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Tisell HB, Degrassi AL, Stephens RB, Rowe RJ. Influence of field technique, density, and sex on home range and overlap of the southern red-backed vole (Myodes gapperi). CAN J ZOOL 2019. [DOI: 10.1139/cjz-2018-0338] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Home range is shaped by an individual’s interactions with the environment and conspecifics, and both size and placement may vary in response to population fluctuations. The method used to collect locational data may also affect home-range estimates. We examined the effect of density, sex, and field method on home range of southern red-backed voles (Myodes gapperi (Vigors, 1830)) inhabiting eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis (L.) Carrière) forests. Twelve mark–recapture grids were used to census M. gapperi from 2014 to 2017. In 2017, individuals were radio-collared. Home-range size, core-area size, and shared space were calculated using kernel density estimators from both mark–recapture and radiotelemetry data. Density effects on home range and core area were analyzed and differences between sex and field method were compared. We found (i) density did not affect home-range size, (ii) male home range was larger than female home range, (iii) females shared space more frequently and to a greater extent with males than other females, and (iv) home-range estimates were not significantly different between mark–recapture and radiotelemetry. Male home range, however, was larger under radiotelemetry and may reflect a truncation effect when mark–recapture grid size is smaller than male home range.
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Affiliation(s)
- Honora B. Tisell
- University of New Hampshire, Natural Resources and the Environment, 114 James Hall, 56 College Road, Durham, NH 03824, USA
| | - Allyson L. Degrassi
- Shenandoah University, Environment and Society Department, 1460 University Drive, Winchester, VA 22601, USA
| | - Ryan B. Stephens
- University of New Hampshire, Natural Resources and the Environment, 114 James Hall, 56 College Road, Durham, NH 03824, USA
| | - Rebecca J. Rowe
- University of New Hampshire, Natural Resources and the Environment, 114 James Hall, 56 College Road, Durham, NH 03824, USA
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Tarszisz E, Tomlinson S, Harrison ME, Morrogh-Bernard HC, Munn AJ. An ecophysiologically informed model of seed dispersal by orangutans: linking animal movement with gut passage across time and space. CONSERVATION PHYSIOLOGY 2018; 6:coy013. [PMID: 29942515 PMCID: PMC6007347 DOI: 10.1093/conphys/coy013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2017] [Revised: 02/14/2018] [Accepted: 02/23/2018] [Indexed: 05/30/2023]
Abstract
Fauna-mediated ecosystem service provision (e.g. seed dispersal) can be difficult to quantify and predict because it is underpinned by the shifting niches of multiple interacting organisms. Such interactions are especially complex in tropical ecosystems, including endangered peat forests of Central Borneo, a biodiversity hot spot and home to the critically endangered orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus wurmbii). We combined studies of the digestive physiology of captive orangutans in Australia with detailed field studies of wild orangutans in the Natural Laboratory of Peat-Swamp Forest of Sabangau, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. By measuring the gut transit time (TT) of indigestible seed mimics (beads) in captivity and applying this as a temporal constraint to movement data of wild orangutans, we developed a mechanistic, time-explicit spatial model to project the seed dispersal patterns by these large-bodied, arboreal frugivores. We followed seven orangutans and established home range kernels using Time Local Convex Hull (T-LoCoH) modelling. This allowed us to model individual orangutan movements and to adjust these models according to gut transit times to estimate seed dispersal kernels. Female movements were conservative (core ranges