Native and non-native winter foraging resources do not explain Pteropus alecto winter roost occupancy in Queensland, Australia.

ABSTRACT: Anthropogenic land use change concurrent with introductions of non-native species alters the abundance and distribution of foraging resources for wildlife. This is particularly concerning when resource bottlenecks for wildlife are linked to spillover of infectious diseases to humans. Hendra virus is a bat-borne pathogen in eastern Australia. Spillovers align with winter food shortages for flying foxes and flying foxes foraging in agriculture or peri-urban lands, as opposed to native forests. It is believed the increased abundance and spatiotemporal reliability of non-native species planted in anthropogenically modified areas compared to native, ephemeral diet species may be a key draw for flying foxes into urban and peri-urban areas. We investigate the explanatory power of environmental fa

SUBMITTER: Baranowski K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11654838 | biostudies-literature | 2024

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature