Fine-scale habitat selection by adult female swamp wallabies (Wallabia bicolor)
Matthew Swan A B , Julian Di Stefano A C D , Andrew Greenfield A and Graeme Coulson AA Department of Zoology, The University of Melbourne, Vic. 3010, Australia.
B Current address: Biosis Research, 8 Tate Street, Wollongong, NSW 2500, Australia.
C Department of Forest and Ecosystem Science, The University of Melbourne, Water Street, Creswick, Vic. 3363, Australia.
D Corresponding author. Email: juliands@unimelb.edu.au
Australian Journal of Zoology 56(5) 305-309 https://doi.org/10.1071/ZO07051
Submitted: 20 September 2007 Accepted: 3 December 2008 Published: 20 February 2009
Abstract
Animals typically use habitat in a non-random way, but the factors influencing habitat selection may change throughout the 24-h cycle. In this study, we quantified resources at used and available locations to test two predictions about the fine-scale habitat selection of seven adult female swamp wallabies (Wallabia bicolor). We predicted that selection would be (i) non-random and (ii) differ between diurnal and nocturnal periods with respect to both food and shelter. Variables quantifying food abundance and lateral cover were recorded at 56 diurnal, 17 nocturnal and 143 randomly selected available locations. Logistic regression indicated that diurnal habitat selection was positively correlated with lateral cover, and the cover of trees, shrubs and forbs, whereas nocturnal selection was positively correlated with forb cover only. Diurnal locations had more lateral cover than nocturnal locations. The data were consistent with our first prediction, but only partially supported our second. At a fine scale, diurnal habitat selection was influenced by the co-availability of shelter and food resources, whereas nocturnal selection was influenced by food availability only, indicating that factors influencing habitat selection changed throughout the 24-h cycle.
Acknowledgements
Angela Constantine and Bernadette Schmidt were involved in the planning process and helped to design the sampling protocol, and David O’Carroll helped with the field work. An anonymous reviewer made comments that greatly improved the manuscript. M. Swan and J. Di Stefano received funding from the Zoology Department at Melbourne University and J. Di Stefano was supported by an Australian Postgraduate Award, the Holsworth Research Endowment, the Victorian Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) and Melbourne University’s Department of Forest and Ecosystem Science. This research was conducted with the permission of DSE (Permit No. 10002779) and the Faculty of Science Animal Experimentation Ethics Committee (Register No. 03429).
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