of 55 and 52 ha in the wet and dry seasons, respectively) and revisitation rates to the same location of n = 4 in each 24-h block. Male movements were more unpredictable, yielding fragmented core ranges and revisitation rates to the same location of only 1.2 times each 24 h; males also demonstrated large disjunctions where they moved rapidly over long distances and were frequently lost from view. Seed dispersal kernels were nested predictably within the core ranges of females, but not males. We used the T-LoCoH approach to analyse movement ecology, which offered a powerful tool to predict the primary deposition of seeds by orangutans, thereby providing a reliable method for making a priori predictions of seed dispersal dynamics by other frugivores in novel ecosystems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Esther Tarszisz
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia
- Borneo Nature Foundation, Jl. Bukit Raya 82, Palangka Raya 73112, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia
| | - Sean Tomlinson
- School of Molecular & Life Sciences, Curtin University of Technology, Kent Street Bentley, WA 6102, Australia
- Kings Park Science, Department of Biodiversity Conservation and Attractions, Kattidj Close, Kings Park, WA 6005, Australia
| | - Mark E Harrison
- Borneo Nature Foundation, Jl. Bukit Raya 82, Palangka Raya 73112, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia
- School of Geography, Geology and the Environment, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK
| | - Helen C Morrogh-Bernard
- Borneo Nature Foundation, Jl. Bukit Raya 82, Palangka Raya 73112, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia
- Centre for Ecology & Conservation, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Cornwall Campus, Penryn, Cornwall TR10 9EZ, UK
| | - Adam J Munn
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia
- School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of New South Wales, NSW 2052, Australia
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Oliveira ÉV, Zimicz N, Goin FJ. Taxonomy, affinities, and paleobiology of the tiny metatherian mammal Minusculodelphis, from the early Eocene of South America. Naturwissenschaften 2016; 103:6. [PMID: 26743194 DOI: 10.1007/s00114-015-1331-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/27/2015] [Revised: 12/21/2015] [Accepted: 12/25/2015] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
With less than 3 g of estimated body mass, the early Eocene Minusculodelphis minimus Paula Couto (Mammalia, Metatheria, Jaskhadelphyidae) is one of the smallest mammals, living or extinct. It has alternatively been regarded as a didelphid or a derorhynchid "ameridelphian," or even as an eometatherian marsupial. Here, we describe a new species of Minusculodelphis coming from the same locality (Itaboraí Quarry, Brazil) and age (Itaboraian age) of the type species of the genus. It differs from M. minimus in its larger size and several dental characters. The new species offers data on the upper dentition and femur, which are unknown in the type species. Compared to other Paleogene metatherians, Minusculodelphis shows closer relationships with Jaskhadelphys, from the early Paleocene of Tiupampa, Bolivia, as well as with Kiruwamaq, from the late Eocene-early Oligocene of Perú. A cladistic analysis places all three genera within the family Jaskhadelphyidae (Metatheria, Order indet.), which includes small to tiny, insectivorous-like metatherians. We argue that insectivory (soft insects) is the best-supported diet for both species of Minusculodelphis, and that the most probable microhabitat for them was the understorey or leaf litter of tropical, rain forested environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Édison Vicente Oliveira
- Departamento de Geologia, Centro de Tecnologia e Geociências, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, UFPE, Av. Acadêmico Hélio Ramos s/n, CEP 50740-530, Recife, PE, Brazil. .,CNPq (Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico), Brasilia, Brazil.
