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Book of Abstracts Australian Mammal Society Conference 2020

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Book of Abstracts Australian Mammal Society Conference 2020 BOOK OF ABSTRACTS Alphabetical author index on page 31 EASTERN GREY KANGAROO POPULATION DYNAMICS Rachel Bergeron1, David Forsyth2,3, Wendy King1,4 and Marco Festa-Bianchet1,4 1 Département de biologie, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Québec, J1K 2R1, Canada 2 Vertebrate Pest Research Unit, NSW Department of Primary Industries, Orange, NSW 2800, Australia 3 School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia 4 School of Biological Sciences, Australian National University, Acton, ACT 2601, Australia Email: [email protected] Twitter: @festa_bianchet Recent studies of density-dependence in herbivore population dynamics seek to identify the mechanisms underlying these changes. Kangaroo populations experience large fluctuations in size. Early research suggested that rainfall was a good predictor of population changes through its effect on per capita food availability. Population dynamics of large herbivores, however, are likely influenced by interactions between stochastic environmental variation and density dependence. Vital rates can respond differently to environmental variation and to changes in density. In particular, juvenile survival is most sensitive to harsh conditions, and adult survival rarely affected. Consequently, an improved understanding of population dynamics requires monitoring of individuals of known sex and age under a variety of environmental conditions. I will investigate how density, age structure and environmental conditions affect the population dynamics of eastern grey kangaroos (Macropus giganteus) at Wilsons Promontory National Park, Victoria, where >1200 individuals of known age and sex have been monitored since 2008. I will test the hypothesis that environmental conditions and density dependence have interacting and age-specific roles in generating changes in population size. This study will further our understanding of the factors driving population fluctuations and provide knowledge useful for wildlife management and conservation. DOUBLE-OBSERVER DISTANCE SAMPLING IMPROVES THE ACCURACY OF DENSITY ESTIMATES FOR THE SOUTHERN GREATER GLIDER Jemma K. Cripps1, 2, Jenny L. Nelson1, Michael P. Scroggie1,2, Louise K. Durkin1, David S.L. Ramsey1, and Lindy F. Lumsden1. 1 Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research, Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, Heidelberg, Victoria 3084, Australia. 2 School of BioSciences, The University of Melbourne, Victoria, 3010, Australia [email protected], @drjcripps Determining population size or density is often fundamental for wildlife conservation. For nocturnal species, indices are commonly used in place of abundance estimates, with spotlighting indices being prevalent. Distance sampling is a collection of techniques that provide estimates of abundance from line transects, by correcting raw counts for imperfect detection. We aimed to develop a method for estimating the abundance and density of the southern greater glider (Petauroides volans volans) in Victoria, Australia. Two observers, 15 minutes apart, surveyed 25 randomly-located 500 m transects, and recorded greater gliders using spotlights and binoculars. Densities and abundances were derived from the line transect data using mark-recapture distance sampling (MRDS) models and were compared with conventional distance sampling models (CDS). Using the double-observer approach, we estimated an overall density of 0.95 gliders ha-1 (95% CI 0.61 - 1.50), giving a population estimate of 24,650 greater gliders across our study area. The corresponding estimates for our study area derived using CDS applied to either both observers’ observations, or to the first observer’s observations only, were 84% and 54% of the MRDS estimate. The analysis confirms that greater gliders are more detectable using the double-observer method and that uncorrected spotlight counts will underestimate abundance. 1 POPULATION MONITORING OF THE YELLOW-BELLIED GLIDER IN SUBTROPICAL AUSTRALIA Ross L. Goldingay, Darren McHugh, and Jonathan Parkyn School of Environment, Science and Engineering, Southern Cross University, PO Box 157, Lismore, NSW 2480, Australia. Email: [email protected] Population monitoring is fundamental to the conservation of threatened species. We conducted annual monitoring of a yellow-bellied glider (Petaurus australis) population in Richmond Range National Park in north-east New South Wales (NSW) over a 6-year period. How this species responds to variation in rainfall, which should drive food abundance, is not well documented. We conducted repeat spotlight surveys each year to account for imperfect detection and used counts in an occupancy