Translocation of a top-order carnivore: tracking the initial survival, spatial movement, home-range establishment and habitat use of Tasmanian devils on Maria Island

2016 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sam Thalmann ◽  
Sarah Peck ◽  
Phil Wise ◽  
Joanne M. Potts ◽  
Judy Clarke ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Home Range ◽  
Key Management ◽  
Movement Pattern ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
Home Range Size ◽  
Habitat Associations ◽  
Ex Situ ◽  
Tasmanian Devil ◽  
Eucalypt Forest ◽  
Devil Facial Tumour Disease

The Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) is a carnivorous marsupial threatened with extinction from the emergence of Devil Facial Tumour Disease. The establishment of ex situ populations is a key management action for the species. We examined the initial survival, movement pattern, home range, and habit use of six devils from a total of 15 individuals translocated to Maria Island (south-east Tasmania). A total of 14 devils (93%) survived the initial monitoring phase within this study (122 days after translocation). The maximum and minimum distance recorded during one night was 21.73 km (range = 14.12–25.40 km) and 1.94 km (range = 0.07–7.71 km), respectively, while the average nightly distance travelled varied significantly (range = 7.24–13.07 km) between individuals. Short-term home-range size (90% kernel) varied from 936 to 3501 ha, with an average of 2180 (±836) ha for all devils. The habitat preference of devils on Maria Island shows a positive association with agricultural and urban habitats, and an avoidance of wet eucalypt forest. The home range and habitat associations may change as competitive pressures increase with population growth; however, this initial research indicates that translocation as a management action is a powerful tool for the establishment of ex situ populations, assisting in the continued conservation of this species.

Home range, burrow-use and activity patterns in common wombats (Vombatus ursinus)

2008 ◽  
Vol 35 (5) ◽  
pp. 455 ◽  
Author(s):  
Murray C. Evans
Keyword(s):  
Home Range ◽  
Activity Patterns ◽  
Movement Pattern ◽  
Home Range Size ◽  
Low Energy ◽  
Harmonic Mean ◽  
Home Ranges ◽  
Eucalypt Forest ◽  
Ranging Behaviour ◽  
Burrow Use

Wombats are large, marsupial herbivores able to exploit low-productivity habitats largely because of their low energy requirements. In addition to using deep, thermally favourable burrows, wombats might use a strategy of conservative above-ground ranging behaviour to achieve their low energy expenditure. This study examined home range, burrow use and diurnal activity patterns of common wombats (Vombatus ursinus) in eucalypt forest, woodland and pasture using trapping and radio-tracking. Wombats ranged through all three vegetation types with forest and pasture clearly being important habitats. Home ranges (95% harmonic mean) were typically almost circular, and averaged 17.7 ha with core areas (50% harmonic mean) averaging 2.9 ha. Home-range size is small compared with that expected for most mammals of comparable body mass. Ranging behaviour for wombats was similar between sexes and ranges extensively overlapped between and within sexes, indicating that ranges are not actively defended. Wombats did not markedly change the size or location of home ranges, ranging behaviour or feeding areas between summer and winter. The density of active burrows (0.25 ha–1) far exceeded the estimated density of wombats (0.13 ha–1). Wombats typically spent 1–4 days sleeping in the same burrow and then moved to another. On average, each active burrow was used by 2.2 different individuals. The activity pattern of wombats is characterised by a strong diel cycle, with most activity occurring nocturnally. Activity peaks at the beginning and end of each night are consistent with a ‘travel out, graze, travel back’ movement pattern. Despite widely distributed food resources, small home ranges and obligate burrow use constrain wombats to meeting their year-round food and water requirements from a small area near their burrows.

