Abstract
Urbanisation of wildlife populations is a process with significant conservation and management implications. While urban areas can provide habitat for wildlife, some urbanised species eventually come into conflict with humans. Understanding the process and drivers of wildlife urbanisation is fundamental to developing effective management responses to this phenomenon. In Australia, flying-foxes (Pteropodidae) are a common feature of urban environments, sometimes roosting in groups of tens of thousands of individuals. Flying-foxes appear to be becoming increasingly urbanised and are coming into increased contact and conflict with humans. Flying-fox management is now a highly contentious issue. In this study we used monitoring data collected over a 15 year period (1998–2012) to examine the spatial and temporal patterns of association of spectacled flying-fox (Pteropus conspicillatus) roost sites (camps) with urban areas. We asked whether spectacled flying-foxes are becoming more urbanised and test the hypothesis that such changes are associated with anthropogenic changes to landscape structure. Our results indicate that spectacled flying-foxes were more likely to roost near humans than might be expected by chance, that over the period of the study the proportion of the flying-foxes in urban-associated camps increased, as did the number of urban camps. Increased urbanisation of spectacled flying-foxes was not related to changes in landscape structure or to the encroachment of urban areas on camps. Overall, camps tended to be found in areas that were more fragmented, closer to human habitation and with more urban land cover than the surrounding landscape. This suggests that urbanisation is a behavioural response rather than driven by habitat loss.
Highlights
By 2030 five billion humans are expected to live in urban areas while the global urban footprint is predicted to expand by 163% from c. 727,000 km2 to c. 1,527,000 km2 [1]
Tropics of Queensland from 1998–2012 indicate that the majority of the population were roosting in camps associated with urban areas (Figure 2)
We found that spectacled flying-foxes commonly roost near humans, as is the case for other Pteropus species in Australia, e.g. P. poliocephalus, P. alecto, P. scapulatus [20,21,23], and elsewhere, e.g. P. giganteus [45], and P. dasymallus [46]
Summary
By 2030 five billion humans are expected to live in urban areas while the global urban footprint is predicted to expand by 163% from c. 727,000 km to c. 1,527,000 km2 [1]. By 2030 five billion humans are expected to live in urban areas while the global urban footprint is predicted to expand by 163% from c. Much urban expansion is currently occurring in sensitive areas for biodiversity, e.g. in coastal lowlands or close to protected areas [1]. This means that consideration of urban systems is increasingly important in conservation planning and management. Understanding how particular species respond to urbanisation and identifying the processes leading to these responses is fundamental if we are to successfully manage the interaction between urbanisation, biodiversity and human welfare
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