General or local habitat preferences? Unravelling geographically consistent patterns of habitat preference in gliding mammals

Abstract

Central to the conservation of animal species is identifying factors that influence habitat preference. General factors that operate across a species’ geographic range are of particular importance because they allow management actions to be applied when resources are limited. Local factors may also be important but require detailed study to identify. Distinguishing general from local factors is therefore key to conservation planning. Occupancy modelling was used to investigate habitat preferences in one landscape in south-eastern Australia of the regionally threatened yellow-bellied glider (Petaurus australis) (naïve occupancy = 0.72) and the non-threatened sugar glider (Petaurus breviceps) (naïve occupancy = 0.84). Hypotheses were tested to determine whether preferences were of general or local relevance. The habitat model with the greatest support for the yellow-bellied glider (a negative relationship with dead tree abundance) was specific to this landscape, which might suggest a local factor. This was interpreted to reflect a negative response to fire and may be an unrecognised general factor. In contrast, the best supported model for the sugar glider (a positive relationship with increasing basal area of winter-flowering trees) represented a general factor. This study suggests there is utility in evaluating habitat factors for their general relevance but this approach relies on the availability of detailed studies across the geographic range for this approach to be effective.