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RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)
Contents Vol 30(1)

Priority areas for conserving greater gliders in Queensland, Australia

Patrick Norman https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4155-6457 A * and Brendan Mackey https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1996-4064 A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Griffith University, 58 Parklands Drive, Southport, Qld, Australia.

* Correspondence to: p.norman@griffith.edu.au

Handling Editor: Tim Doherty

Pacific Conservation Biology 30, PC23018 https://doi.org/10.1071/PC23018
Submitted: 19 April 2023  Accepted: 21 July 2023  Published: 14 August 2023

© 2024 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)

Abstract

Context

The southern and central greater glider (Petauroides volans) is a nationally listed endangered species in Australia. The species depends upon mature native forest providing critical habitat resources including tree hollows.

Aims

This study aimed to map and evaluate the tenure of patches of potential high-quality (core) habitat and corridors for the southern greater glider in Queensland.

Methods

Within greater glider habitat, we mapped 10 ranked classes of relative forest maturity using a model comprising remotely sensed metrics of canopy height, above-ground living biomass and canopy cover at a 30 m resolution. We also modelled the optimum movement corridors within and between habitat patches.

Key results

Results showed that 35% (4.943 million ha) of habitat was found in the more mature classes (Classes 7–9), which represent a proxy for associated limiting habitat resources, especially tree hollows. Mean patch size above a 1.6 ha threshold was found to be 122 ha and most patches (71%) were ≤10 ha, with 14 patches ≥100 000 ha. Freehold and leasehold lands hold 63.4% of the more mature habitat, multiple-use public forest 21.4% and nature conservation areas 12.8%. About half of the potential habitat is located on formally recognised Indigenous lands that represent different categories of Aboriginal ownership, management and other special rights.

Conclusions

The protection of mature forest patches and movement corridors is necessary for the conservation of the greater glider, a nationally listed threatened species.

Implications

Conservation interventions are needed, using a whole-of-landscape approach to protect core habitat and corridors from inappropriate land use.

Keywords: arboreal mammals, connectivity, conservation, greater glider, mature forest habitat, private forest, public forest, threatened species, tree hollows.

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