habitat heterogeneity. </jats:p>	en_US
dc.language	en	en_US
dc.publisher	CSIRO Publishing	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Australian Journal of Zoology	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1071/zo16015	en_US
dc.subject.classification	Zoology	en_US
dc.title	The significance of topographic complexity in habitat selection and persistence of a declining marsupial in the Kimberley region of Western Australia	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	3	en_US
utslib.citation.volume	64	en_US
utslib.for	05 Environmental Sciences	en_US
utslib.for	06 Biological Sciences	en_US
utslib.for	07 Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Science
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access
pubs.issue	3	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	64	en_US

Abstract:

Mammalian species in northern Australia are declining. The resources that many species from this region require to persist in the landscape remain poorly understood. We examined habitat selection and diet of the scaly-tailed possum (Wyulda squamicaudata, hereafter called Wyulda) in the north-west Kimberley, Western Australia, in relation to variation in complexity of rocky habitat, habitat heterogeneity, and recent fire history. We fitted GPS tags to 23 Wyulda between January 2013 and February 2014 and analysed step selection between GPS fixes to describe habitat choice. We assessed diet by microscopic analysis of plant fragments from 47 faecal samples. Individual Wyulda preferentially foraged in locations with high rock complexity and high habitat heterogeneity in a wide variety of habitats, but denned exclusively in complex rock piles. They used savannas of a range of post-fire ages, including recently burnt (1–2 months after fire) and long unburnt (>24 months after fire). They were highly frugivorous with, on average, 77% of plant fragments per scat sample identified as fruit epidermal layers. Overall, rock complexity appears to be an important landscape attribute for Wyulda, as it may provide den sites and protect fire-sensitive landscape features such as fruiting trees and habitat heterogeneity.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/130339