Forest Phenology and Its Effect on Foraging Behavior and Selection of Habitat by the Yellow-Bellied Glider, Petaurus-Australis Shaw

Abstract

The foraging behaviour of the yellow-bellied glider was observed for more than 3 years in south-eastern New South Wales. The use of different substrates by foraging gliders followed an annual cycle which was correlated with the phenological pattern in the forest. Flowering and bark shedding on eucalypts were the characters of tree phenology most useful for predicting the behaviour of foraging animals. Gliders concentrated their foraging efforts on ephemeral food resources, particularly those obtained from under loose bark; this led to a seasonal pattern in the use of tree species and habitats in the study area. The preferred habitat of P. australis is likely to be characterised by a mosaic of tree-species associations, including those which flower in winter. Smooth-barked eucalypts are important because of the diversity of foraging substrates, and hence food resources, which they provide. The patchy distribution of these gliders may be explained by differences in floristic diversity and the complexity of the habitat mosaic.