The influence of spatial patterns in foraging habitat on the abundance and home range size of a vulnerable arboreal marsupial in southeast Australia

Abstract Wildlife can persist in a range of landscape configurations, but population densities can vary due to resource availability. Resources and environmental conditions shaping habitat suitability may be spatially dispersed or clumped, which can drive habitat availability. We explored how spatia...

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Autores principales:	Benjamin Wagner, Patrick J. Baker, Craig R. Nitschke
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Wiley 2021
Materias:	disturbance foraging greater glider habitat resources habitat suitability home ranges Ecology QH540-549.5 General. Including nature conservation, geographical distribution QH1-199.5
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/2ae688b1d6254814b03f77dc5706cacf
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:2ae688b1d6254814b03f77dc5706cacf2021-12-01T10:20:57ZThe influence of spatial patterns in foraging habitat on the abundance and home range size of a vulnerable arboreal marsupial in southeast Australia2578-485410.1111/csp2.566https://doaj.org/article/2ae688b1d6254814b03f77dc5706cacf2021-12-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.566https://doaj.org/toc/2578-4854Abstract Wildlife can persist in a range of landscape configurations, but population densities can vary due to resource availability. Resources and environmental conditions shaping habitat suitability may be spatially dispersed or clumped, which can drive habitat availability. We explored how spatial configuration and aggregation of favorable feeding resources and climatic conditions affect populations of the greater glider (Petauroides volans), an arboreal marsupial in southeast Australia, vulnerable to climate change and disturbances. We hypothesized home‐range functionality from literature and field observations and used a generalized spatial framework based on neutral landscape models to test how spatial aggregation influences home‐range sizes and population structure. At the landscape scale, any decrease in climatic suitability also decreased potential population density, independent of the initial spatial configuration of the feeding landscape. At the stand scale however, the spatial configuration of feeding habitat drove population density. Dispersed resources required increased home‐range sizes for individual greater gliders to obtain feeding resources and resulted in smaller populations. Clumped resources supported larger populations, even when only small fractions of the stand contained feeding habitat. Disturbances to these resources could either retain populations or lead to extinction, depending on spatial aggregation and disturbance intensity. Increasingly severe dispersed disturbances caused potential home ranges to disappear more rapidly and remaining home ranges to become larger and contain less feeding habitat. The ability of greater gliders to establish populations and persist under disturbance was therefore highly dependent on the spatial aggregation of habitat resources and the type and severity of disturbance. Changes in climate act at a different scale and may override favorable habitat conditions at the stand level. Our results have implications for the conservation and retention of critical feeding habitat for greater gliders and provide insights into important factors to ensure population persistence under climate change and forest management.Benjamin WagnerPatrick J. BakerCraig R. NitschkeWileyarticledisturbanceforaginggreater gliderhabitat resourceshabitat suitabilityhome rangesEcologyQH540-549.5General. Including nature conservation, geographical distributionQH1-199.5ENConservation Science and Practice, Vol 3, Iss 12, Pp n/a-n/a (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	disturbance foraging greater glider habitat resources habitat suitability home ranges Ecology QH540-549.5 General. Including nature conservation, geographical distribution QH1-199.5
spellingShingle	disturbance foraging greater glider habitat resources habitat suitability home ranges Ecology QH540-549.5 General. Including nature conservation, geographical distribution QH1-199.5 Benjamin Wagner Patrick J. Baker Craig R. Nitschke The influence of spatial patterns in foraging habitat on the abundance and home range size of a vulnerable arboreal marsupial in southeast Australia
description	Abstract Wildlife can persist in a range of landscape configurations, but population densities can vary due to resource availability. Resources and environmental conditions shaping habitat suitability may be spatially dispersed or clumped, which can drive habitat availability. We explored how spatial configuration and aggregation of favorable feeding resources and climatic conditions affect populations of the greater glider (Petauroides volans), an arboreal marsupial in southeast Australia, vulnerable to climate change and disturbances. We hypothesized home‐range functionality from literature and field observations and used a generalized spatial framework based on neutral landscape models to test how spatial aggregation influences home‐range sizes and population structure. At the landscape scale, any decrease in climatic suitability also decreased potential population density, independent of the initial spatial configuration of the feeding landscape. At the stand scale however, the spatial configuration of feeding habitat drove population density. Dispersed resources required increased home‐range sizes for individual greater gliders to obtain feeding resources and resulted in smaller populations. Clumped resources supported larger populations, even when only small fractions of the stand contained feeding habitat. Disturbances to these resources could either retain populations or lead to extinction, depending on spatial aggregation and disturbance intensity. Increasingly severe dispersed disturbances caused potential home ranges to disappear more rapidly and remaining home ranges to become larger and contain less feeding habitat. The ability of greater gliders to establish populations and persist under disturbance was therefore highly dependent on the spatial aggregation of habitat resources and the type and severity of disturbance. Changes in climate act at a different scale and may override favorable habitat conditions at the stand level. Our results have implications for the conservation and retention of critical feeding habitat for greater gliders and provide insights into important factors to ensure population persistence under climate change and forest management.
format	article
author	Benjamin Wagner Patrick J. Baker Craig R. Nitschke
author_facet	Benjamin Wagner Patrick J. Baker Craig R. Nitschke
author_sort	Benjamin Wagner
title	The influence of spatial patterns in foraging habitat on the abundance and home range size of a vulnerable arboreal marsupial in southeast Australia
title_short	The influence of spatial patterns in foraging habitat on the abundance and home range size of a vulnerable arboreal marsupial in southeast Australia
title_full	The influence of spatial patterns in foraging habitat on the abundance and home range size of a vulnerable arboreal marsupial in southeast Australia
title_fullStr	The influence of spatial patterns in foraging habitat on the abundance and home range size of a vulnerable arboreal marsupial in southeast Australia
title_full_unstemmed	The influence of spatial patterns in foraging habitat on the abundance and home range size of a vulnerable arboreal marsupial in southeast Australia
title_sort	influence of spatial patterns in foraging habitat on the abundance and home range size of a vulnerable arboreal marsupial in southeast australia
publisher	Wiley
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/2ae688b1d6254814b03f77dc5706cacf
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The influence of spatial patterns in foraging habitat on the abundance and home range size of a vulnerable arboreal marsupial in southeast Australia

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