The influence of spatial patterns in foraging habitat on the abundance and home range size of a vulnerable arboreal marsupial in southeast Australia

B Wagner; PJ Baker; CR Nitschke

Journal article

The influence of spatial patterns in foraging habitat on the abundance and home range size of a vulnerable arboreal marsupial in southeast Australia

B Wagner, PJ Baker, CR Nitschke

Conservation Science and Practice | Published : 2021

DOI: 10.1111/csp2.566

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Abstract

Wildlife can persist in a range of landscape configurations, but population densities can vary due to resource availability. Resources and environmental conditions shaping habitat suitability may be spatially dispersed or clumped, which can drive habitat availability. We explored how spatial configuration and aggregation of favorable feeding resources and climatic conditions affect populations of the greater glider (Petauroides volans), an arboreal marsupial in southeast Australia, vulnerable to climate change and disturbances. We hypothesized home-range functionality from literature and field observations and used a generalized spatial framework based on neutral landscape models to test how..

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University of Melbourne Researchers

Benjamin Wagner Author

Patrick Baker Author

Craig Nitschke Author

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Grants

Awarded by Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, State Government of Victoria

Funding Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their thorough review and helping us improve the quality of the manuscript. This research was supported by the Australian Research Council (LP140100580 to C.R.N. and P.J.B., FT120100715 to P.J.B.). B.W. was supported by the University of Melbourne through a Melbourne Research Scholarship. Additional funding was generously provided to B.W. through from the Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales, the Foundation for Parks and Wildlife, the Norman Wettenhall Foundation and the School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, University of Melbourne. C.R.N. was additionally funded through the Integrated Forest Ecosystem Research (IFER) program of the Victorian Department of the Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP).