Short-term movement patterns and diet of small dasyurid marsupials in semiarid Australia

2012 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Warnecke ◽  
Gerhard Körtner ◽  
Chris J. Burwell ◽  
James M. Turner ◽  
Fritz Geiser
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Ecology ◽  
Arid Zone ◽  
Activity Patterns ◽  
Movement Patterns ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Radio Tracking ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Resting Sites ◽  
Sminthopsis Crassicaudata ◽  
Radio Transmitters

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.

Radio-tagging and tracking of translocated trout cod (Maccullochella macquariensis: Percichthyidae) in an upland river

2009 ◽  
Vol 60 (4) ◽  
pp. 346 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. C. Ebner ◽  
L. Johnston ◽  
M. Lintermans
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Ecology ◽  
Effective Means ◽  
Release Site ◽  
Early Morning ◽  
Home Ranges ◽  
Radio Tracking ◽  
Natural Habitats ◽  
Radio Transmitters ◽  
Radio Tagging ◽  
Species Rarity

Radio-tracking provides an effective means of studying the spatial ecology of threatened fishes where almost inaccessible habitats and species rarity render conventional mark–recapture methods impractical. Initially, validation of an effective radio-tagging method is required; in the present study, an aquaria trial based on nine hatchery-reared, adult male Maccullochella maquariensis (Percichthyidae) was conducted. Fish resumed feeding within days of being internally implanted with a radio-tag, and tag rejection was not observed (0%, n = 9) based on a 2-month observational period. Following release into an upland stream, individual-specific movements resulted in upstream (n = 1) and downstream (n = 6) dispersal as well as fidelity to the release site (n = 2) at the completion of the study. Individuals established small home-ranges (mean length of river used by an individual per diel period ranged from 47 to 292 m) and were most active in the early morning and evening (n = 6). Complete survivorship of individuals bearing active radio-transmitters (n = 8) was recorded up until 4 months after release. However, an estimated zero or one individual was alive when the last active radio-tag expired 11 months after release (n = 8). The present study highlights the use of radio-tracking in monitoring the dispersal and survivorship of small numbers of hatchery-reared threatened fish released into natural habitats as part of species re-introduction programs.

Movement patterns and activity of the Brazilian snake-necked turtle Hydromedusa maximiliani (Testudines: Chelidae) in southeastern Brazil

2016 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 215-228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shirley Famelli ◽  
Franco L. Souza ◽  
Arthur Georges ◽  
Jaime Bertoluci
Keyword(s):  
Movement Patterns ◽  
Egg Laying ◽  
Conservation Strategies ◽  
Southeastern Brazil ◽  
Radio Tracking ◽  
Freshwater Turtles ◽  
Distance Measurements ◽  
Straight Line ◽  
Straight Line Distance ◽  
Radio Transmitters

To investigate the movement patterns and activity ofHydromedusa maximilianiin southeastern Brazil, sixteen adult freshwater turtles (eight males and eight females) were monitored with radio-transmitters from October 2009 to November 2010. An additional 22 turtles (11 males and 11 females) were monitored with thread-bobbins over a 3-day period.Hydromedusa maximilianishowed strong tendency to remain close to the river course. The distance moved each day varied from 0 to 179 m/day (radio-tracking) and 1.5 to 201 m/day (thread-bobbins). Males moved greater distances than females during the mating season (August to November), while females exhibited pronounced movements associated with egg-laying (December to February). Male and female movements did not differ significantly. Straight line distance measurements, usually obtained by radio-tracking, underestimate actual movement distances, since the nonlinearity of movements is not captured by radio-tracking as opposed to spool tracking, even when long distances are travelled. Results from this study are important for establishing conservation strategies for this vulnerable species.

Movement patterns of koalas in remnant forest after fire

2016 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alison Matthews ◽  
Daniel Lunney ◽  
Shaan Gresser ◽  
Wendy Maitz
Keyword(s):  
Movement Patterns ◽  
Resource Depletion ◽  
Home Ranges ◽  
Radio Tracking ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Phascolarctos Cinereus ◽  
Daily Movement ◽  
Core Areas ◽  
Remnant Forest ◽  
Release Location

