Journal article
The impact of human activities on Australian wildlife
PLoS One, Vol.14(1), e0206958
2019
Abstract
Increasing human population size and the concomitant expansion of urbanisation significantly impact natural ecosystems and native fauna globally. Successful conservation management relies on precise information on the factors associated with wildlife population decline, which are challenging to acquire from natural populations. Wildlife Rehabilitation Centres (WRC) provide a rich source of this information. However, few researchers have conducted large-scale longitudinal studies, with most focussing on narrow taxonomic ranges, suggesting that WRC-associated data remains an underutilised resource, and may provide a fuller understanding of the anthropogenic threats facing native fauna. We analysed admissions and outcomes data from a WRC in Queensland, Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital, to determine the major factors driving admissions and morbidity of native animals in a region experiencing rapid and prolonged urban expansion. We studied 31,626 admissions of 83 different species of native birds, reptiles, amphibians, marsupials and eutherian mammals from 2006 to 2017. While marsupial admissions were highest (41.3%), admissions increased over time for all species and exhibited seasonal variation (highest in Spring to Summer), consistent with known breeding seasons. Causes for admission typically associated with human influenced activities were dominant and exhibited the highest mortality rates. Car strikes were the most common reason for admission (34.7%), with dog attacks (9.2%), entanglements (7.2%), and cat attacks (5.3%) also high. Admissions of orphaned young and overt signs of disease were significant at 24.6% and 9.7%, respectively. Mortality rates were highest following dog attacks (72.7%) and car strikes (69.1%) and lowest in orphaned animals (22.1%). Our results show that WRC databases offer rich opportunities for wildlife monitoring and provide quantification of the negative impacts of human activities on ecosystem stability and wildlife health. The imminent need for urgent, proactive conservation management to ameliorate the negative impacts of human activities on wildlife is clearly evident from our results.
Details
- Title
- The impact of human activities on Australian wildlife
- Authors
- Alyce Taylor-Brown (Author) - University of the Sunshine CoastRosie Booth (Author) - Australia Zoo Wildlife HospitalAmber Gillett (Author) - Australia Zoo Wildlife HospitalErica Mealy (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - USC Business SchoolSteven Ogbourne (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - School of Science & EngineeringAdam Polkinghorne (Author) - University of the Sunshine CoastGabriel Conroy (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - School of Science & Engineering
- Publication details
- PLoS One, Vol.14(1), e0206958; 28
- Publisher
- Public Library of Science
- Date published
- 2019
- DOI
- 10.1371/journal.pone.0206958
- ISSN
- 1932-6203
- Copyright note
- Copyright © 2019 Taylor-Brown et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
- Organisation Unit
- School of Science and Engineering - Legacy; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; School of Science, Technology and Engineering; Engage Research Lab; Centre for Bioinnovation
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99450613402621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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