Home range and spatial organisation of rock-dwelling carnivorous marsupial, Pseudantechinus macdonnellensis

2003 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris R. Pavey ◽  
Nicola Goodship ◽  
Fritz Geiser

We studied home-range size, range length and spatial organisation of fat-tailed false antechinus, Pseudantechinus macdonnellensis, at Ormiston Creek, central Australia. Animals were tracked using transmitters implanted into the body cavity. Mean home-range size was 0.76 ha based on the minimum convex polygon (MCP) method and 1.14 ha based on the fixed kernel method (95% contour). Mean size of core areas of the home range was 0.07 ha based on the 50% kernel contour. Mean maximum range length was 148.83 m. Males occupied larger home-range areas than females (MCP: 0.98 v. 0.31 ha, 95% fixed kernel: 1.50 v. 0.43 ha) and also had greater maximum range lengths (180 v. 86 m). Home-range areas showed little overlap within the sexes; however, ranges of males overlapped those of females by an average of 37.95%. By comparison with data from a previous mark–recapture study at the same site, radio-tracking produced home-range estimates (MCP) that were greater by a factor of 24.5 for males and 15.5 for females, whereas maximum range lengths were lower for females, but similar for males. The results of this study support the proposition that the rock-dwelling P. macdonnellensis has a more stable home range and undergoes fewer long-range movements than similar-sized arid-zone dasyurids that occupy open environments. These differences likely result from the stability in resources provided by rocky habitats, specifically year-round availability of insects, availability of plentiful shelter sites that are very effective thermal buffers in both summer and winter, and a diversity of accessible microclimates.

2005 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew W. Claridge ◽  
David Paull ◽  
James Dawson ◽  
Greg Mifsud ◽  
Andy J. Murray ◽  
...  

The home ranges, movement patterns and spatial organisation of spotted-tailed quolls (Dasyurus maculatus maculatus) were studied in rainshadow woodland in southern New South Wales, Australia. Fourteen individuals were radio-collared and simultaneously tracked. Home-range size estimates ranged from 621 ha to at least 2561 ha for males, and 88 ha to at least 653 ha for females. Mean home-range size was significantly greater for males (992 ± 276 ha) than females (244 ± 72 ha). The maximum straight-line distances between successive fixes for males over 24-h and 48-h periods were 2529 and 4430 m, respectively, while for females these distances were 1865 and 3085 m. Mean maximum straight-line distances between successive fixes for males over a 24-h period were not significantly different from mean maximum straight-line distances of females (1493 ± 918 v. 1034 ± 540 m). However, over 48 h, the mean maximum distances between successive fixes for males was greater than that of females (2911 ± 934 v. 1680 ± 918 m). The home ranges of males mostly overlapped with those of other individuals, regardless of sex. In contrast, home ranges of females tended not to overlap with those of other females, suggesting some form of spatial separation. Home-range estimates derived for spotted-tailed quolls in our rainshadow woodland study site are comparable to those obtained for the species in wetter vegetation types. From a conservation perspective, it seems that habitat structure and the availability of prey is more important than rainfall or vegetation type in determining spatial requirements of the species. Until more advanced telemetry systems are developed, caution should be applied when using current home-range data on the species to infer breeding systems and patterns of spatial organisation, particularly the issue of territoriality among female quolls.


2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 351
Author(s):  
Marina Kipson ◽  
Martin Šálek ◽  
Radek Lučan ◽  
Marcel Uhrin ◽  
Edita Maxinová ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Matthew S. Kendall ◽  
Laughlin Siceloff ◽  
Ashley Ruffo ◽  
Arliss Winship ◽  
Mark E. Monaco

AbstractSurprisingly, little is known about basic life history of the largest moray eel species in the Caribbean region, the green moray eel (Gymnothorax funebris). Sixteen eels were captured from the mangrove fringe in multiple bays on St. Croix, USVI, implanted with coded acoustic transmitters, and their movements were tracked for up to 11 months using an array of 37 stationary acoustic receivers. They exhibited high site fidelity in the bays during their residence, using the same general parts of individual bays and did not switch bays except for one individual. There was no relationship between eel size (mean TL = 83 cm, range = 54–126 cm) and home range size (mean area of 95% KUD = 5.8 ha ± 0.7 SE). Most individuals were more frequently detected at night than during the day suggesting greater nocturnal activity. Several of the larger eels (mean TL = 93 cm ± 5.9 SE) showed clear and permanent emigration tracks out of the mangrove estuary to coral reef habitats offshore. For some individuals, these habitat shifts were preceded by exploratory movements away from the eel’s typical home range the night before emigration. All final emigration events took place nocturnally, happened during a single night, and occurred during months from December to May. Mean emigration speed was 3.4 km/h. This study is the first documentation of an ontogenetic habitat shift in moray eels, as well as the first determination of home range size for this species and their site fidelity in mangrove habitats.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. M. Stobo‐Wilson ◽  
T. Cremona ◽  
B. P. Murphy ◽  
S. M. Carthew

2021 ◽  
Vol 75 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Victoria Underhill ◽  
Gregory G. Pandelis ◽  
Jeremy Papuga ◽  
Anne C. Sabol ◽  
Austin Rife ◽  
...  

PLoS ONE ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. e0120513 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susanna E. Kitts-Morgan ◽  
Kyle C. Caires ◽  
Lisa A. Bohannon ◽  
Elizabeth I. Parsons ◽  
Katharine A. Hilburn

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