Water turnover and the northern range of the koala (Phascolarctos cinereus).

Abstract

Water turnover for koalas is positively correlated with the moisture content of selected trees suggesting that browse choice was driven by water requirements in summer but energy demands in winter. We compared the distribution of the koala to relative humidity and found that the bioregional delineation of the koala?s range corresponds closely to regions experiencing an average 9am relative humidity of less than 80% in February. This indicates that the northern coastal distribution of the koala may be limited by respiratory evaporative water loss as a cooling mechanism.