Examining the living with possums policy in Victoria, Australia : community knowledge, support and compliance

Studying the human dimensions of wildlife management issues is now considered to be an essential component
of wildlife research. This study examined the Living with Possums policy in Victoria, Australia, in terms of the policy’s
success in educating the community and ensuring community compliance. Postal surveys and telephone interviews
were conducted across three samples from Greater Melbourne. These samples included people who had experiences
with possums on their property (n = 340), veterinary clinics (n = 45) and the general public (n = 103). Significant
levels of non-compliance were uncovered, highlighting the need for a renewed public education campaign to take place
along with a continued interest in this issue from government agencies and councils. The study also revealed
discrepancies between the policy and public preferences for possum management, suggesting that a shift in the
recommended management technique may be warranted.

Community attitudes towards possums in metropolitan Melbourne

Community attitudes toward urban possums in Victoria were examined. 500 questionnaires were sent to a random sample of residents from metropolitan Melbourne (n=103) as well as people who had had experiences with possums (n=340). Negative attitudes toward possums were found to exist in the community and these attitudes were not restricted to those who have had problems with possums. However, the extent of possum problems may be less than commonly believed, as over half of the respondents to newspaper stories calling for people with ‘possum experiences’ reported positive experiences with possums. Increasing media emphasis on positive experiences with possums and school-based education programs are identified as possible strategies for reducing conflicts and learning to live with possums in urban environments.

Landscape influences on avian density in urban remnant vegetation

The management of urban environments is an increasingly important issue on an international scale as humans emigrate from rural areas to cities. Designing cities that can sustain mass human expansion while maintaining biodiversity is becoming an increasingly complex challenge for land managers. This is largely due to the lack of knowledge on how urbanization impacts upon biodiversity. Our previous research has highlighted the importance of urban remnant vegetation for avian diversity, but also suggested that landscape scale influences may have considerable impacts on the ability for a remnant to sustain species. We have since conducted a study examining avian diversity in 38 urban remnants ranging in size from 5ha to 107ha. These sites vary in relation to the quality of vegetation in the patch and their level of isolation from other remnant patches. This talk discusses the relative influences of remnant patch size, vegetation quality and isolation on avian diversity in urban remnant vegetation. We discuss how the findings of this research could be applied to managing avian diversity in the urban landscape.

Public and stakeholder values and knowledge of wildlife in Victoria, Australia

Prompted by a lack of human dimensions research in Australia, this study investigated the values and knowledge relating to wildlife held by members of the public within distinct demographic subsets of the Victorian population and members of wildlife management stakeholder groups; and compared these characteristics with how Victorian wildlife managers perceive these groups. A combination of semi-structured interviews and postal questionnaires were used. Fifteen in-depth interviews were conducted to explore how wildlife managers perceive the values and knowledge of wildlife held by members of various subsets of the Victorian population. A total of 1,431 questionnaires were completed by members of 13 public and stakeholder groups throughout Victoria, and these were analysed to explore values and knowledge relating to wildlife in Victoria. The findings of this study suggest that Victorian people have a strong emotional attachment to individual animals (the humanistic value), and an interest in learning about wildlife (the curiosity/learning/interacting value). The dominionistic/wildlife-consumption, utilitarian-habitat, aesthetic and negativistic values were not expressed by the majority of respondents from the public samples. The data also suggest that Victorian people have relatively low levels of factual knowledge about Australian wildlife. Thus, wildlife managers should expect support for wildlife management objectives that reflect the strong humanistic orientation of Victorians and tailor management and education programs to appeal to this value and Victorians' interest in learning about wildlife. Members of the Field Naturalists Club of Victoria (FNCV), Bird Observers Club of Australia (BOCA), Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) stakeholder groups and management agency Parks Victoria expressed a strong interest in learning about wildlife. Members of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) obtained high humanistic value scores; and members of the Victorian Field and Game Association (VFGA) obtained high domimomstic/wildlife-consumption value scores. Importantly, the humanistic and curiosity/learning/interacting values were the most strongly expressed values in all six groups and these values could be the key to more effective communication and collaboration between groups. Relationships between demographic factors, and values and knowledge relating to wildlife were found. For example, rural Victorians held a stronger dominionistic/ wildlife-consumption value than urban Victorians; females held stronger humanistic, curiosity/learning/interacting and negativistic values than males; young Victorians (18-34 years) held a lower curiosity/learning/interacting value and lower factual knowledge of wildlife than older Victorians; and more highly educated Victorians were more knowledgeable about wildlife than people with less formal education. No statistically significant differences were found between the values and knowledge of wildlife held by different income classes. While relationships between demographic factors, and values and knowledge relating to wildlife were found, they were generally much smaller than expected based on wildlife managers' perceptions and previous research. For example, the results suggest that Victorian females have a slightly stronger humanistic value of wildlife than males do. However, the important message emerging from the data is that males and females both express a strong emotional attachment to individual animals. Importantly, the results indicate that the effects of demographic factors on values and knowledge relating to wildlife are not always consistent across different geographic locations and stakeholder groups. For example, the slightly stronger interest in learning about wildlife among females when compared with males was observed in the rural and urban-fringe samples but not in the urban samples. This suggests that caution must be used when generalising the findings from human dimensions studies from one type of community or stakeholder group to another. Management programs should be tailored to the specific characteristics of the target audience. The findings also indicate that Victorian wildlife managers have diverse perceptions about the values and knowledge of wildlife held by members of different publics and stakeholder groups, and that the perceptions held by wildlife managers are not always consistent with the actual values and knowledge of wildlife held by members of different publics and stakeholders. For example, counter to the perceptions expressed by the interviewed wildlife managers, the interest in and factual knowledge of wildlife held by members of voluntary conservation groups equalled or surpassed that of wildlife managers; young Victorian adults (18-34 years) held a slightly lower curiosity/learning/interacting value and slightly lower level of factual knowledge of wildlife than older Victorians; and rural and urban communities in Victoria held low dominionistic and utilitarian values. Such discrepancies highlight the importance of investigating the actual values and knowledge held by members of such groups, so that appropriate and effective wildlife management programs can be implemented. Inaccurate perceptions and assumptions may contribute to ineffective communication between managers, stakeholders and publics; and adversely effect the success of wildlife management programs.

