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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 35(8)

Links between riparian characteristics and the abundance of common wombat (Vombatus ursinus) burrows in an agricultural landscape

Philip Borchard A C , John McIlroy B and Clare McArthur A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A School of Biological Sciences A08, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.

B Hempleman Drive, Akaroa, New Zealand.

C Corresponding author. Email: pbor6081@usyd.edu.au

Wildlife Research 35(8) 760-767 https://doi.org/10.1071/WR08071
Submitted: 15 May 2008  Accepted: 28 August 2008   Published: 16 December 2008

Abstract

Agricultural riparian zones are often vulnerable to weed invasion and degradation of the physical streambank character through the trampling of livestock. Riparian zone restoration seeks to improve habitat biodiversity, minimise streambank erosion and improve water quality. In order for this to be effective land managers need to broadly understand the connections between riparian systems and adjoining agricultural ecosystems and to understand the habitat requirements of wildlife species adapted to the evolving riparian landscape. Common wombats (Vombatus ursinus) are abundant in the riparian agricultural landscapes of south-eastern Australia, but there is concern about their persistence in other landscapes. To understand the importance of riparian characteristics for wombats, we examined five physical and five vegetative characteristics associated with abundance of wombat burrows in the riparian zone of an agricultural landscape in south-eastern New South Wales, using two independent datasets. The abundance of wombat burrows increased substantially with increasing shrub cover in both datasets. There was weaker but consistent support for an association between wombat burrows and stream order and vegetation width. There were more burrows per metre by high than low order streams and burrows were most abundant at an intermediate vegetation width. In one of the two datasets, burrow abundance declined as the proportion of native shrubs in the shrub layer increased. As wombats are generally limited to riparian buffers in agricultural landscapes, these results are important as a first step toward managing and restoring the riparian zone. Restoration strategies, for example, may need to consider retaining patches of shrubs, even if they are weeds, whereas native shrubs are established in interspersed patches along larger rivers, in order to maintain suitable wombat habitat.

Additional keywords: cattle, habitat use, shrub cover, streambank.


Acknowledgements

We thank Dr Johannes Bauer for practical advice at the early stages of the streambank survey, Dr John Collins for valuable help and advice and Dr Francisco Valera for providing valuable comments on an early version of the manuscript.


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