model to produce indices of abundance. We started with 20 survey transects in year 1, and expanded to 32 in year 4. Transects were dispersed through 23 km of forest. Our surveys produced >400 detections over six years. Mean estimated abundance per 200-m transect varied from 1.7±0.5 individuals in 2017 to 2.6±0.7 in 2018. Variation in abundance did not follow annual rainfall which was 2% above average in 2017 but 56% below average in 2019 when we estimated 2.5±0.9 gliders per transect. This population is of high conservation significance given that the wildfires of 2019/2020 coincided with >50% of the species’ records in NSW and Richmond Range was unaffected. PATERNAL REPRODUCTIVE POTENTIAL MODULATES MATERNAL EFFECTS ON OFFSPRING SEX BUT NOT MATERNAL ALLOCATION IN KANGAROOS Luca Montana*, Pauline Toni*, Marco Festa-Bianchet *equal contribution Département de biologie, Université de Sherbrooke, 2500 Boulevard de l’Université, Sherbrooke, Québec, J1K 2R1, Canada Presenter email: [email protected] / Twitter handles: @PowToni @festa_bianchet Theory predicts that parents should adjust offspring sex ratio when the fitness returns of producing sons or daughters varies. Historically, theories of sex ratio manipulation focussed on maternal strategies and sex-biased maternal allocation, because mothers can influence non-genetic inheritance throughout offspring provisioning and lactation. Paternal effects have been seldom considered, and most studies used birds as model species. In birds, males are the homogametic sex, limiting their control over offspring sex. In mammals, males are the heterogametic sex and could have more control over offspring sex than male birds. We analyzed long-term data on marked kangaroos to investigate how paternal reproductive potential, measured as body mass, influenced offspring sex and sex-biased maternal allocation in interaction with maternal mass. Heavy males produced more sons than they produced daughters, regardless of maternal mass. When fathers were light, the probability of having a son increased with maternal mass. We found no sex-biased maternal allocation: mothers allocated similarly to sons and daughters regardless of paternal mass. Studies of offspring sex manipulation or maternal allocation would benefit from an explicit consideration of paternal traits, as paternal effects can be modulated by maternal effects and vice-versa. 2 THE DECLINE AND LIKELY LOSS OF A POPULATION OF THE NORTHERN LONG-NOSED POTOROO POTOROUS TRIDACTYLUS TRIDACTYLUS IN TYAGARAH NATURE RESERVE ON THE NSW FAR NORTH COAST David Milledge1, Norm Graham2 and Jill Smith3 1Landmark Ecological Services, PO Box 100 Suffolk Park NSW 2481 2NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, Byron Bay 3NSW DPIE, Coffs Harbour [email protected] The population of the Northern Long-nosed Potoroo Potorous tridactylus tridactylus in Tyagarah Nature Reserve on the NSW far north coast was first recorded in 1985. In 1992 a cage trapping study captured 15 individuals in the central section of the reserve and the population was then estimated at between 80 and 90 individuals. A subsequent cage trapping study in 2004 captured 4 individuals in the southern section of the reserve, but further cage and camera trapping surveys in 2009 and 2012 failed to detect any individuals. Additional camera trapping surveys between 2012 and 2015 and more intensive surveys between 2015 and 2016 also failed to detect any individuals. The lack of detections from targeted surveys between 2009 and 2016 suggests that the Tyagarah population of the subspecies has been lost. Reasons for this loss are unclear but may be due to a combination of factors including isolation by a highway upgrade and urban development, lack of fire over 40 years, an explosion of the local Australian Brush-turkey Alectura lathami population and perhaps predator control programs. THE LAST CONILURUS: INSIGHTS INTO THE DRASTIC DECLINE AND FUTURE OF THE BRUSH-TAILED RABBIT-RAT (CONILURUS PENCILLATUS) Cara Penton1, Brenton von Takach1, Hugh Davies1, Ian Radford2, Leigh-Ann Woolley3, Brett Murphy1 Research Institute of Environment and Livelihoods Charles Darwin University1, Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions Western Australia2, World Wildlife Fund Broome3. Speaker: [email protected] @CaraPenton Three species of Conilurus were historically present across Australia, now the only surviving species of the genus is Conilurus penicillatus. However, whilst the brush-tailed rabbit-rat was still considered common as recently as the 1990s, it has undergone a rapid decline and exhibited one of the greatest reductions in extent of occurrence in northern Australia. Significant research gaps in the basic ecological knowledge of threatened species creates difficulty in understanding patterns of decline. Here we will present advances
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