Insulated nest boxes provide thermal refuges for wildlife in urban bushland during summer heatwaves

Honey, R; McLean, C; Murray, BR; Webb, JK

Insulated nest boxes provide thermal refuges for wildlife in urban bushland during summer heatwaves

Honey, R McLean, C Murray, BR Webb, JK

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Publisher:: Oxford University Press
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Journal of Urban Ecology, 2021, 7, (1), pp. 1-8
Issue Date:: 2021-01-22

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Honey, R
dc.contributor.author	McLean, C
dc.contributor.author	Murray, BR
dc.contributor.author	Webb, JK
dc.date.accessioned	2022-01-12T04:08:41Z
dc.date.available	2022-01-12T04:08:41Z
dc.date.issued	2021-01-22
dc.identifier.citation	Journal of Urban Ecology, 2021, 7, (1), pp. 1-8
dc.identifier.issn	2058-5543
dc.identifier.issn	2058-5543
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/152963
dc.description.abstract	In urban bushland, the installation of nest boxes is widely used to compensate for the loss of natural tree hollows. However, current nest box designs may not provide thermal refuges for wildlife during summer heatwaves, particularly if internal temperatures exceed the upper critical temperatures of wildlife. We investigated whether the addition of roofing insulation to nest boxes deployed for sugar gliders (Petaurus breviceps) and squirrel gliders (Petaurus norfolcensis) in urban bushland would reduce internal nest box temperatures during summer heatwaves. We measured temperatures of 44 insulated and 47 uninsulated nest boxes during one of the hottest summers on record (2018–2019) in the Lake Macquarie region of NSW, Australia, a period during which several prolonged heatwaves occurred. Over the 90-day study, maximum temperatures were, on average, 3.1°C lower in insulated boxes than in uninsulated boxes. The addition of insulation significantly lowered nest box temperatures regardless of aspect (north or south facing) or day of measurement. Temperatures exceeded the upper critical temperature (35.1°C) of gliders more frequently in uninsulated nest boxes (28% of days) than in insulated nest boxes (8% days). Although the addition of insulation to nest boxes lowered their internal temperatures, during heatwaves spanning 23 days, nest box temperatures exceeded the upper critical temperatures of gliders on 58% and 23% of days in uninsulated and insulated nest boxes respectively. These findings underscore the importance of retaining natural hollows in urban bushland to provide thermally suitable refuges for wildlife during extreme heat events.
dc.language	en
dc.publisher	Oxford University Press
dc.relation	Lake Macquarie City Council2016-2017102
dc.relation.ispartof	Journal of Urban Ecology
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1093/jue/juab032
dc.rights	This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess
dc.title	Insulated nest boxes provide thermal refuges for wildlife in urban bushland during summer heatwaves
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	7
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Science
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Science/School of Life Sciences
utslib.copyright.status	recently_added	*
pubs.consider-herdc	false
dc.date.updated	2022-01-12T04:08:40Z
pubs.issue	1
pubs.publication-status	Published
pubs.volume	7
utslib.citation.issue	1

Abstract:

In urban bushland, the installation of nest boxes is widely used to compensate for the loss of natural tree hollows. However, current nest box designs may not provide thermal refuges for wildlife during summer heatwaves, particularly if internal temperatures exceed the upper critical temperatures of wildlife. We investigated whether the addition of roofing insulation to nest boxes deployed for sugar gliders (Petaurus breviceps) and squirrel gliders (Petaurus norfolcensis) in urban bushland would reduce internal nest box temperatures during summer heatwaves. We measured temperatures of 44 insulated and 47 uninsulated nest boxes during one of the hottest summers on record (2018–2019) in the Lake Macquarie region of NSW, Australia, a period during which several prolonged heatwaves occurred. Over the 90-day study, maximum temperatures were, on average, 3.1°C lower in insulated boxes than in uninsulated boxes. The addition of insulation significantly lowered nest box temperatures regardless of aspect (north or south facing) or day of measurement. Temperatures exceeded the upper critical temperature (35.1°C) of gliders more frequently in uninsulated nest boxes (28% of days) than in insulated nest boxes (8% days). Although the addition of insulation to nest boxes lowered their internal temperatures, during heatwaves spanning 23 days, nest box temperatures exceeded the upper critical temperatures of gliders on 58% and 23% of days in uninsulated and insulated nest boxes respectively. These findings underscore the importance of retaining natural hollows in urban bushland to provide thermally suitable refuges for wildlife during extreme heat events.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/152963