Abstract
Effective management of tree-hollow-dependent wildlife is enhanced by detailed knowledge of the trees used for shelter and breeding. We describe the characteristics of 52 den trees and hollows (cavities) used by the yellow-bellied glider (Petaurus australis) in the south-west of its geographic range. We compared the following attributes of den trees to reference trees: tree height, diameter at breast height, hollow entrance height, hollow entrance diameter, cavity diameter, cavity depth, cavity roof height and cavity wall thickness. Dens and reference trees showed a highly significant multivariate difference (P<0.001), with these variables explaining 64% of the variance. Univariate analyses revealed that hollow entrance height was significantly different between den trees (9.0±0.5m) and reference trees (5.5±0.3m). While not significant, den trees tended to have narrower hollow entrances, deeper cavities and thinner walls than reference trees; cavities used by yellow-bellied gliders, on average, measured 36.8cm deep and 18.0cm in diameter, and had entrances 10.6cm in diameter. These observations should assist forest management for this species.
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