Ecology of Brush-tailed Phascogales (Phascogale tapoatafa) in an agricultural landscape

Albino, Lisa

Ecology of Brush-tailed Phascogales (Phascogale tapoatafa) in an agricultural landscape

Albino, Lisa

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Publication Type:: Thesis
Issue Date:: 2024

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Albino, Lisa
dc.date.accessioned	2025-05-19T03:58:45Z
dc.date.available	2025-05-19T03:58:45Z
dc.date.issued	2024
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/187408
dc.description	University of Technology Sydney. Faculty of Science.	en_US.UTF-8
dc.description.abstract	Arboreal mammals are particularly vulnerable to habitat loss and fragmentation due to their specific habitat requirements, making the detection of rare and small species crucial for conservation efforts. In this thesis, I experimentally compared two remote camera techniques currently used to detect the brush-tailed phascogale (Phascogale tapoatafa) to determine which method is the most effective, I examined their short-term home range and tree usage in a highly modified agricultural landscape and identified whether phascogales are naïve to cats. To determine the influence of camera orientation on the detectability of brush-tailed phascogales, I compared two orientations: horizontal and vertical. I found no significant difference between the probability of detecting phascogales with horizontal and vertical orientated cameras (Chapter 2). However, there were almost three times as many photos of phascogales on vertical cameras (7634) compared to horizontal cameras (2837), and fewer days were required to detect a phascogale on vertical cameras. The residence time of phascogales was significantly longer on vertical cameras compared to horizontal cameras when delta time was set to 10, 30 and 60 minutes. To determine short-term home range and tree usage of phascogales in an agricultural landscape, I radio-tracked five phascogales between 13 -28 days (Chapter 3). I found that phascogales preferred large trees with a diameter at breast height (DBH) over 63 cm and frequently reused the same den tree. Phascogales preferred dead trees and ironbark species were the most frequently used tree species. My findings highlight the need to conserve old trees, and standing dead trees, particularly on grazing properties. To identify if phascogales recognise cats as predators (Chapter 4), I conducted an experiment to analyse the behavioural responses of phascogales to scents of coevolved and invasive predators. I used scent from a cat (invasive predator), spotted tailed quoll (coevolved predator), Tasmanian devil (historical coevolved predator) and non-predator brushtail possum (procedural control). I found that phascogales respond to odours of sympatric native predators and feral cats, suggesting that they are not naïve to cats. There was no significant difference in behavioural response of phascogales to the predator and non-predator scents or the residence time spent at either scent. However, flight or avoidance behaviours were observed in the presence of predator scents but not for the possum scents. This supports the idea that natural selection on generations of prey has extinguished predator naivete in prey species that survived the initial invasion and spread of cats across Australia.	en_US.UTF-8
dc.format	Thesis (MSc)
dc.language.iso	en_US	en_US.UTF-8
dc.relation	https://opus.lib.uts.edu.au/bitstream/10453/187408/1/thesis.pdf
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.rights	The author owns the copyright in this thesis including all reproduction and reuse rights for the work. The work may not be altered without the permission of the copyright owner. Attribution is essential when quoting or paraphrasing from this thesis.
dc.rights	© 2024 Lisa Albino
dc.rights	au.edu.uts.lib/cph
dc.title	Ecology of Brush-tailed Phascogales (Phascogale tapoatafa) in an agricultural landscape	en_US.UTF-8
dc.type	Thesis
utslib.copyright.status	open_access	*

Abstract:

Arboreal mammals are particularly vulnerable to habitat loss and fragmentation due to their specific habitat requirements, making the detection of rare and small species crucial for conservation efforts. In this thesis, I experimentally compared two remote camera techniques currently used to detect the brush-tailed phascogale (Phascogale tapoatafa) to determine which method is the most effective, I examined their short-term home range and tree usage in a highly modified agricultural landscape and identified whether phascogales are naïve to cats. To determine the influence of camera orientation on the detectability of brush-tailed phascogales, I compared two orientations: horizontal and vertical. I found no significant difference between the probability of detecting phascogales with horizontal and vertical orientated cameras (Chapter 2). However, there were almost three times as many photos of phascogales on vertical cameras (7634) compared to horizontal cameras (2837), and fewer days were required to detect a phascogale on vertical cameras. The residence time of phascogales was significantly longer on vertical cameras compared to horizontal cameras when delta time was set to 10, 30 and 60 minutes. To determine short-term home range and tree usage of phascogales in an agricultural landscape, I radio-tracked five phascogales between 13 -28 days (Chapter 3). I found that phascogales preferred large trees with a diameter at breast height (DBH) over 63 cm and frequently reused the same den tree. Phascogales preferred dead trees and ironbark species were the most frequently used tree species. My findings highlight the need to conserve old trees, and standing dead trees, particularly on grazing properties. To identify if phascogales recognise cats as predators (Chapter 4), I conducted an experiment to analyse the behavioural responses of phascogales to scents of coevolved and invasive predators. I used scent from a cat (invasive predator), spotted tailed quoll (coevolved predator), Tasmanian devil (historical coevolved predator) and non-predator brushtail possum (procedural control). I found that phascogales respond to odours of sympatric native predators and feral cats, suggesting that they are not naïve to cats. There was no significant difference in behavioural response of phascogales to the predator and non-predator scents or the residence time spent at either scent. However, flight or avoidance behaviours were observed in the presence of predator scents but not for the possum scents. This supports the idea that natural selection on generations of prey has extinguished predator naivete in prey species that survived the initial invasion and spread of cats across Australia.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/187408