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Home , Sugar glider, Western ringtail possum

Science for Saving Species Research findings factsheet Project 6.5

A new citizen science tool for understanding the conservation opportunities and challenges facing ’s possums and gliders

About the tool Possums, gliders and the western ringtail Many of Australia’s possums and has been chosen as the flagship Citizen scientists now have a new gliders share their habitat with people species for the module. tool to help support the conservation and some use urban environments. Data provided by the public through of Australia’s possums and gliders. About one third are listed as threatened the app will assist on-going research The CAUL app has at state, territory and/or national levels. on threatened possums and gliders a dedicated module for sharing Australia’s most threatened possum in urban areas and rural areas. sightings, photos and videos of is the western ringtail ( Data collected on the western ringtail possums and gliders across Australia. occidentalis); a possum will help researchers to learn The app also provides photos and species recognised as a Top 20 Priority more about its persistence in the information about Australia’s 27 species by the Australian urban environment. The data will possum and glider species, and Government. This species is still also contribute to national (Atlas of through location services the app regularly seen by the community Living Australia) and international shows users the species in their in the backyards of Busselton and (GBIF) biodiversity inventories. region, to help them correctly identify Bunbury, in and which species they are observing. The CAUL Urban Wildlife App was developed by the Clean Air and Urban Landscapes (CAUL) Hub to enable citizen scientists to contribute to their Shared Urban Habitat research project. The data recorded about the behaviours and habits of urban wildlife will help CAUL Hub scientists better understand how to manage native wildlife and their habitats so that their populations can persist and co-exist with humans. Initially developed with modules for flying foxes, frogs and beneficial insects, this possum and glider citizen science project is a collaboration between the Threatened Species Recovery Hub and the Clean Air and Urban Landscapes Hub with funding from the Australian Government’s National Environmental Science Program and the National Landcare Program through the South West Catchments Council. The app is free to download from the Apple App Store and Google Play. Home page User options for possums Possums, gliders and the western ringtail (continued) Citizen science and possums How to use the app 6. Complete other information about Citizen science can benefit 1. Download the CAUL Urban Wildlife your sighting, including the type conservation research, planning and App to your smart phone or tablet of location, what the is initiatives for threatened possums from Google Play or the Apple doing, and how it is using the and gliders by: App Store. surrounding environment. • Helping to raise community 2. Create a user profile and allow 7. Finally, if the animal is on your awareness of the species in the app to access your location property, tell us about how you the areas where they occur. (important for surveys). feel observing the species. We would like to hear all perspectives, • Harnessing people power to 3. Open the app and choose the whether good or bad. collect more data from more possum and glider module by places and further learning tapping on the possum icon. What we would like to learn about the world around us. 4. Select the species you are Some important questions we hope • Collecting data on private observing. To help you correctly to answer about western ringtail land which can be difficult for identify species: possums and other species include: conservation managers to access. • The app has high quality • What do they eat in urban • Improving understanding of the environments across their range? conservation implications of images and information on the species that have become distinguishing characteristics • How do they use the urban adapted to urban environments. of each species. environment across their range (built infrastructure, trees etc.)? • Better understanding human- • The app will only show you • Can we learn more about sources wildlife conflicts related to the species that are likely to be of conflict among possums, possums and gliders, such encountered in your location as possums eating backyard gliders and people? vegetation. 5. The date, time and location of • Do different human communities the sighting will be automatically respond differently to possums populated. or gliders in their region?

Possum in Darwin roof. Photo: Jaana Dielenberg Western ringtail possums – locally common, globally threatened huge declines in the non-urban parts Eating garden plants and taking up of its range. While common in some residence in household roof spaces parts of the South West of Australia, tends to create human-wildlife the species is probably in a state of flux conflicts for this species. due to landscape scale clearing for The CAUL Urban Wildlife App possum urbanisation, leaving many individuals and glider module aims to learn more making do in the urban landscapes about how the species is using the of Bunbury, Busselton, Margaret Western ringtail possum various food and habitat resources of Photo: Stewart McDonald River and Albany. urban areas as well as identify what The challenges for the western ringtail Some speculate that the western sources of conflict exist in different possums are many – but one of the ringtail is attracted to urban areas due urban landscapes. Armed with a biggest is convincing people they are at to the availability of well-watered and better understanding of the western a very high risk of extinction. The main fertilised plants. As strict herbivores ringtail possums urban ecology, we reason for this is that in parts of their with a diet almost exclusively can direct education and awareness range, they are encountered regularly comprised of leaves, the remaining raising activities based on where the by people. When you see something forests east of the human settled areas greatest need for these investments all of the time, it is hard to believe it are drying rapidly, which could result in lies with a view to enhancing is close to extinction. However, the the vegetation being no longer suitable liveability for people and possums western ringtail possum has undergone for their nutritional requirements. in urban areas.

