Does temperature variation influence nest box use by the eastern pygmy-possum?
Ross L. Goldingay
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
School of Environment, Science and Engineering, Southern Cross University, PO Box 157, Lismore, NSW 2480, Australia. Email: ross.goldingay@scu.edu.au
Australian Mammalogy 42(1) 77-84 https://doi.org/10.1071/AM19023
Submitted: 17 March 2019 Accepted: 2 May 2019 Published: 3 July 2019
Abstract
Cavity-using birds and mammals reliant on nest boxes may be negatively affected by the poor thermal buffering of nest boxes. I investigated whether nest box use by the eastern pygmy-possum (Cercartetus nanus) over a 4-year period was influenced by maximum ambient temperature, which ranged from 15.6 to 34.9°C during survey occasions. Occupancy modelling of 144 site detections over 30 survey occasions suggested that a model that included maximum temperature had little support whereas a model involving time-varying detection (i.e. detection differed across sample occasions) was the most plausible. I also investigated how temperatures in nest boxes and tree hollows varied over the four hottest days of summer, including one day when the temperature reached 40.6°C. Maximum temperatures were 3–4°C cooler in plywood nest boxes and 5–8°C cooler in tree hollows compared with ambient temperatures. Together, these results suggest that eastern pygmy-possums using nest boxes in coastal areas are unlikely to experience heat stress. Cavity-using species are a heterogeneous group such that empirical studies are required to identify those that may be vulnerable to heat stress if nest boxes are used to provide population support.
Additional keywords: nest box heat stress hypothesis, pipe refuge.
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