ENVIRONMENT
GLIDING HIGH Australia’s iconic greater gliders were hit by devastating habitat loss after the 2019-2020 Black Summer bushfires. Here Drew Liepa – senior program officer at Greening Australia – tells AusBiz. about the Gliding to Recovery program to install 300 nest boxes across East Gippsland’s Hartland State Forest, in conjunction with Landcare Victoria, in an effort to research the little-known species and save it from extinction. INTERVIEW BY: darcy watt
Q. THE POPULATION OF GLIDERS HAS DIMINISHED BY 80 PER CENT OVER THE PAST 20 YEARS. HOW IS IT MEASURED AFTER EVENTS SUCH AS THE 2019-2020 BLACK SUMMER BUSHFIRES? It’s challenging to assess the impact on populations immediately after a natural disaster, and even now, two years after the 2019/2020 bushfires began, we still don’t know the full extent of impact of these devastating fires on greater glider populations. We do know that the fires had a significant effect on greater glider populations and their habitat in East Gippsland. Research by Deakin University also found that across Australia, almost 30 per cent of greater glider habitat was burnt in the 2019/2020 fires. Q. WHAT MAKES THE GREATER GLIDER SUCH A UNIQUE ANIMAL, AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO PROTECT THE SPECIES? Greater gliders are Australia’s largest gliding mammal. They have large fluffy ears and a long, furry prehensile tail. They can glide up to 100m in a single glide and can change direction at a 90-degree angle mid-flight. Greater gliders play significant ecological and functional roles in
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ecosystems; they are an important part of forest food webs and their disappearance or population decline risks disrupting the delicate balances that exist in the natural world. Additionally, taking action before greater gliders disappear entirely from the wild is crucial, as strategies such as captive breeding and reintroduction programs are costly conservation interventions and have increased risks of failure. Australia is home to an incredibly rich diversity of wildlife and many species are found nowhere else in the world – including greater gliders. It’s critical that we take action to protect and conserve this unique species before it is too late. Q. WILL CAMERAS BE INSTALLED IN THE GLIDER NEST BOXES TO MONITOR WHETHER THEY ARE BEING USED? The nest boxes we are installing will be monitored for occupancy (by any species, including greater gliders or sugar gliders) using a thermal monocular and thermal drone flyovers approximately two months after the boxes have been installed. Using a thermal monocular, Greening Australia has previously observed greater gliders using our nest boxes at other sites in Victoria.
The measure of success will come several years later when we survey the area (using thermal drones and on-ground surveys) to ascertain if the population is stable or has increased against baseline data. Q. DOES THEIR TENDENCY TO INHABIT SMALL, ISOLATED HOME RANGES ALSO HAVE AN IMPACT ON THE GENETIC DIVERSITY OF GREATER GLIDERS? Although there is currently little understanding about the genetic relationships between greater glider populations, there is a concern that habitat loss and fragmentation is placing the species at further risk of the effects of low genetic diversity. Greater gliders are unable to move effectively or safely through cleared land to access new habitat or other glider populations, which means that gene flow between populations – genetic exchange via breeding – can be virtually non-existent. This can create low genetic diversity in small and isolated populations. Populations with low genetic diversity can have a negative impact on population health, including by limiting the ability to adapt to environmental change and increasing the risk of extinction.