Home Range and Movement Pattern of a Tailless Black Eagle in Taiwan: A Special Case of Noninvasive Study by Community Science

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wen-Horn Lin ◽  
Shiao-Yu Hong ◽  
Si-Min Lin
Keyword(s):  
Home Range ◽  
Foraging Behavior ◽  
Movement Pattern ◽  
Home Range Size ◽  
Range Size ◽  
Taipei City ◽  
Community Science ◽  
North And South ◽  
Special Case

ABSTRACT A secretive and cautious raptor, the Black Eagle (Ictinaetus malaiensis) is challenging to study. Its highly specialized foraging behavior makes it difficult to capture an individual for tracking. However, a tailless eagle provided an opportunity to describe the home range and movements of one bird for 3 yr from 2013 to 2016. A total of 43 independent photo records were provided by a bird photographers' community. The eagle regularly moved between summering and wintering habitats north and south of Taipei City, Taiwan; home range sizes were estimated as 54.1 and 47.1 km2, respectively. This noninvasive case study provides the first estimates of home range size and movement patterns for the Black Eagle, and highlights the contribution of community science to research on endangered raptors.

scholarly journals Home range size and use by the long-nosed bandicoot (Perameles nasuta) following fire

2013 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 206 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher I. MacGregor ◽  
Jeff T. Wood ◽  
Nick Dexter ◽  
David B. Lindenmayer
Keyword(s):  
Home Range ◽  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Vegetation Type ◽  
Compositional Analysis ◽  
Fire Effects ◽  
Home Range Size ◽  
Habitat Associations ◽  
Range Size ◽  
Home Ranges ◽  
Disturbed Areas

Understanding how animals use available habitat and how disturbance events such as fire influence habitat use is crucial to wildlife management. Relationships between home-range size of long-nosed bandicoots (Perameles nasuta) and vegetation type and fire effects on food availability and vegetation cover were explored. Home ranges and movement of P. nasuta were mapped in burnt and unburnt vegetation using radio-tracking. Compositional analysis was used to study their habitat associations. In 2004, six months after wildfire, no significant relationships were found between home-range size and vegetation type. In 2005, there was a preference for dry and wet forest over heath and disturbed areas. In both years, in ranges that contained both burnt and unburnt vegetation, there was a preference for unburnt vegetation. Home-range size was positively related to the bodyweight of individuals. Fire did not significantly alter home-range size, but did influence the way animals used their home range. Dense understorey might provide vital shelter from predators, and may be particularly important after fire. Wildfire and prescribed burning are major forms of disturbance in many natural areas and this study suggests the importance to P. nasuta of retaining unburnt patches when conducting hazard-reduction burning.

Home range of the swamp wallaby, Wallabia bicolor

1993 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
pp. 571 ◽  
Author(s):  
S Troy ◽  
G Coulson
Keyword(s):  
Home Range ◽  
Home Range Size ◽  
Range Size ◽  
Home Ranges ◽  
Convex Polygons ◽  
Minimum Convex Polygon ◽  
Eucalypt Forest ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Wallabia Bicolor ◽  
Swamp Wallaby

Home range in the swamp wallaby, Wallabia bicolor (Marsupialia : Macropodoidea) was examined using radio-tracking in a 150-ha remnant of mixed eucalypt forest at Healesville, Victoria. Three methods were used to calculate home-range size: minimum convex polygons, fourier transform MAP(O.95) and MAP(0.50) estimation, and harmonic mean 50% isopleths and 95% isopleths. The minimum convex polygon method produced the largest estimate of home-range area (16.01 +/-.45 ha). Each method required a different number of fixes before home-range area estimates reached an asymptote. These data showed that W. bicolor have small, overlapping home ranges and that the shape of the home range varied between individuals. Home-range area was larger than previously reported for this species, and there was no significant difference between the sexes in home-range size.

Size and habitat composition of female mallard home ranges in the prairie-parkland region of Canada

2003 ◽  
Vol 81 (8) ◽  
pp. 1454-1461 ◽  
Author(s):  
Glenn G Mack ◽  
Robert G Clark ◽  
David W Howerter
Keyword(s):  
Home Range ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
Home Range Size ◽  
Range Size ◽  
Home Ranges ◽  
Female Size ◽  
Canadian Prairie ◽  
Pair Density ◽  
Habitat Composition

Wetland density is believed to be an important determinant of variation in size of mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) home ranges, but hypothesized effects of upland habitat and female size and age have not been adequately evaluated. Thus, we investigated correlates of home-range size using unique radio-tracking data for 131 female mallards studied on 12 Canadian prairie-parkland sites in 1995–1998. Home-range size and habitat composition varied within and among study areas; overall, variation in home-range size was best modeled to include effects of seasonal and semipermanent wetlands (β = –0.06 ± 0.01; mean ± SE) and woodland–shrubland habitat (β = –0.03 ± 0.01). Contrary to predictions, we obtained no support for a positive association between home-range size and female body size or a negative relationship between home-range size and female age. After controlling for confounding effects of wetland density, home ranges were larger, on average, on study areas with lower densities of mallard breeding pairs; therefore, we suspect that individual home ranges were smaller in areas of high pair density because of increased intraspecific competition for breeding space. A higher proportion of woodland–shrubland habitat likely contributed to the smaller size of individual home ranges because of a greater relative availability of preferred nesting habitat.

