Journal article
How an unprecedented wildfire shaped tree hollow occurrence and abundance—implications for arboreal fauna
B Wagner, PJ Baker, CR Nitschke
Fire Ecology | SPRINGER | Published : 2024
Abstract
Background: Tree hollows are an important habitat resource used by arboreal fauna for nesting and denning. Hollows form when trees mature and are exposed to decay and physical damage. In the absence of excavating fauna, hollow formation can take up to 200 years in Australian temperate Eucalyptus forests, making tree hollows a critical but slow forming habitat feature. The increasing frequency and severity of wildfires due to climate change has led to increased concern about the landscape-scale loss of nesting space for arboreal fauna, including endangered species such as the folivorous southern greater glider (Petauroides volans). To understand patterns of nesting resource availability, we a..
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Grants
Awarded by Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water
Funding Acknowledgements
We recognize and acknowledge the traditional owners of the lands on which this research was conducted: The Wurundjeri, Gunaikurnai, Taungurung, and Bidwell people. We pay our respects to their Elders, past, present, and emerging. We thank and acknowledge Dr. Anu Singh for her work of efficiently and effectively managing and carrying out the field data collection on this very time-limited project. Further acknowledgements for field- and survey work goes to Kaitlyn Hammond, Jeremy Johnson, Harry Barton, Dr. Yogendra Kumar Karna, Bhuban Timalsina, Thiet Nguyen, Amanda Lo Cascio, Bernard Gandy, Tim Willersdorf, and Melina Budden. We thank our collaborators at the Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research (Heidelberg, Victoria) for providing survey data and guidance for additional sites, namely Jemma Cripps, Louise Durkin, Phoebe Macak, Jenny Nelson, Lindy Lumsden, and Michael Scroggie. We further thank chair Paul Ferraro (DEECA) and the members of the federal yellow-bellied glider and greater glider bushfire recovery working group for a fruitful exchange of ideas and collaboration over the cause of this project. Finally, we would like to acknowledge our collaborators at the Australian National University, Drs. Kara Youngentob, and Karen Marsh.