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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 31(6)

Patch use by the greater glider (Petauroides volans) in a fragmented forest ecosystem. II. Characteristics of den trees and preliminary data on den-use patterns

D. B. Lindenmayer A , M. L. Pope A B and R. B. Cunningham A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia.

B Current address: State Forests of New South Wales, Tumut, NSW 2720, Australia.

Wildlife Research 31(6) 569-577 https://doi.org/10.1071/WR02111
Submitted: 29 November 2002  Accepted: 13 February 2004   Published: 23 December 2004

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a study of the use of den trees by the greater glider (Petauroides volans) in five patches of remnant eucalypt forest embedded within an extensive radiata pine (Pinus radiata) plantation near Tumut in south-eastern Australia. Radio-tracking was used to identify 171 den trees occupied by 40 animals over 948 animal-tracking days between September 1997 and September 1998. All radio-tracked P. volans used multiple den trees. Males used significantly more den trees than females and a greater proportion of these were used for single visits. Males also used fewer new den trees over the study period in the smaller patches, although they still used more than females. In the larger patches, males and females used similar numbers of den trees.

Commonly used den trees tended to be situated in (or close to) core areas of an individual’s home range. Den tree sharing, either concurrently or independently, was predominantly between adult males and females, or between adults and their young. Trees most likely to be used by more than one individual had the same characteristics as trees that had the highest probability of use per se – that is, they were of large ‘average size’.


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