Costs of Silver Gulls Larus novaehollandiae in an urban environment

Silver Gull economic impacts were evaluated during 1998 to 2003 in the Greater Melbourne area. Roof nesting and roosting created substantial problems. Annual cost for cleaning, maintenance, damage, repairs and mitigation was $3,570,000. Roof corrosion was $0.9 million. Reducing anthropogenic food availability is the key to reducing problems.

Stakeholder perceptions of threatened species and their management on urban beaches

We surveyed 579 recreationists regarding management of the threatened, beach-dwelling Hooded Plover Thinornis rubricollis. We postulated that: (1) lower awareness of the species and higher ‘inconvenience’ of management would engender less favourable perceptions of conservation and management; and (2) that frequency of beach use and dog ownership may mediate perceptions and levels of awareness and inconvenience. Overall, inconvenience was low while awareness and support for plover conservation were high. Education and awareness strategies were considered less effective than regulations; exclusion and regulations were considered less desirable than on-ground protective measures. Awareness, frequency of beach use and dog walking did not influence the perceived effectiveness of different managements. More frequent beach users had greater awareness of the species and their plight but reported greater inconvenience associated with management. Respondents with high awareness rated the severity of human-related threats higher; low awareness was associated with more inconvenience associated with on-ground protection, and exclusion and regulations. Dog walkers reported more inconvenience associated with exclusions and regulations than non-dog walkers. Dog walkers who used the beach infrequently rated threats significantly higher than frequent beach users. Conservation and education strategies could usefully be tailored to beach users’ level of use and pet ownership.

Urban to forest gradients: suitability for hollow bearing trees and implications for obligate hollow nesters

 Resource availability is a limiting factor influencing the distribution and composition of faunal communities. Globally, hollow bearing trees are a resource required by wildlife at all trophic levels, and are used for a diverse range of ecological functions. In the northern hemisphere avian species act as primary hollow excavators, whereas the southern hemisphere must rely on complex interactions between stochastic events, and eventual decay. Hollow formation is therefore a slow process in the southern hemisphere. In contrast, hollow loss is quite rapid and influenced greatly by anthropogenic impacts.To identify the ecological characteristics driving hollows over an urban to forest gradient as a resource for the powerful owl (Ninox strenua) and its prey we used presence-only modelling. The potential for an area to support tree hollows suitable for powerful owls and their prey was linked to the density of ephemeral rivers, land cover, tree cover and distance from riparian vegetation. The potential for large hollows throughout the landscape, suitable for the powerful owl, was also influenced by density of permanent rivers. Potential habitat for tree hollows, capable of supporting powerful owls and their prey was greatest in forested environments, declining with increased urbanization. However the urban region still supported some smaller tree hollows suitable for arboreal marsupials. Managing for urban dwelling species, is not as simple as retaining old hollow producing trees or providing alternate nesting structures. We also need to mitigate increased mortality associated with built environments (e.g. electrocution, collisions).

