Free Standard AU & NZ Shipping For All Book Orders Over $80!
Register      Login
Wildlife Research Wildlife Research Society
Ecology, management and conservation in natural and modified habitats
Shopping Cart: ( empty )
You are here: Home > Journals > WR > WR02048
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 31(5)

Population recovery of common brushtail possums after local depopulation

Weihong Ji A D , Stephen D. Sarre B , Piran C. L. White C and Mick N. Clout A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A School of Biological Sciences, The University of Auckland, PO Box 92019, Auckland, New Zealand.

B Applied Ecology Research Group, University of Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.

C Environment Department, University of York, Heslington, York YO10 5DD, UK.

D Corresponding author. Present address: Environment Department, University of York, Heslington, York YO10 5DD, UK. Email: wj2@york.ac.uk

Wildlife Research 31(5) 543-550 https://doi.org/10.1071/WR02048
Submitted: 17 June 2002  Accepted: 8 June 2004   Published: 13 December 2004

Abstract

Brushtail possums (Trichosurus vulpecula) were live-trapped for two years prior to and following depopulation in two ~6-ha areas of native forest in New Zealand. The populations had recovered to 55% of the original density at one site and 40% of the original density at the other site, two years after the depopulation. The post-removal populations responded to reduced density with a higher proportion of females breeding, higher survival rate of young, and less seasonal fluctuation in body condition. The initial recolonisation was probably mainly due to surrounding animals shifting their ranges into the depopulated area, rather than long-range dispersal, which resulted in an even sex ratio in the recovering populations. The greater proportion of adult males in the post-removal populations is likely to increase sexual contact rates for females. This would enhance the dissemination of a viral-vectored biological control agent through the population, when used as part of an integrated control program.


Acknowledgments

This study was funded by Auckland University, the Auckland Regional Council and New Zealand Foundation for Research, Science and Technology. We thank Yidong Ran, Sandra Anderson, Du Chunhua and Richard Hendra for their help with the fieldwork and Dianne Brunton for her advice on statistical tests. We thank two anonymous referees for their comments on the earlier draft.


References

Bamford, J. M. (1970). Estimating fat reserves in the brush-tailed possum, Trichosurus vulpecula, Kerr (Marsupialia: Phalangeridae). Australian Journal of Zoology 18, 415–425.
Bayliss P. (1999). Ecological modelling and possum biocontrol in New Zealand. In ‘Advances in the Biological Control of Possums. RSNZ Miscellaneous Series 56’. (Ed. G. Sutherland.) pp. 19–23. (The Royal Society of New Zealand: Wellington.)

Boutin, S. , Tosze, Z. , and Price, K. (1993). Post-breeding dispersal by female red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus): the effect of local vacancies. Behavioral Ecology 4, 151–155.
Clout M. N., and Ericksen K. (2000). Anatomy of a disastrous success: the brushtail possum as a invasive species. In ‘The Brushtail Possum: Biology, Impact and Management of an Introduced Marsupial’. (Ed. T. L. Montague.) pp. 1–9. (Manaaki Whenua Press: Lincoln, New Zealand.)

Coleman J., and Caley P. (2000). Possums as a reservoir of bovine Tb. In ‘The Brushtail Possum: Biology, Impact and Management of an Introduced Marsupial’. (Ed. T. L. Montague.) pp. 92–104. (Manaaki Whenua Press: Lincoln, New Zealand.)

Cowan P. (2000). Biological control of possums: prospects for the future. In ‘The Brushtail Possum: Biology, Impact and Management of an Introduced Marsupial’. (Ed. T. L. Montague.) pp. 261–270. (Manaaki Whenua Press: Lincoln, New Zealand.)

Cowan, P. E. (1991). Effects of introduced Australian brushtail possums (Trichosurus vulpecula) on the fruiting of the endemic New Zealand nikau palm (Rhopalostylis sapida). New Zealand Journal of Botany 29, 91–93.
Cowan P. E., and Clout M. N. (2000). Possums on the move: activity patterns, home ranges, and dispersal. In ‘The Brushtail Possum: Biology, Impact and Management of an Introduced Marsupial’. (Ed. T. L. Montague.) pp. 24–34. (Manaaki Whenua Press: Lincoln, New Zealand.)

Cowan, P. E. , and Tyndale-Biscoe, C. H. (1997). Australian and New Zealand mammal species considered to be pests or problems. Reproduction, Fertility and Development 9, 27–36.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Efford M. G. (1991). The ecology of an uninfected forest possum population. In ‘Proceedings from a Symposium on Tuberculosis’. pp. 41–51. (Veterinary Continuing Education: Massey University, Palmerston North.)

Efford, M. (1998). Demographic consequences of sex-biased dispersal in a population of brushtail possums. Journal of Animal Ecology 67, 503–517.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Innes J. (1995). The impacts of possums on native fauna. In ‘Possums as Conservation Pests’. (Ed. C. F. J. O’Donnell.) pp. 11–15. (Department of Conservation: Wellington.)

Ji, W. , Clout, M. N. , and Sarre, S. D. (2000). Responses of male brushtail possums to sterile females: implications for biological control. Journal of Applied Ecology 37, 926–934.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Jolly J. N., and Spurr E. B. (1981). Damage by possums Trichosurus vulpecula to erosion-control plantings. In ‘Marsupials in New Zealand’. (Ed. B. D. Bell.) pp. 205–210. (Zoology Publications from Victoria University of Wellington: Wellington.)

Jolly, S. E. (1993). Biological control of possums. New Zealand Journal of Zoology 20, 335–339.
Parker I. M., and Richard S. H. (1998). Critical issues in invasion biology for conservation sciences. In ‘Conservation Biology – For the Coming Decade’. (Eds P. L. Fiedler and P. M. Kareiva.) pp. 283–305. (Chapman & Hall: New York.)

Payton I. (2000). Damage to native forest. In ‘The Brushtail Possum: Biology, Impact and Management of an Introduced Marsupial’. (Ed. T. L. Montague.) pp. 111–125. (Manaaki Whenua Press: Lincoln, New Zealand.)

Pracy, L. T. (1962). Introduction and liberation of the opossum (Trichosurus vulpecula) into New Zealand. New Zealand Forest Service Information Series 45, 28.
Sadleir R. (2000). Evidence of possums as predators of native animals. In ‘The Brushtail Possum: Biology, Impact and Management of an Introduced Marsupial’. (Ed. T. L. Montague.) pp. 126–131. (Manaaki Whenua Press: Lincoln, New Zealand.)

Sarre, S. D. , Aitken, N. , Clout, M. N. , Ji, W. , Robins, J. , and Lambert, D. M. (2000). Molecular ecology and biological control: the mating system of a marsupial pest. Molecular Ecology 9, 723–733.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Winter J. W. (1976). The behaviour and social organisation of the brush-tail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula Kerr). Ph.D Thesis, University of Queensland, Brisbane.

Wodzicki, K. A. (1950). Introduced mammals of New Zealand (an ecological and economic survey). Department of Scientific and Industrial Research Bulletin 98, 19–49.