Bandicoots return to Booderee: initial survival, dispersal, home range and habitat preferences of reintroduced southern brown bandicoots (eastern sub species; Isoodon obesulus obesulus)
Context Reintroductions can be an effective means of re-establishing locally extinct or declining faunal populations. However, incomplete knowledge of variables influencing survival and establishment can limit successful outcomes. Aim We aimed to examine the factors (e.g. sex, body mass, release ord...
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Zusammenfassung: | Context Reintroductions can be an effective means of re-establishing
locally extinct or declining faunal populations. However, incomplete
knowledge of variables influencing survival and establishment can limit
successful outcomes. Aim We aimed to examine the factors (e.g. sex, body
mass, release order) influencing the survival, dispersal, home range and
habitat selection of reintroduced southern brown bandicoots (eastern
subspecies; Isoodon obesulus obesulus) into an unfenced, predator-managed
environment in south-eastern Australia (Booderee National Park). Methods
Over 2 weeks in May 2016, six female and five male bandicoots were
wild-caught in state forest and hard released into the park. Release
locations were approximately evenly distributed between three primary
vegetation types assessed as suitable habitat: heath, woodland and forest.
Bandicoots were radio-tracked day and night for 4 weeks from the initial
release date. Key results No mortality was detected. Males dispersed more
than twice as far as females (male 704 m, female 332 m), but there was no
significant sex bias in home range size. At the landscape scale,
bandicoots preferentially selected home ranges that contained heath and
avoided forest. Within home ranges, heath and woodland were both favoured
over forest. Conclusions Post-release dispersal is sex-biased, but more
data are required to determine the influence of other predictors such as
body mass and release order. Within the release area, bandicoots favoured
non-forest vegetation types. Implications Our study outlines factors
influencing the establishment of reintroduced bandicoots. We recommend
that future bandicoot reintroductions to Booderee National Park occur
within areas of heath and woodland, and that subsequent releases consider
the potentially larger spatial requirements and conspecific avoidance
among male bandicoots. Our findings contribute new knowledge for improving
translocation methods of a nationally endangered medium-sized mammal. |
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DOI: | 10.5061/dryad.gxd2547g4 |