Ms Lisa
Cawthen
PhD student
Topic: The value of forest
remnants to Microchiropteron bats
University of
Tasmania
Bats are an important forest-dwelling species, and likely to
play a key ecological role in forest ecosystems as pollinators and
regulators of invertebrate populations. The retention of forest
remnants may be important in maintaining bat species, as forest
remnants provide crucial foraging and roosting habitat.
This project will use passive bat call surveys to compare the
use of forest remnants ranging from individual trees, clumps and
larger patches with different levels of forest productivity,
surrounding forest age and the amount of surrounding mature forest
canopy in the landscape.
Unlike previous studies, this project will explore how the
availability of forest habitat, including foraging and roosting
resources, at the landscape level, influences bats in terms of
habitat use and species assemblages. Results of this study will
greatly contribute to understanding the habitat requirements of
bats in Tasmania, and how effective our current forest management
strategies are for maintaining Australia’s bat
biodiversity.
This work follows on from Lisa’s honours work, and her
work at the Forest Practices Authority where she investigated the
use of retained forest by the Tasmanian common brushtail possum in
logged forest in south-east Tasmania. An article featuring Lisa's
work with the Forest Practices Authority features in BioBuzz
6.
As Lisa grew up in Tasmania she became really interested in
fauna management during her Bachelor of Science degree at the
University of Tasmania, where she majored in Zoology and
Geography and
Environmental studies.
Her supervisors are
Dr Sarah Munks and Dr Hamish
McCallum of the University of Tasmania.
Her project is supported by the Forest Practices Authority, the
CRC for Forestry, Forestry
Tasmania and the University of
Tasmania.
This project was part of the CRC for Forestry Biodiversity
Project (4.2) (subproject 4.2.5) on management of forest
species of high conservation significance, including threatened
species.
To browse other PhD projects available with the Biodiversity
Project,
click here.
