Adapting to Novel Fire Regimes: Using Movement to Inform Conservation of a Threatened Arboreal Mammal

Abstract

Megafires are becoming increasingly common across the globe due to climate change and human activities. This rapid departure from historical fire regimes is creating novel challenges for animal populations, and their ability to persist may depend on fire-driven adaptations. Understanding how species respond and adapt to altered fire regimes is key to their conservation management, but for many species such mechanisms are poorly understood. Using GPS collars, we studied the effect of the 2019–20 Australian megafires on the space use and movement behaviour of southern greater gliders (Petauroides volans). We tracked eight animals in burnt forest and seven animals in unburnt forest to compare home range size and movement patterns. Our analysis revealed that despite severe habitat disturbance, greater gliders exhibited home range fidelity and their home range size, did not differ between unburnt and burnt sites. However, individuals in the burnt forest had higher movement rates and took more direct linear paths. Our study provides empirical evidence of how a fire-sensitive species is persisting in severely burnt habitat and may be able to do so by adjusting its movement patterns to meet its resource needs. We show that plasticity can provide some opportunity for adaptation to disturbance, but species that exhibit home range fidelity or otherwise fixed behavioural strategies, will continue to be challenged by severe and frequent environmental changes. We therefore recommend that conservation efforts for such species prioritise safeguarding unburnt habitat and, where necessary, consider provisioning critical supplementary resources to minimise wildfire impacts.

Keywords: megafire, conservation, range fidelity, plasticity, home range, GPS telemetry