The increasing fragmentation of fire-prone forests of Australia has made the remaining populations of koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus) more vulnerable to extinction. We examined the movement patterns of koalas in remnant forest of Port Stephens following a major wildfire. Each koala (n = 55) was monitored regularly by radio-tracking for up to 35 months. The movements of koalas showed a wide variation in patterns, from highly localised movements to long-range dispersal over 20 km. Within the first 12 months, 35% of tracked koalas moved from their release location to new areas where they established home ranges. Daily movement distances of males (mean = 278.3 m) was higher than for females (141.0 m). Monthly displacement ranged from less than 10 m to more than 5 km, and was higher for koalas that subsequently died. Home ranges of males (95% kernel) were significantly larger than those of females (mean for males = 58.9 ± 10.5 ha; mean for females = 25.7 ± 8.6 ha), and this sex difference was also evident for core areas (50% kernel). There were no differences in the movement patterns or home-range sizes of rehabilitated koalas compared with wild koalas. This study has shown that resource depletion from wildfire is short term for koalas because their mobility allows rapid recolonisation of the burnt forest, and they can maintain home ranges within sites regenerating from fire. The reintroduction of rehabilitated koalas into burnt forest may also assist in the recovery of populations in fragmented and isolated habitat.

Acoustic tracking of a large predatory marine gastropod, Charonia tritonis, on the Great Barrier Reef

2020 ◽  
Vol 642 ◽  
pp. 147-161
Author(s):  
A Schlaff ◽  
P Menéndez ◽  
M Hall ◽  
M Heupel ◽  
T Armstrong ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Spatial Ecology ◽  
Coral Cover ◽  
Movement Patterns ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Reef Environment ◽  
Cumulative Distance ◽  
Natural Predator ◽  
Mere Presence

Crown-of-thorns starfish Acanthaster planci (COTS) outbreaks are a major cause of coral cover loss on the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), with manual culling having only localised success. The endangered giant triton snail Charonia tritonis is a natural predator of COTS, although aquarium and field observations indicate the intensity of direct predation may be inadequate to significantly mediate outbreaks. However, their mere presence can elicit a chemically induced sensory behavioural response which may suppress COTS populations when in non-outbreak status. While there is increasing knowledge of the sensory biology of both species, little is known regarding giant triton snail numbers on the GBR or about how they move and occupy space, making it difficult to determine their true zone of influence and thus their capacity to disrupt COTS behaviour. We used passive acoustic telemetry to establish short-term activity space and movement patterns of giant triton snails on the GBR. Individuals were tracked for up to 41 d, were observed to travel 234.24 m d-1, with a mean total cumulative distance travelled at night (1923.19 m) nearly double that observed during the day (1014.84 m). These distances encompass those reported for COTS (10.3 m d-1) and align with COTS nocturnal behaviour. Space utilisation distributions (UDs) revealed a mean (±SD) home range of 1179.40 ± 659.40 m2 (95% UD) and a core area of 195.68 ± 141.31 m2 (50% UD). Revealing the short-term movement patterns of this natural COTS predator within a reef environment advances knowledge of its spatial ecology and will provide information for its future conservation and for COTS management efforts.

Movement patterns of feral predators in an arid environment – implications for control through poison baiting

2009 ◽  
Vol 36 (5) ◽  
pp. 422 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. E. Moseby ◽  
J. Stott ◽  
H. Crisp
Keyword(s):  
Home Range ◽  
Sand Dunes ◽  
Activity Patterns ◽  
Movement Patterns ◽  
Home Range Size ◽  
Range Size ◽  
Home Ranges ◽  
Feral Cats ◽  
Poison Baiting ◽  
Specific Variation

Control of introduced predators is critical to both protection and successful reintroduction of threatened prey species. Efficiency of control is improved if it takes into account habitat use, home range and the activity patterns of the predator. These characteristics were studied in feral cats (Felis catus) and red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) in arid South Australia, and results are used to suggest improvements in control methods. In addition, mortality and movement patterns of cats before and after a poison-baiting event were compared. Thirteen cats and four foxes were successfully fitted with GPS data-logger radio-collars and tracked 4-hourly for several months. High intra-specific variation in cat home-range size was recorded, with 95% minimum convex polygon (MCP) home ranges varying from 0.5 km2 to 132 km2. Cat home-range size was not significantly different from that of foxes, nor was there a significant difference related to sex or age. Cats preferred habitat types that support thicker vegetation cover, including creeklines and sand dunes, whereas foxes preferred sand dunes. Cats used temporary focal points (areas used intensively over short time periods and then vacated) for periods of up to 2 weeks and continually moved throughout their home range. Aerial baiting at a density of 10 baits per km2 was ineffective for cats because similar high mortality rates were recorded for cats in both baited and unbaited areas. Mortality was highest in young male cats. Long-range movements of up to 45 km in 2 days were recorded in male feral cats and movement into the baited zone occurred within 2 days of baiting. Movement patterns of radio-collared animals and inferred bait detection distances were used to suggest optimum baiting densities of ~30 baits per km2 for feral cats and 5 per km2 for foxes. Feral cats exhibited much higher intra-specific variation in activity patterns and home-range size than did foxes, rendering them a potentially difficult species to control by a single method. Control of cats and foxes in arid Australia should target habitats with thick vegetation cover and aerial baiting should ideally occur over areas of several thousand square kilometres because of large home ranges and long-range movements increasing the chance of fast reinvasion. The use of temporary focal points suggested that it may take several days or even weeks for a cat to encounter a fixed trap site within their home range, whereas foxes should encounter them more quickly as they move further each day although they have a similar home-range size. Because of high intra-specific variability in activity patterns and home-range size, control of feral cats in inland Australia may be best achieved through a combination of control techniques.

