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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 32(2)

The influence of predation risk on foraging behaviour of brushtail possums in Australian woodlands

Karolyne N. Pickett A B , David S. Hik A C , Alan E. Newsome D and Roger P. Pech D
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Division of Life Sciences, University of Toronto at Scarborough, 1265 Military Trail, Scarborough, ON, M1C 1A4, Canada.

B Biodiversity Science Branch, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, 200 Kent Street, Ottawa, ON, K1A 0E6, Canada.

C Present Address and Correspondence: Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2E9, Canada. Email: dhik@ualberta.ca

D CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems, GPO Box 284, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.

Wildlife Research 32(2) 121-130 https://doi.org/10.1071/WR03098
Submitted: 20 October 2003  Accepted: 8 November 2004   Published: 4 May 2005

Abstract

The potential effects of predation risk on common brushtail possums were investigated in south-eastern Australian woodlands. Patterns of habitat use, foraging costs using giving-up density (GUD) experiments, and indices of body condition and reproductive success were examined at eight sites in two habitat types (eucalypt- or cypress-pine–dominated stands), within three areas of different red fox abundance (high, moderate and low fox density). In cypress-pine–dominated stands, possums travelled further on the ground, visited more feeding stations and had lower GUDs at feeders where foxes were removed than did possums in high-fox-density sites. In contrast, there was no effect of fox removal on the behaviour of possums in eucalypt-dominated stands. Fox removal also had no effect on indices of body condition and reproduction. Minor effects of microhabitat were detected with trackplot and GUD experiments, but, overall, the results suggest that habitat at the stand-level was more important. The non-lethal effects of foxes in different habitats may need to be taken into account when developing conservation strategies for native marsupials.


Acknowledgments

We thank David Board, Steve Henry, Dean Jones, Jim Longworth, Eliot McIntire, Bill Pickett, Cathy Rigg, Ed Slater and Michelle Theberge for contributing to the success of the fieldwork, and Warren Müller and Bob Forrester for their statistical help. We greatly appreciated the financial support for this project provided by the Cooperative Research Centre for the Biological Control of Vertebrate Pest Populations (now the Pest Animal Control Cooperative Research Centre), CSIRO Wildlife and Ecology (now CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems), the Australia–New Zealand Rabbit Calicivirus Disease Committee, and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. All animal-handling procedures were approved by the CSIRO Animal Ethics Review Committee.


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