by Harry A. Moore, Nathan Beerkens, Roy J. Teale, Rowan Lymbery, Hannah Kilian
Abstract Context: Extreme heat events are intensifying under climate change, yet their sublethal effects on threatened mammals remain poorly understood. Aims: We investigated behavioural responses of the critically endangered western ringtail possum (Pseudocheirus occidentalis; ngwayir) to extreme heat on the Southern Swan Coastal Plain of Western Australia. Methods: Using tri-axial…
by Chloe H. Frick, Donell Hole, Derek Sandow, Liberty G. M. Olds, Bertram Ostendorf, David Taggart & David Roshier
Abstract Very high frequency (VHF) radio tracking technology deployed on terrestrial vertebrates has been well utilized in ecology without much evolution since the 1960s. With the advent of multi-species rewilding projects, and the new field of reintroduction biology, there has been an increase in requirements for telemetry systems to monitor…
Abstract Large carnivores are important ecological drivers of ecosystem dynamics when they occur at ecologically effective densities. They are also challenging to conserve, especially in transboundary settings such as along borders of national parks. Here, we tested for effects of transboundary movements on survival of 72 radiocollared gray wolves from…
Abstract Kill rates of predators typically increase when they come into contact with naïve and abundant prey. Such a situation can lead to surplus killing or the occurrence of parallel kills (i.e. additional kills that predator makes while still consuming the carcass from the previous kill). However, there is limited…
by Tyler R. Petroelje, Jerrold L. Belant, Dean E. Beyer & Nathan J. Svoboda
Abstract Background: Quantifying kill rates is central to understanding predation ecology. However, estimating kill rates and prey composition in carnivore diets is challenging due to their low densities and cryptic behaviors limiting direct observations, especially when the prey is small (i.e., < 5 kg). Global positioning system (GPS) collars and…
by López-Pérez, A. M., Foley, J., Roy, A., Pesapane, R., Castle, S., Poulsen, A., & Clifford, D. L
Abstract Intensive management may be necessary to protect some highly vulnerable endangered species, particularly those dependent on water availability regimes that might be disrupted by ongoing climate change. The Amargosa vole (Microtus californicus scirpensis) is an increasingly imperiled rodent constrained to rare wetland habitat in the Mojave Desert. In 2014…
Abstract We report the first satellite tracking of natal dispersal by an Arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus) between continents and High-Arctic ecosystems. A young female left Spitsbergen (Svalbard Archipelago, Norway) on 26 March 2018 and reached Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada, 76 days later, after travelling a cumulative distance of 3506 km,…
by Cabana, F., Clayton, J. B., Nekaris, K. A. I., Wirdateti, W., Knights, D., & Seedorf, H.
Abstract Environment and diet are key factors which shape the microbiome of organisms. There is also a disparity between captive and wild animals of the same species, presumably because of the change in diet. Being able to reverse the microbiome to the wild type is thus particularly important for the…
Abstract Translocation of animals from sites scheduled for development is a widespread but controversial intervention to resolve human-wildlife conflicts. Indeed, reptiles are very frequently the subject of such translocations, but there is a paucity of information on the fate of such animals or how their behaviour compares to residents. In…