Sex-biased space-use response to urbanization in an endemic urban adapter

Urbanization impacts on the composition and distribution of wildlife. The tawny frogmouth (Podargus strigoides) is an endemic, nocturnal bird species widespread throughout Australia with recent research highlighting high densities within urban environments. The aim of this study was to investigate homerange size and land-use in response to a gradient of urbanization by determining (a) the key land-use types influencing home-range size and location in the urban landscape (b) whether urbanization impacts on home-range size; and (c) whether the response to urbanization is gender specific. Twelve birds, seven male and five female were radio-tracked within a study zone located in Melbourne, Australia. We used minimum convex polygons (MCP) 95% and 50% fixed-kernel isopleths to calculate home-range size and areas of core use within each home-range. In both the landscape and core areas of their home-range, birds positioned their home-range in areas with more trees, avoiding impervious surfaces and utilizing grassed areas. Male mean kernel home-range was 17.65 ± 4.35 ha and female 6.55 ± 1.40 ha. Male home-ranges contained higher levels of impervious surfaces than females. Modelling demonstrated that as urbanization intensified the home-range size of males increased whereas female home-ranges remained static in size. This research identifies land-use selection and highlights the possibility that spatial behaviour in the species is sex-biased in response to a gradient of urbanization. © 2014 Elsevier B.V.

Variation at the DRD4 locus is associated with wariness and local site selection in urban black swans

 BACKGROUND: Interactions between wildlife and humans are increasing. Urban animals are often less wary of humans than their non-urban counterparts, which could be explained by habituation, adaptation or local site selection. Under local site selection, individuals that are less tolerant of humans are less likely to settle in urban areas. However, there is little evidence for such temperament-based site selection, and even less is known about its underlying genetic basis. We tested whether site selection in urban and non-urban habitats by black swans (Cygnus atratus) was associated with polymorphisms in two genes linked to fear in animals, the dopamine receptor D4 (DRD4) and serotonin transporter (SERT) genes.

RESULTS: Wariness in swans was highly repeatable between disturbance events (repeatability = 0.61) and non-urban swans initiated escape from humans earlier than urban swans. We found no inter-individual variation in the SERT gene, but identified five DRD4 genotypes and an association between DRD4 genotype and wariness. Individuals possessing the most common DRD4 genotype were less wary than individuals possessing rarer genotypes. As predicted by the local site selection hypothesis, genotypes associated with wary behaviour were over three times more frequent at the non-urban site. This resulted in moderate population differentiation at DRD4 (FST = 0.080), despite the sites being separated by only 30 km, a short distance for this highly-mobile species. Low population differentiation at neutrally-selected microsatellite loci and the likely occasional migration of swans between the populations reduces the likelihood of local site adaptations.

CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that wariness in swans is partly genetically-determined and that wary swans settle in less-disturbed areas. More generally, our findings suggest that site-specific management strategies may be necessary that consider the temperament of local animals.

Population, behavioural and physiological responses of an urban population of black swans to an intense annual noise event

Wild animals in urban environments are exposed to a broad range of human activities that have the potential to disturb their life history and behaviour. Wildlife responses to disturbance can range from emigration to modified behaviour, or elevated stress, but these responses are rarely evaluated in concert. We simultaneously examined population, behavioural and hormonal responses of an urban population of black swans Cygnus atratus before, during and after an annual disturbance event involving large crowds and intense noise, the Australian Formula One Grand Prix. Black swan population numbers were lowest one week before the event and rose gradually over the course of the study, peaking after the event, suggesting that the disturbance does not trigger mass emigration. We also found no difference in the proportion of time spent on key behaviours such as locomotion, foraging, resting or self-maintenance over the course of the study. However, basal and capture stress-induced corticosterone levels showed significant variation, consistent with a modest physiological response. Basal plasma corticosterone levels were highest before the event and decreased over the course of the study. Capture-induced stress levels peaked during the Grand Prix and then also declined over the remainder of the study. Our results suggest that even intensely noisy and apparently disruptive events may have relatively low measurable short-term impact on population numbers, behaviour or physiology in urban populations with apparently high tolerance to anthropogenic disturbance. Nevertheless, the potential long-term impact of such disturbance on reproductive success, individual fitness and population health will need to be carefully evaluated.