Sugar gliders in – when natives aren’t native about species that are threats to other Sugar gilder nesting female. The nomadic parrots Photo: Tim Bawden biodiversity in particular regions, due nest in different areas each year in to elevated populations or where response to floral resources. they are not endemic. In years when the nesting has been in areas with high sugar glider densities For example, sugar gliders are the results have been disastrous. a common native species in on mainland Australia, but they are not Managing a problem native species can native to Tasmania. Sugar gliders were present complex social and political first taken to Tasmania in 1835 as , issues. The CAUL Urban Wildlife App but then made their way to the wild. presents an opportunity to collect data The CAUL Urban Wildlife App provides As their numbers grew, they caused on the urban ecology and distribution a unique opportunity to learn about devastating impacts on many hollow of sugar gliders in Tasmania, but also many facets of conservation in nesting species, such as the Critically better understand how people feel Australia. The possum and glider Endangered . When sugar about them, which is valuable for module can help us learn more about gliders find a swift parrot nest they informing: communication campaigns those species that are under threat, consume all of the eggs and 83% about sugar glider management; and but can also be used to learn more of the time they also kill and eat the education and awareness programs. New information about possums

Possum in Brisbane roof had confirmed sightings since as Another interesting finding citizen Photo: Jaana Dielenberg far back as 1996! The forests north- scientists are able to share with us is west of Denmark on the south the use of human built infrastructure coast of Western Australia have few by possums and gliders in Australia. records for ringtails. We were also Of the 96 records submitted so far, excited to see an app user has not 27% of possums or gliders were only recorded the species on three observed using either fencelines, separate occasions, but through powerlines or roofs. While not all 96 the note-sharing ability of the app, observations were made in strictly was able to advise us that one of urban settings, this kind of information The CAUL Urban Wildlife App possum the individuals was deceased, and can help us build a picture of the and glider module has already the body had been passed on to landscape use by different species yielded some interesting findings in the Department of Biodiversity, at the scale of cities, towns or even the short time it has been available. Conservation and Attractions for their suburbs. Armed with this evidence, Between July and October, 43 users records. This particular instance is we can design these urban habitats to have submitted 96 observations of very sad, but it is amazing to see enable native species to continue to possums and gliders from the east citizen scientists capturing new navigate the human environment while to the west coasts. For the western information about this threatened seeking strategies to minimise potential ringtail possum, we have had records species and sharing it with multiple human-wildlife conflicts along the way submitted in places that have not conservation stakeholders. through fauna sensitive urban design.

Further reading: Heinsohn, R., Webb, M., Lacy, Steven, R., Barnes, M., Garnett, S. T., Stojanovic, D., Olah, G., Webb, R., Terauds, A., Alderman, R., & Garrard, G., O’Connor, J., Oliver, J. M., Peakall, R., & Heinsohn, R. Stojanovic, D. (2015). A severe L., Robinson, C., Tulloch, A. & Fuller, (2018). Genetic evidence confirms predator-induced population decline R. A. (2019). Aligning citizen science severe extinction risk for critically predicted for endangered, migratory with best practice: Threatened species endangered swift parrots: implications swift parrots (Lathamus discolor). conservation in Australia. Conservation for conservation management. Biological Conservation, 186, 75-82. Science and Practice, e100. Animal conservation, 21(4), 313-323. Molloy, S. W., Davis, R. A., & Van Stojanovic, D., Webb, M. H., Alderman, Yokochi, K., & Bencini, R. (2015). Etten, E. J. (2014). Species distribution R., Porfirio, L. L., & Heinsohn, R. A remarkably quick habituation and modelling using bioclimatic variables (2014). Discovery of a novel predator high use of a rope bridge by an to determine the impacts of a reveals extreme but highly variable endangered , the changing climate on the western mortality for an endangered migratory western ringtail possum. ringtail possum (Pseudocheirus bird. Diversity and Distributions, Nature conservation, 11, 79-94. occidentals; ). 20(10), 1200-1207. Environmental Conservation, 41(2), 176-186.

Further Information Dr Rochelle Steven, The University of - [email protected]

This project is supported through funding from the Australian Government’s National Environmental Science Program and the National Landcare Program.