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 > WR02111
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 31(6)

Patch use by the greater glider (Petauroides volans) in a fragmented forest ecosystem. II. Characteristics of den trees and preliminary data on den-use patterns

D. B. Lindenmayer A , M. L. Pope A B and R. B. Cunningham A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia.

B Current address: State Forests of New South Wales, Tumut, NSW 2720, Australia.

Wildlife Research 31(6) 569-577 https://doi.org/10.1071/WR02111
Submitted: 29 November 2002  Accepted: 13 February 2004   Published: 23 December 2004

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a study of the use of den trees by the greater glider (Petauroides volans) in five patches of remnant eucalypt forest embedded within an extensive radiata pine (Pinus radiata) plantation near Tumut in south-eastern Australia. Radio-tracking was used to identify 171 den trees occupied by 40 animals over 948 animal-tracking days between September 1997 and September 1998. All radio-tracked P. volans used multiple den trees. Males used significantly more den trees than females and a greater proportion of these were used for single visits. Males also used fewer new den trees over the study period in the smaller patches, although they still used more than females. In the larger patches, males and females used similar numbers of den trees.

Commonly used den trees tended to be situated in (or close to) core areas of an individual’s home range. Den tree sharing, either concurrently or independently, was predominantly between adult males and females, or between adults and their young. Trees most likely to be used by more than one individual had the same characteristics as trees that had the highest probability of use per se – that is, they were of large ‘average size’.


References

Ambrose G. J. (1982). An ecological and behavioural study of vertebrates using hollows in eucalypt branches. Ph.D. Thesis, La Trobe University, Melbourne.

Biggins J. G. (1984). Communications in possums: a review. In ‘Possums and Gliders’. (Eds A. P. Smith and I. D. Hume.) pp. 35–58. (Surrey Beatty: Sydney.)

Cockburn, A. , and Lazenby-Cohen, K. A. (1992). Use of nest trees by Antechinus stuartii, a semelparous lekking marsupial. Journal of Zoology 226, 657–680.
Collett D. (1991). ‘Modelling Binary Data.’ (Chapman and Hall: London.)

Comport, S. S. , Ward, S. J. , and Foley, W. J. (1996). Home ranges, time budgets and food-tree use in a high-density tropical population of greater gliders, Petauroides volans minor (Pseudocheirdae: Marsupialia). Wildlife Research 23, 401–419.
Davey S. M. (1989). The environmental relationships of arboreal marsupials in a eucalypt forest: A basis for Australian forest wildlife management. Department of Forestry, Canberra, The Australian National University: 369.

Digby P. G. N., and Kempton R. A. (Eds) (1987). ‘Multivariate Analysis of Ecological Communities.’ (Chapman and Hall: New York.)

Gibbons P., and Lindenmayer D. B. (2002). ‘Tree Hollows and Wildlife Conservation in Australia.’ (CSIRO Publishing: Melbourne.)

Henry S. R. (1984). Social organisation of the greater glider (Petauroides volans) in Victoria. In ‘Possums and Gliders’. (Eds A. P. Smith and I. D. Hume.) pp. 221–228. (Surrey Beatty: Sydney.)

Jacobs M. R. (1955). ‘Growth Habits of the Eucalypts.’ (Forest Timber Bureau Australia: Canberra.)

Kehl J. A., and Borsboom A. (1984). Home ranges, den use and activity patterns in the Greater Glider Petauroides volans. In ‘Possums and Gliders’. (Eds A. P. Smith and I. D. Hume.) pp. 229–236. (Surrey Beatty: Sydney.)

Lindenmayer D. B. (2002). ‘Gliders of Australia. A Natural History.’ (UNSW Press: Sydney.)

Lindenmayer, D. B. , and Meggs, R. A. (1996). Use of den trees by Leadbeater’s Possum (Gymnobelideus leadbeateri). Australian Journal of Zoology 44, 625–638.
Mackowski C. M. (1984). The ontogeny of hollows in blackbutt, Eucalyptus pilularis and its relevance to the management of forests for possums, gliders and timber. In ‘Possums and Gliders’. (Eds A. P. Smith and I. D. Hume.) pp. 553–567. (Surrey Beatty: Sydney.)

Menkhorst P. W. (1984). The application of nest boxes in research and management of possums and gliders. In ‘Possums and Gliders’. (Eds A. P. Smith and I. D. Hume.) pp. 517–525. (Surrey Beatty: Sydney.)

Pope, M. L. , Lindenmayer, D. B. , and Cunningham, R. B. (2004). Patch use by the greater glider (Petauroides volans) in a fragmented forest ecosystem. I. Home range size and movements. Wildlife Research 31, 559–568.


Saunders, D. A. , Smith, G. T. , and Rowley, I. (1982). The availability and dimensions of tree hollows that provide nest sites for cockatoos (Psittaciformes) in Western Australia. Australian Wildlife Research 9, 541–556.


Suckling, G. C. (1982). Value of reserved habitat for mammal conservation in plantations. Australian Forestry 45, 19–27.


Tyndale-Biscoe, C. H. , and Smith, R. F. C. (1969). Studies on the marsupial glider Schoinobates volans (Kerr). II. Population structure and regulatory mechanisms. Animal Ecology 38, 637–649.


Van Dyck, S. (1993). The taxonomy and distribution of Petaurus gracilis (Marsupialia: Petauridae), with notes on its ecology and conservation status. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 33, 77–122.