Influences of adjacent suburbia, fire regimes and vegetation on the mammals of a peri-urban reserve

Abstract

AbstractUrban development is thought to negatively affect most native mammals. Here we assess whether adjacent suburbia, fire regime and vegetation influence the activity of mammal species in a reserve in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. We used multiple regression to analyse the relationship between distance from houses, fire history, vegetation structure and floristics, and mammal activity, derived from camera visits and signs. Animal diggings and visits by long-nosed potoroos, southern brown bandicoots and cats were greater close to houses, while visits by red-necked wallabies, rufous-bellied pademelons, brushtail possums and short-beaked echidnas were not. The structure of the vegetation, particularly related to shelter, was important in many models. Many models also included floristic ordination axes that reflected drainage, fire regime and distance from high-density housing. Positive relationships between the introduced predatory cat and some of its potential native prey animals may reflect the influences of close proximity to suburbia, such as elevated domestic mesopredator populations, and elevated resource availability in domestic gardens. Our results suggest that urban areas can have a valuable role in nature conservation, despite, or because of, their effects on remnant native ecosystems.