New technologies, such as Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags, are revolutionising areas of animal behaviour research due to ease of deployment and low operational costs for wildlife monitoring. However, it is rare for researchers to perform calibration and validation on individual transmitting and receiving units when deploying RFID technology. Instead, practitioners routinely assume that units bought with identical specifications will be identical in performance. Here we show that this is far from true. There is considerable variability among individual loggers and tags that, if uncorrected for, may lead to false conclusions about the behaviour of the animals under study. Photograph by Cheryl Krull.

Agricultural expansion in Argentina has determined changes in both composition and spatial configuration of agroecosystems, determining changes in bird populations, including pest species, This study aimed to assess the influence of environmental factors on the spatial patterns of the main pest birds of Argentina – the eared dove and monk parakeet. Results indicate that information on land use and/or cover (and to a lesser extent, climate characteristics) would be useful for predicting population increases, suggesting both aspects should be considered in management strategies.

The eastern grey kangaroo (Macropus giganteus) is a widespread species commonly found in urban landscapes throughout Australia. We studied the movements, habitat use and risk exposure of an urban kangaroo population. We identified a steep decline in the kangaroo population, with kangaroo–vehicle collisions being identified as the main source of mortality during the study period. The findings from the present study can be utilised to guide design and placement of kangaroo–vehicle collision mitigation, and assist in the planning of urban areas.

Management of overabundant or invasive species is a constant challenge because resources for management are always limited and relationships between management costs, population density and damage costs are complex and difficult to predict. We demonstrate how cost-effectiveness of management actions aimed at reducing damage from invasive species can be highly variable and advocate for more effort to be placed on collecting data to inform the relationship between invasive species population density and damage rates. This vital information will help provide guidance for management and justification for management costs and enable more efficient allocation of resources.

We used camera trapping to monitor grazing density and activity patterns of macropods, and contrasted macropod density estimated from pellet counts with macropod density estimated from camera traps in two consecutive annual surveys. Although significant, the relationship between pellet counts and grazing density estimated from camera trapping was not strong, attributed to the variability in pellet deposition rates between surveys due to changes in environmental conditions and spatial distribution of macropod activity and behaviour. Time-lapse camera trapping yielded consistent macropod counts over both years and allowed concurrent assessment of grazing density and grazing behaviour at plot and landscape scale.

The cane toad is a top-50 world’s worst invasive species, with dramatic negative impacts on animal communities in >50 countries, and its steady invasion across northern Australia provides a unique opportunity to understand how invasive species spread across landscapes. We used previous data and observations to predict how cane toads would invade their last Australian last frontier – the Kimberley region, and provide a testable scenario that proposes that the direction of river flow governs invasion speed. Our idea can be tested in the coming years and will inform managers on how to predict and mitigate the invasion of cane toads and other invasive species.

Isolation from predators can lead to weakened antipredator behaviour. We found that predator-exposed brushtail possums (Trichosurus vulpecula) showed better antipredator behaviours than possums in a fenced, mammalian predator-free environment, which were considered predator-naïve. Managers should consider that if animals in predator-free sanctuaries are used as sources for reintroductions, then reduced antipredator behaviour could negatively influence reintroduction success.

The endangered eastern quoll has suffered rapid and severe weather-induced population decline. We investigated the hypothesis that changing weather conditions has altered the availability of key prey species, contributing to eastern quoll declines. Dietary composition analysis revealed a marked shift from insect larvae to mammal over time, with abundance of quolls and corbie (Oncopera intricata) moth larvae negatively related to winter rainfall. Our findings suggest that weather-induced declines in quoll abundance are potentially driven by weather-induced reductions in the availability and stability of reliable food sources at critical life-history stages when dietary options are already limited.