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Geary WL, Tulloch AIT, Ritchie EG, Doherty TS, Nimmo DG, Maxwell MA, Wayne AF. Identifying historical and future global change drivers that place species recovery at risk. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2023; 29:2953-2967. [PMID: 36864646 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.16661] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2022] [Accepted: 11/28/2022] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
Ecosystem management in the face of global change requires understanding how co-occurring threats affect species and communities. Such an understanding allows for effective management strategies to be identified and implemented. An important component of this is differentiating between factors that are within (e.g. invasive predators) or outside (e.g. drought, large wildfires) of a local manager's control. In the global biodiversity hotspot of south-western Australia, small- and medium-sized mammal species are severely affected by anthropogenic threats and environmental disturbances, including invasive predators, fire, and declining rainfall. However, the relative importance of different drivers has not been quantified. We used data from a long-term monitoring program to fit Bayesian state-space models that estimated spatial and temporal changes in the relative abundance of four threatened mammal species: the woylie (Bettongia penicillata), chuditch (Dasyurus geoffroii), koomal (Trichosurus vulpecula) and quenda (Isoodon fusciventor). We then use Bayesian structural equation modelling to identify the direct and indirect drivers of population changes, and scenario analysis to forecast population responses to future environmental change. We found that habitat loss or conversion and reduced primary productivity (caused by rainfall declines) had greater effects on species' spatial and temporal population change than the range of fire and invasive predator (the red fox Vulpes vulpes) management actions observed in the study area. Scenario analysis revealed that a greater extent of severe fire and further rainfall declines predicted under climate change, operating in concert are likely to further reduce the abundance of these species, but may be mitigated partially by invasive predator control. Considering both historical and future drivers of population change is necessary to identify the factors that risk species recovery. Given that both anthropogenic pressures and environmental disturbances can undermine conservation efforts, managers must consider how the relative benefit of conservation actions will be shaped by ongoing global change.
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Affiliation(s)
- William L Geary
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences (Burwood Campus), Centre for Integrative Ecology, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia
- Biodiversity Division, Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, East Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Ayesha I T Tulloch
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- School of Biology and Environmental Science, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Euan G Ritchie
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences (Burwood Campus), Centre for Integrative Ecology, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia
| | - Tim S Doherty
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Dale G Nimmo
- Gulbali Institute, School of Agricultural, Environmental and Veterinary Sciences, Charles Sturt University, New South Wales, Albury, Australia
| | - Marika A Maxwell
- Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, Manjimup, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Adrian F Wayne
- Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, Manjimup, Western Australia, Australia
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Seidlitz A, Bryant KA, Armstrong NJ, Calver MC, Wayne AF. Sign surveys can be more efficient and cost effective than driven transects and camera trapping: a comparison of detection methods for a small elusive mammal, the numbat (Myrmecobius fasciatus). WILDLIFE RESEARCH 2021. [DOI: 10.1071/wr20020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/23/2023]
Abstract
Abstract
ContextDetermining the most efficient detection method for a target species is key for successful wildlife monitoring and management. Driven transects and sign surveys are commonly used to monitor populations of the endangered numbat (Myrmecobius fasciatus). Camera trapping is being explored as a new method. These methods were unevaluated for efficacy and cost for numbat detection.
AimsTo compare efficacy and costing of driven transects, sign surveys and camera trapping for detecting numbats in the Upper Warren region, Western Australia.
MethodsSeven repeat sign surveys and driven transects, as well as 4 months of camera trapping, were conducted concurrently at 50 sites along three transects. Numbat detection rates and costing of the three techniques were compared, and detection probabilities were compared between sign surveys and camera trapping.
Key resultsNumbat signs were detected during 88 surveys at 39 sites, exceeding camera trapping (26 detections at 13 sites) and driven transects (seven detections near five sites). The estimated probability for detecting a numbat or a sign thereof (at a site where numbats were present) ranged from 0.21 to 0.35 for a sign survey, and 0.02 to 0.06 for 7 days of camera trapping. Total survey costs were lowest for driven transects, followed by camera trapping and sign surveys. When expressed as cost per numbat detection, sign surveys were cheapest.
ConclusionsComparative studies of survey methods are essential for optimal, cost-effective wildlife monitoring. Sign surveys were more successful and cost effective than camera trapping or driven transects for detecting numbats in the Upper Warren region. Together with occupancy modelling, sign surveys are appropriate to investigate changes in occupancy rates over time, which could serve as a metric for long-term numbat monitoring.
ImplicationsThere is no ‘best’ method for wildlife surveys. Case-specific comparison of animal detection methods is recommended to ensure optimal methods. For the numbat population in the Upper Warren region, further studies are needed to improve numbat detection rates from camera trapping, and to test sign surveys in autumn (March to May), when surviving juvenile numbats have established their own territory and assumptions regarding population closure are less likely to be violated.
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Jones KL, Rafferty C, Hing S, Thompson RCA, Godfrey SS. Perturbations have minor impacts on parasite dynamics and body condition of an endangered marsupial. J Zool (1987) 2018. [DOI: 10.1111/jzo.12541] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- K. L. Jones
- School of Veterinary & Life Sciences Murdoch University Murdoch WA Australia
| | | | - S. Hing
- School of Veterinary & Life Sciences Murdoch University Murdoch WA Australia
| | - R. C. A. Thompson
- School of Veterinary & Life Sciences Murdoch University Murdoch WA Australia
| | - S. S. Godfrey
- School of Veterinary & Life Sciences Murdoch University Murdoch WA Australia
- Department of Zoology University of Otago Dunedin New Zealand
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Hing S, Narayan EJ, Thompson RCA, Godfrey SS. Identifying factors that influence stress physiology of the woylie, a critically endangered marsupial. J Zool (1987) 2016. [DOI: 10.1111/jzo.12428] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- S. Hing
- School of Veterinary and Life Sciences Murdoch University Murdoch WA Australia
| | - E. J. Narayan
- School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences Charles Sturt University Wagga Wagga NSW Australia
| | - R. C. A. Thompson
- School of Veterinary and Life Sciences Murdoch University Murdoch WA Australia
| | - S. S. Godfrey
- School of Veterinary and Life Sciences Murdoch University Murdoch WA Australia
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Hing S, Jones KL, Rafferty C, Thompson RCA, Narayan EJ, Godfrey SS. Wildlife in the line of fire: evaluating the stress physiology of a critically endangered Australian marsupial after bushfire. AUST J ZOOL 2016. [DOI: 10.1071/zo16082] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Australian native fauna are thought to be well adapted to fire-prone landscapes, but bushfires may still pose considerable challenges or stressors to wildlife. We investigated the impact of bushfire on the stress physiology of the woylie (brush-tailed bettong, Bettongia penicillata) a critically endangered Australian marsupial, and assessed whether fitness indices (body condition and parasite load) influenced stress physiology before and after the fire. We hypothesised that there would be a significant change in stress physiology indicators (in the form of faecal cortisol metabolites, FCM) following the fire, compared with the months previous. We trapped woylies (n = 19) at Whiteman Park Reserve in Perth, Western Australia, two days after a major bushfire and measured FCM concentration by enzyme immunoassay. Population-level comparisons of FCM were made between these samples and those collected in previous months (n = 58). While mean FCM varied by month of sample collection, it was not higher after the fire. We suggest that woylies may be able to maintain homeostasis through change (allostasis), at least in the period immediately after the fire. This is supported by our finding that FCM did not relate significantly to body condition or parasite load. Our results potentially highlight the physiological and behavioural adaptations of woylies to fire, which could be further explored in future studies.
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