The effect of wildfire on population dynamics for two native small mammal species in a coastal heathland in Queensland, Australia

Authors

Adam C. Liedloff, CSIROFollow
John C. Wilson, Queensland University of Technology
Richard M. Engeman, USDA National Wildlife Research CenterFollow

Date of this Version

2018

Citation

Acta Oecologica 88 (2018) 58–64

Comments

A.C. Liedloff et al.

This document is a U.S. government work and is not subject to copyright in the United States.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actao.2018.03.006

Abstract

The influences of wildfire through population dynamics and life history for two species of small mammals in a south-east Queensland heathland on Bribie Island are presented. Trapping results provided information on breeding, immigration and movement of Melomys burtoni (Grassland melomys) and Rattus lutreolus (Swamp rat). We first investigated and optimized the design of trapping methodology for producing mark-recapture population estimates to compare two adjacent populations, one of which was subjected to an extensive wildfire during the two year study. We consider how well rodents survive wildfire and whether the immediate impacts of fire or altered habitat have the greatest impact on each species. We found the R. lutreolus population was far more influenced by the fire than the M. burtoni population both immediately after the fire and over 18 months of vegetation recovery.