a b s t r a c tSarcoptes mange is an important disease that affects the health, mobility and longevity of bare-nosed wombats (Vombatus ursinus) in Australia. We measured the activity patterns of wombats infected with varying levels of mange in an agricultural riparian environment using motion-sensing cameras. Over a 10 month period we observed a greater increase in nocturnal activity of mange-free wombats than those with mange on six or more body sections. The percentage of mange-infected wombats was greater during the day, but in the 6 h after midnight, wombats were detected with fewer mange-infected segments. Air temperature at the time of wombat detections was generally higher for individuals with mange than those without mange. Our results show that diurnal activity of wombats is likely to increase with higher levels of infection by sarcoptes mange. Increased diurnal activity is likely to present serious problems for the persistence of sustainable populations of wild wombats.
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.
Bare-nosed wombats (Vombatus ursinus) are an often important south-east Australian agricultural riparian species that may improve riparian landscape heterogeneity via their burrowing activity. At the same time they are often accused of causing soil erosion. As populations of wombats in other landscapes are under threat due to habitat disturbance, road mortality and disease, knowledge of the factors determining their use of riparian systems are important for their conservation and management. Since the European colonisation of Australia, riparian areas have been utilised by domestic cattle (Bos taurus), usually resulting in a decline in biodiversity. Camera-trap data was used to investigate the habitat use by wombats and cattle in remnant Eastern Riverine Forests. A total of 664 detections of animals from 13 species were made over the entire riparian-zone survey. Wombats were the most detected species, followed by cattle, then foxes and cats. Wombat and cattle activity varied significantly through the diurnal cycle, with wombats active from 1900 to 0700 hours and cattle active from 0700 to 1900 hours. There were no seasonal effects relating to the detection of either species. Feral species such as foxes, cats and rabbits were more frequently detected at sites highly disturbed by cattle. Results of this study illustrate the potential of camera-trapping for modelling habitat use by wombats and cattle and providing guidelines for the management of feral animals in remnant agricultural riparian habitats.
Interactions between humans and wildlife have increased dramatically over the past century as human populations increase and occupy areas formerly dominated by native animals. In Australia, increases in land clearing and farming close to riparian areas has brought humans into contact with the common wombat (Vombatus ursinus), a relatively large-bodied, semifossorial marsupial. The common wombat is regarded as a pest in some agricultural areas due to its habit of burrowing beneath buildings, destroying fences and destabilising stream banks. We examined the effectiveness of artificial lighting to deter wombats from using the subfloor cavity under an historic cottage at ‘Bundanon’ in southern New South Wales, Australia. The response of wombats to artificial light (10 weeks on followed by 10 weeks off) was assessed using heat- and motion-sensing cameras continuously over a period of 58 weeks. While the main focus was on light effects on wombats, the study also allowed us to record non-nuisance animals using the subfloor cavity. Of the total of 1086 animal detections over the 58-week period (2.67 detections day–1), 965 (89%) were of mammals, 106 birds and 15 reptiles. Wombats (622; 57%) and kangaroos (228; 22%) made up 79% of all detections. Nocturnal activity of wombats remained unchanged in response to lighting (on: 266; off: 268), but there were significantly more diurnal detections when the lights were on (58) than off (30). For kangaroos, there were more nocturnal detections when lights were off, but more diurnal detections when lights were on. More antechinus were detected at night (night: 107; day: 8), and with the lights off (99 cf. 8), and insectivorous birds were detected almost entirely during the day, mostly with the lights on (66 cf. 39). Our study showed that, overall, the lighting regime we used was ineffective at reducing wombat activity under the building.
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