Short-term responses of plants and invertebrates to experimental small-scale grassland fragmentation

Oecologia ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 125 (4) ◽  
pp. 559-572 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel Zschokke ◽  
Claudine Dolt ◽  
Hans-Peter Rusterholz ◽  
Peter Oggier ◽  
Brigitte Braschler ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Small Scale ◽  
Short Term

Weather effects on intrahabitat movements of the western green lizard, Lacerta bilineata (Daudin, 1802), at its northern distribution range border: a radio-tracking study

2000 ◽  
Vol 78 (10) ◽  
pp. 1831-1839 ◽  
Author(s):  
P Sound ◽  
M Veith
Keyword(s):  
Activity Patterns ◽  
Strong Dependence ◽  
Weather Conditions ◽  
Distribution Range ◽  
Maximum Temperature ◽  
Second Phase ◽  
Northern Distribution ◽  
Radio Transmitters ◽  
Movement Parameters ◽  
Bad Weather

Daily activity patterns of male western green lizards, Lacerta bilineata (Daudin, 1802), at the edge of their northern distribution range in western Germany after the breeding season from June to October were recorded using implanted radio transmitters. Different activity indices discriminating between stimulation, duration, and length of movement were correlated with actual weather conditions (d0) and with weather conditions on the 2 previous days (d-1 and d-2). The lizards' dependence on weather showed two different phases throughout the study period. During the first period and in the period preceding a drastic change of weather in midsummer, weather had no significant influence on movement parameters. After that event, temperatures dropped and a strong dependence on weather of all movement parameters except those indicating displacements became apparent. Thresholds for 50% activity during this second phase were a maximum temperature of 17°C and a minimum humidity of 35%. Two days after periods of bad weather, the influence of weather conditions increased again. This can be explained by physiological deficits that require compensation during the period of marginal weather conditions prior to hibernation. Displacement movements were significantly longer than home-range movements and were neither triggered nor modulated by the weather. They must therefore represent activities such as patrolling territory boundaries.

scholarly journals An On-Line Low-Cost Irradiance Monitoring Network with Sub-Second Sampling Adapted to Small-Scale PV Systems

Sensors ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (10) ◽  
pp. 3405 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuel Espinosa-Gavira ◽  
Agustín Agüera-Pérez ◽  
Juan González de la Rosa ◽  
José Palomares-Salas ◽  
José Sierra-Fernández
Keyword(s):  
Sensor Networks ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Monitoring Network ◽  
Absolute Error ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Photovoltaic Systems ◽  
Real Time Control ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Time Control ◽  
Cloud Motion

Very short-term solar forecasts are gaining interest for their application on real-time control of photovoltaic systems. These forecasts are intimately related to the cloud motion that produce variations of the irradiance field on scales of seconds and meters, thus particularly impacting in small photovoltaic systems. Very short-term forecast models must be supported by updated information of the local irradiance field, and solar sensor networks are positioning as the more direct way to obtain these data. The development of solar sensor networks adapted to small-scale systems as microgrids is subject to specific requirements: high updating frequency, high density of measurement points and low investment. This paper proposes a wireless sensor network able to provide snapshots of the irradiance field with an updating frequency of 2 Hz. The network comprised 16 motes regularly distributed over an area of 15 m × 15 m (4 motes × 4 motes, minimum intersensor distance of 5 m). The irradiance values were estimated from illuminance measurements acquired by lux-meters in the network motes. The estimated irradiances were validated with measurements of a secondary standard pyranometer obtaining a mean absolute error of 24.4 W/m 2 and a standard deviation of 36.1 W/m 2 . The network was able to capture the cloud motion and the main features of the irradiance field even with the reduced dimensions of the monitoring area. These results and the low-cost of the measurement devices indicate that this concept of solar sensor networks would be appropriate not only for photovoltaic plants in the range of MW, but also for smaller systems such as the ones installed in microgrids.