| | - Natalia Zimicz
- IBIGEO (Instituto de Bio y Geociencias del Noroeste), Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Salta, 9 de Julio 14, Rosario de Lerma, 4405, Salta, Argentina.,División Paleontología Vertebrados, Museo de La Plata, Paseo del Bosque s/n, B1900FWA, La Plata, Argentina
| | - Francisco J Goin
- División Paleontología Vertebrados, Museo de La Plata, Paseo del Bosque s/n, B1900FWA, La Plata, Argentina.,CONICET (Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas), Buenos Aires, Argentina
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Dundas SJ, Hardy GESJ, Fleming PA. The plant pathogen Phytophthora cinnamomi influences habitat use by the obligate nectarivore honey possum (Tarsipes rostratus). AUST J ZOOL 2016. [DOI: 10.1071/zo16019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Introduced plant pathogens can devastate susceptible plant communities, and consequently impact on animal communities reliant on plants for food and habitat. Specifically, plant pathogens change the floristic diversity of vegetation communities, thereby reducing availability of food sources for fauna (e.g. pollen and nectar) and result in major changes to habitat structure when canopy and understorey plant species succumb to disease. Phytophthora cinnamomi poses a threat to flowering plant species (e.g. Banksia species) which are important food sources for nectarivorous fauna. The honey possum (Tarsipes rostratus) is the only obligate nectarivorous non-flying mammal living on a restrictive diet of nectar and pollen; consequently, these tiny mammals are likely to be particularly vulnerable to the landscape-wide devastation caused by P. cinnamomi. We investigated habitat selection by honey possums in a vegetation community infested with P. cinnamomi to determine how these mammals respond to habitat affected by this pathogen. Over four seasons, 18 honey possums were fitted with radio-transmitters and tracked to identify habitat preferences. Vegetation surveys were compared for locations selected by honey possums (as determined from tracking) and randomly selected sites. Radio-tracking revealed that sites selected by honey possums were significantly taller, denser, and more floristically diverse than their paired random locations. The presence of P. cinnamomi influences habitat use by honey possums, but animals show resilience in terms of using the best of what is available in both P. cinnamomi–affected and unaffected locations. Habitat patches comprising less susceptible species, or plants that have yet to succumb to infection, provide refuge and food resources for honey possums. Management to reduce the spread of existing P. cinnamomi infestations and prevent contamination of new locations will benefit vegetation communities and associated faunal communities, while identifying honey possum food plant species that are resilient to the pathogen may support revegetation attempts.
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Morrant DS, Petit S. Strategies of a small nectarivorous marsupial, the western pygmy-possum, in response to seasonal variation in food availability. J Mammal 2012. [DOI: 10.1644/12-mamm-a-031.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
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Petit S, Waudby HP. Standard Operating Procedures for aluminium box, wire cage, and pitfall trapping, handling, and temporary housing of small wild rodents and marsupials. AUST J ZOOL 2012. [DOI: 10.1071/zo12102] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Many researchers and educators need to provide Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to their Animal Ethics Committee (AEC) for the purpose of trapping, handling, and temporarily housing small mammals. We devised general SOPs that are compatible with most existing ones for Australia and had these SOPs reviewed by a panel of Australian experts. The SOPs may be used as guidelines by researchers who need to provide such protocols to their organisation or AEC, or in teaching.
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Warnecke L, Körtner G, Burwell CJ, Turner JM, Geiser F. Short-term movement patterns and diet of small dasyurid marsupials in semiarid Australia. AUSTRALIAN MAMMALOGY 2012. [DOI: 10.1071/am10052] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Since little information is available on the spatial ecology of small arid-zone marsupials, we used radio-tracking to investigate the small-scale activity patterns of three dasyurid species in semiarid Australia. Sminthopsis crassicaudata, Planigale gilesi and S. macroura were equipped with miniature radio-transmitters to monitor choice of resting sites and daily movements. Resting sites were located within an area of 1.27 ± 0.36 ha, 0.12 ± 0.02 ha and 3.60 ± 0.95 ha, respectively and individuals returned to previously used resting sites regularly. We also analysed scat samples of S. crassicaudata and P. gilesi, and identified Araneae, Hymenoptera and Orthoptera as the major prey taxa for both species. Our study presents the first radio-tracking-based information on movements for these species in semiarid habitat, which indicates that, over a period of several weeks, resting sites are situated within small and defined areas.
