Tall wooden poles (glide poles) and rope canopy-bridges are frequently installed along new highways in Australia to maintain population connectivity for gliding mammals. Knowledge of the use of these structures is rudimentary. We monitored two pairs of glide poles and a canopy-bridge over three years at Port Macquarie, New South Wales. The sugar glider (Petaurus breviceps) and the squirrel glider (Petaurus norfolcensis) were collectively detected on 12–18% of nights on the pole pairs compared with 1% on the rope-bridge. The feathertail glider (Acrobates frontalis) was detected on 3% of nights on the pole pairs compared with 0.2% on the rope-bridge. The yellow-bellied glider (Petaurus australis) was detected twice on one pole. Our results demonstrate that gliding mammals readily use glide poles. Further research is needed to resolve whether glide poles can mitigate the barrier effect of the road canopy gap.
In the wake of the global decline in amphibians there is a need for long-term population monitoring. Previous research suggested that the endangered Fleay’s barred frog (Mixophyes fleayi) had recovered after a severe decline. We aimed to determine whether this recovery has been sustained and to test an example of a monitoring program that could be employed at intervals of five or more years to assess long-term population stability. We conducted capture–mark–recapture five years after the last detailed census at Brindle Creek in Border Ranges National Park, New South Wales. Frogs were captured along a 200 m creek transect between September 2013 and February 2014. We used program Mark to estimate demographic parameters of adult male frogs using two modelling approaches: robust design (RD) and the POPAN formulation of the Jolly–Seber model. Abundance was estimated at 38.2 ± 0.5 (s.e.) (RD) and 46.0 ± 2.7 (POPAN). Abundance in 2008 was estimated at 53.2 ± 10.0 (POPAN) male frogs. Estimates of apparent monthly survival over our five-month-long study were very high (RD: 1.0 ± 0.0; POPAN: 1.0 ± 0.02). Recapture estimates were also high (RD: 0.40 ± 0.07 to 0.72 ± 0.05 per session; POPAN: 0.84 ± 0.05 per month). These data suggest that the Brindle Creek population has remained relatively stable over a period of ~10 years.
Summary Road escape ramps are structures developed in the USA to enable large mammals that become trapped on the roadside of a wildlife fence to escape the road and avoid vehicle collision. They are now commonly installed in eastern Australia to enable the Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) and other fauna to escape through a roadside exclusion fence and return to the forest. We investigated the use of seven of 14 escape ramps over three years on the Oxley Highway at Port Macquarie in New South Wales. The Swamp Wallaby (Wallabia bicolor) was the most frequently detected species, traversing the escape ramps on 502 occasions, followed by bandicoots (Isoodon macrourus and Perameles nasuta) on 148 occasions. Various other species were detected but no Koalas. Swamp Wallabies moved through the escape ramps in the reverse direction (i.e. towards the road) in 53% of detections of that species and bandicoots in 14% of their detections. There was no obvious pattern by these species of proportionately higher use of ramps closer to the end of the exclusion fences. The large number of reverse passages through the escape ramps reveals a poor design of these structures. Trials with taller ramps are required to determine how to minimise reverse passages. Concurrent monitoring of three underpasses detected numerous crossings by large mammals including Swamp Wallabies, and some crossings by Koalas. We believe evidence is needed to demonstrate the necessity for escape ramps along Australian highways.
Fire is an important ecological process that shapes vegetation structure and habitat for faunal assemblages globally. Prescribed burns are increasingly being used in conservation and management to restore fire regimes in fire-suppressed vegetation communities. Small threatened macropods require structurally complex habitat that allows them to evade detection by predators. Given that fire can alter vegetation structure, it can be viewed as a strong ecological force in shifting the dynamics between predator and prey species. Previous studies in temperate Australia have shown that prescribed burns in the presence of European Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes) and feral Cat (Felis catus) can have negative impacts on small macropods and medium-sized mammals. Post-fire response of threatened small macropods and their predators has not been experimentally examined in subtropical Australia despite this region providing refugia for the Long-nosed Potoroo (Potorous tridactylus) and Red-legged Pademelon (Thylogale stigmatica). We conducted a before-after-control-impact fire experiment at two paired sites after low-moderate intensity burns typical of cool season prescribed burns. We used camera trapping to investigate changes in activity of threatened small macropods and their predators. We also recorded vegetation change. Despite large reductions in ground and shrub cover, activity of small macropods and the Dingo (Canis dingo) did not change in response to fires. Therefore, the threat of dingo predation appears to have remained unchanged following the fires. Although feral cats and foxes were present, they showed negligible activity across our sites. Our study suggests that small-scale patchy ecological burns may not lead to increased predation of small macropods in our landscape. We attribute this to sufficient post-fire refugia and very low densities of foxes.
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