scholarly journals Short-term post-mortality scavenging and longer term recovery after anoxia in the northern Adriatic Sea

2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 7647-7659 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Blasnig ◽  
B. Riedel ◽  
L. Schiemer ◽  
M. Zuschin ◽  
M. Stachowitsch
Keyword(s):  
Adriatic Sea ◽  
Time Lapse ◽  
Hermit Crabs ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Northern Adriatic Sea ◽  
Northern Adriatic ◽  
Hexaplex Trunculus ◽  
Distinct Sequence ◽  
And Function

Abstract. The northern Adriatic Sea is one of nearly 500 areas worldwide suffering widespread mortalities due to anoxia. The present study documents post-anoxia macrofauna dynamics after experimentally inducing small-scale anoxia in 24 m depth (2 plots, each 50 cm × 50 cm). Time-lapse camera deployments examined short-term scavenging of the moribund and dead organisms (multi-species clumps consisting of sponges and ascidians) over two 3-day periods (August 2009: 71.5 h, September 2009: 67.5 h). Longer term recovery (days to 2 yr) in the same two plots was examined with an independent photo series. Scavengers arrived quickly and in a distinct sequence: demersal (Gobius niger, Serranus hepatus) and benthopelagic fishes (Diplodus vulgaris, Pagellus erythrinus), followed by hermit crabs (Paguristes eremita, showing a clear day/night rhythm in presence) and gastropods (Hexaplex trunculus). This sequence is attributed to the relative speeds and densities of the organisms. The sessile fauna was largely removed or consumed within seven (August plot) and 13 (September plot) days after anoxia, confirming our first hypothesis that decaying organisms are quickly utilised. The scavengers remained in dense aggregations (e.g. up to 33 P. eremita individuals at one time) as long as dead organisms were available. No recovery of sessile macroepibenthos macroepibenthos occurred in the experimental plots one and two years after anoxia, undermining our second hypothesis that small denuded areas are more rapidly recolonised. This study underlines the sensitivity of this soft-bottom community and supports calls for reducing additional anthropogenic disturbances such as fishing practices that further impede recolonisation and threaten benthic community structure and function over the long term.

scholarly journals How big is the influence of biogenic silicon pools on short-term changes in water-soluble silicon in soils? Implications from a study of a 10-year-old soil–plant system

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (22) ◽  
pp. 5239-5252 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Puppe ◽  
Axel Höhn ◽  
Danuta Kaczorek ◽  
Manfred Wanner ◽  
Marc Wehrhan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Soluble ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Testate Amoeba ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Plant Materials ◽  
Main Driver ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
Calamagrostis Epigejos ◽  
Biogenic Silicon ◽  
Future Work

Abstract. The significance of biogenic silicon (BSi) pools as a key factor for the control of Si fluxes from terrestrial to aquatic ecosystems has been recognized for decades. However, while most research has been focused on phytogenic Si pools, knowledge of other BSi pools is still limited. We hypothesized that different BSi pools influence short-term changes in the water-soluble Si fraction in soils to different extents. To test our hypothesis we took plant (Calamagrostis epigejos, Phragmites australis) and soil samples in an artificial catchment in a post-mining landscape in the state of Brandenburg, Germany. We quantified phytogenic (phytoliths), protistic (diatom frustules and testate amoeba shells) and zoogenic (sponge spicules) Si pools as well as Tiron-extractable and water-soluble Si fractions in soils at the beginning (t0) and after 10 years (t10) of ecosystem development. As expected the results of Tiron extraction showed that there are no consistent changes in the amorphous Si pool at Chicken Creek (Hühnerwasser) as early as after 10 years. In contrast to t0 we found increased water-soluble Si and BSi pools at t10; thus we concluded that BSi pools are the main driver of short-term changes in water-soluble Si. However, because total BSi represents only small proportions of water-soluble Si at t0 (< 2 %) and t10 (2.8–4.3 %) we further concluded that smaller (< 5 µm) and/or fragile phytogenic Si structures have the biggest impact on short-term changes in water-soluble Si. In this context, extracted phytoliths (> 5 µm) only amounted to about 16 % of total Si contents of plant materials of C. epigejos and P. australis at t10; thus about 84 % of small-scale and/or fragile phytogenic Si is not quantified by the used phytolith extraction method. Analyses of small-scale and fragile phytogenic Si structures are urgently needed in future work as they seem to represent the biggest and most reactive Si pool in soils. Thus they are the most important drivers of Si cycling in terrestrial biogeosystems.

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