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Bradshaw D, Bradshaw F. The physiology of the honey possum, Tarsipes rostratus, a small marsupial with a suite of highly specialised characters: a review. J Comp Physiol B 2011; 182:469-89. [PMID: 22160387 DOI: 10.1007/s00360-011-0632-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2011] [Revised: 11/24/2011] [Accepted: 11/25/2011] [Indexed: 10/14/2022]
Abstract
Field and laboratory studies of the iconic nectarivorous and 'pollenivorous' honey possum, Tarsipes rostratus, are reviewed with the aim of identifying aspects of its physiology that are as yet poorly understood and needed to implement management strategies for its long-term conservation. Dietary specialisations include the loss of teeth, a modified gut with a high rate of passage, exceptionally low minimum nitrogen requirements, an apparently high basal metabolic rate and a permanently polyuric kidney. In contrast, its reproductive physiology is plesiomorphic, combining aspects such as a post-partum oestrus, embryonic diapause, photoperiodicity and extended maternal care that are usually separate characteristics of other marsupial groups. In common with a number of other marsupials, the honey possum has the potential for trichromatic colour vision and has been the subject of several studies attempting to correlate visual quality with ecological realities. Field physiological studies have established its high rates of nectar and pollen intake needed to maintain energy balance and highlight the need for a constant intake from floral sources. Early allometric studies suggesting that the honey possum's relatively low reproductive rate may be linked to a diet limited in protein have not been supported and nitrogen intakes in the field exceed by a factor of 10 the animal's basic requirements for balance. Measurements of rates of protein turnover in field-caught lactating females suggest that they divert nitrogen from the protein pool to milk production by reducing rates of degradation, rather than by increasing rates of synthesis of protein. Although not yet an endangered species, the honey possum's habitat has been drastically reduced since European occupation of Australia and future-targeted research on the animal's unique physiology and habitat linkage is needed that can be translated into effective management practices. Only then will its long-term survival be assured.
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Affiliation(s)
- Don Bradshaw
- School of Animal Biology and Centre for Native Animal Research (CNAR), The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia.
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Galliez M, de Souza Leite M, Queiroz TL, dos Santos Fernandez FA. Ecology of the Water Opossum Chironectes minimus in Atlantic Forest Streams of Southeastern Brazil. J Mammal 2009. [DOI: 10.1644/07-mamm-a-397.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
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10
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Lira PK, Fernandez FADS. A comparison of trapping- and radiotelemetry-based estimates of home range of the neotropical opossum Philander frenatus. Mamm Biol 2009. [DOI: 10.1016/j.mambio.2008.05.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
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Krauss SL, He T, Barrett LG, Lamont BB, Enright NJ, Miller BP, Hanley ME. Contrasting impacts of pollen and seed dispersal on spatial genetic structure in the bird-pollinated Banksia hookeriana. Heredity (Edinb) 2008; 102:274-85. [PMID: 19002205 DOI: 10.1038/hdy.2008.118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
In plants, pollen- and seed-dispersal distributions are characteristically leptokurtic, with significant consequences for spatial genetic structure and nearest-neighbour mating. However, most studies to date have been on wind- or insect-pollinated species. Here, we assigned paternity to quantify effective pollen dispersal over 9 years of mating, contrasted this to seed dispersal and examined their effects on fine-scale spatial genetic structure, within the bird-pollinated shrub Banksia hookeriana (Proteaceae). We used 163 polymorphic amplified fragment length polymorphism markers to assess genetic structure and pollen dispersal in a spatially discrete population of 112 plants covering 0.56 ha. Spatial autocorrelation analysis detected spatial genetic structure in the smallest distance class of 0-5 m (r=0.025), with no significant structure beyond 8 m. Experimentally quantified seed-dispersal distances for 337 seedlings showed a leptokurtic distribution around a median of 5 m, reaching a distance of 36 m. In marked contrast, patterns of pollen dispersal for 274 seeds departed strikingly from typical near-neighbour pollination, with a distribution largely corresponding to the spatial distribution of plants. We found very high multiple paternity, very low correlated paternity and an equal probability of siring for the 50 closest potential mates. Extensive pollen carryover was demonstrated by multiple siring in 83 of 86 (96.5%) two-seeded fruits. Highly mobile nectar-feeding birds facilitate this promiscuity through observed movements that were effectively random. As the incidence of bird-pollination is markedly greater in the Southwest Australian Floristic Region than elsewhere, our results have broad and novel significance for the evolution and conservation for many species in Gondwanan lineages.
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Affiliation(s)
- S L Krauss
- Botanic Gardens and Parks Authority, Kings Park and Botanic Garden, Fraser Avenue, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
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