0000000001325265
AUTHOR
Julian Di Stefano
Attraction, avoidance or indifference: How fauna respond to edges in fire-prone landscapes
We know quite a lot about how animals respond to edges in modified and fragmented landscapes, but what do they do in natural systems when edges are created by fire? Are some animals attracted to burnt edges? Or is it safer to avoid them completely? Edges are ubiquitous, highly influential environmental features. They are ecologically important because they influence a wide range of patterns and processes that affect the distribution and movement of many species. However, we currently know very little about fire as an agent of edge creation, how fire edges change spatially and temporally, or how fauna respond to these landscape features. This study was conducted in mixed eucalypt forests in …
Living in a landscape mosaic: Movement patterns and resource selection of swamp wallabies
Broad-scale habitat fragmentation is a visible result of human land-use throughout the world, often resulting in deleterious ecological outcomes. Animals inhabiting fragmented landscapes need to access different habitats to acquire resources such as food and shelter which can pose risks if human disturbances are present. To mitigate these risks, animals may change their patterns of resource selection on a temporal scale. Phillip Island, located in south-east Australia, is a highly human-modified and fragmented landscape that contains patches of native vegetation amongst a matrix of agricultural farmland and urban developments. The island supports an abundant population of swamp wallabies (…