Home-range use by the brush-tailed phascogale (Phascogale tapoatafa) (Marsupialia) in high-quality, spatially limited habitat

In: Wildlife research, Band 28, Heft 5, S. 517

Abstract

Nine phascogales (7 females, 2 males) were radio-tracked between March and
July 1999 to investigate the spatial organisation of this species in spatially
limited habitat near Euroa, Victoria. In this area, approximately 3.6%
of the original woodland vegetation remains after 150 years of agricultural
clearing. Most wooded habitat is confined to narrow linear strips along roads
and streams. However, these remnants are on fertile soils and, because they
have not experienced intensive harvesting, the density of large old trees is
over 10 times that found in nearby State Forests and Parks. Female phascogales
were monitored for 13–38 days over periods of 5–15 weeks. The size
of home ranges of females was 2.3–8.0 ha, and averaged 5.0 ha. This
value is one-eighth the mean home-range size previously recorded for the
species in contiguous forest in Victoria. All individuals used multiple nest
trees, with nests generally located in trees >80 cm diameter at breast
height. Although fragmented and spatially limited, the stands of large old
trees on productive soils near Euroa provide a network of well connected,
high-quality habitat for phascogales. The relatively dense population of
phascogales in these remnants suggests that prior to agricultural clearing and
timber harvesting, phascogales may have been much more common in Victoria than
at present.