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Australian Mammalogy Australian Mammalogy Society
Journal of the Australian Mammal Society
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Temperature variation in nest boxes occupied by arboreal mammals during winter in southern Australia

Ross L. Goldingay https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6684-9299 A * and Karen J. Thomas B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Faculty of Science and Engineering, Southern Cross University, PO Box 157, Lismore, NSW 2480, Australia.

B Bendigo Field Naturalists Club, Spring Gully PO, Bendigo, Vic. 3550, Australia.

* Correspondence to: ross.goldingay@scu.edu.au

Handling Editor: Bronwyn McAllan

Australian Mammalogy 45(1) 24-31 https://doi.org/10.1071/AM21049
Submitted: 17 December 2021  Accepted: 13 April 2022   Published: 25 May 2022

© 2023 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of the Australian Mammal Society.

Abstract

We investigated nest temperatures in nest boxes occupied by single lactating brush-tailed phascogales (n = 8 boxes) and 1–3 adult sugar gliders (n = 7 boxes) when overnight ambient temperature dropped to <5°C. Temperature in the nest decreased or increased rapidly as animals vacated or re-occupied their nests. In the hour following first night-time departure, temperatures in sugar glider nests dropped by 9°C but only by 4°C in phascogale nests. The slower rate in phascogale nests was due to the presence of nestlings. Phascogales returned repeatedly to the nest during the night, resulting in an average 15°C differential above ambient over the night (2200–0500 h). Gliders returned infrequently during the night, resulting in an average nest-ambient differential of 3–5°C. After departure some glider nests tracked ambient to <0°C. The ability of nests to insulate and moderate temperature fluctuations requires further study. Our study highlights that we have incomplete knowledge of many aspects of the nesting ecology of cavity-using Australian mammals.

Keywords: Bendigo, cavity-dependent mammal, nest cooling, nest structure, nest temperature, Petaurus, Phascogale, tree hollow.


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