Home range and microhabitat use by the long-footed potoroo, Potorous longipes

1998 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 357 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Green ◽  
A. T. Mitchell ◽  
P. Tennant
Keyword(s):  
Home Range ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Home Range Size ◽  
Microhabitat Use ◽  
Radio Tracking ◽  
Geographical Differences ◽  
Eucalypt Forest ◽  
Old Growth Forest ◽  
Minimum Numbers ◽  
Trapping Grid

Long-footed potoroos were studied at two widely-separated sites in Victoria, one in regenerating eucalypt forest in East Gippsland and the other in old-growth forest in Central Gippsland. Trap-revealed use of microhabitat at Bellbird (East Gippsland) showed a change from the 1980s to 1990s, with an increased amount of foraging in more open, drier areas. Over the same period, there was an increase in the size of home range of animals and a near-doubling of the minimum numbers of animals known to be alive on the trapping grid at Bellbird. These changes occurred over a period when few environmental changes occurred on the grid other than control of feral predators. Radio-tracking data from 12 animals at the two sites showed a similar trend in use of microhabitat by most animals, but there was individual variation. Differences between the sites were that home-range size was smaller at the Riley trapping grid (Central Gippsland), there was greater overlap in home range, and animals there foraged for significantly shorter bouts. This confirmed earlier speculation from reproductive and dietary studies that there is better quality habitat at Riley, but the sites were so dissimilar that differences in home range and foraging could not be ascribed to either the logging regime or to geographical differences between the sites.

Foraging Habitat, Home-Range Size and Diet of a Mediterranean Bat Species, Savi's Pipistrelle

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 351
Author(s):  
Marina Kipson ◽  
Martin Šálek ◽  
Radek Lučan ◽  
Marcel Uhrin ◽  
Edita Maxinová ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Home Range ◽  
Home Range Size ◽  
Range Size ◽  
Foraging Habitat

scholarly journals Green morays (Gymnothorax funebris) have sedentary ways in mangrove bays, but also ontogenetic forays to reef enclaves

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew S. Kendall ◽  
Laughlin Siceloff ◽  
Ashley Ruffo ◽  
Arliss Winship ◽  
Mark E. Monaco
Keyword(s):  
Home Range ◽  
Site Fidelity ◽  
Home Range Size ◽  
Range Size ◽  
Caribbean Region ◽  
History Of ◽  
High Site ◽  
Single Night ◽  
Exploratory Movements ◽  
Moray Eel

AbstractSurprisingly, little is known about basic life history of the largest moray eel species in the Caribbean region, the green moray eel (Gymnothorax funebris). Sixteen eels were captured from the mangrove fringe in multiple bays on St. Croix, USVI, implanted with coded acoustic transmitters, and their movements were tracked for up to 11 months using an array of 37 stationary acoustic receivers. They exhibited high site fidelity in the bays during their residence, using the same general parts of individual bays and did not switch bays except for one individual. There was no relationship between eel size (mean TL = 83 cm, range = 54–126 cm) and home range size (mean area of 95% KUD = 5.8 ha ± 0.7 SE). Most individuals were more frequently detected at night than during the day suggesting greater nocturnal activity. Several of the larger eels (mean TL = 93 cm ± 5.9 SE) showed clear and permanent emigration tracks out of the mangrove estuary to coral reef habitats offshore. For some individuals, these habitat shifts were preceded by exploratory movements away from the eel’s typical home range the night before emigration. All final emigration events took place nocturnally, happened during a single night, and occurred during months from December to May. Mean emigration speed was 3.4 km/h. This study is the first documentation of an ontogenetic habitat shift in moray eels, as well as the first determination of home range size for this species and their site fidelity in mangrove habitats.

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