Hume Georgina, Brunton Elizabeth, Burnett Scott
University of the Sunshine Coast, 91 Sippy Downs Drive, Sippy Downs, QLD 4556, Australia.
Global-Change Ecology Research Group, School of Science and Engineering, University of the Sunshine Coast, Sippy Downs, QLD 4556, Australia.
Animals (Basel). 2019 Jul 27;9(8):494. doi: 10.3390/ani9080494.
Rapid increases in urban land use extent across the globe are creating challenges for many wildlife species. Urban landscapes present a novel environment for many species, yet our understanding of wildlife behavioural adaptations to urban environments is still poor. This study compared the vigilance behaviour of a large mammal in response to urbanisation at a landscape level. Here, we investigate urban ( = 12) and non-urban ( = 12) populations of kangaroos in two regions of Australia, and the relationship between kangaroo vigilance and urbanisation. We used a linear modelling approach to determine whether anti-predator vigilance and the number of vigilant acts performed were influenced by land use type (i.e., urban or non-urban), human population densities, kangaroo demographics, and environmental factors. Kangaroo behaviour differed between the two study regions; kangaroo vigilance was higher in urban than non-urban sites in the southern region, which also had the highest human population densities, however no effect of land use was found in the northern region. Season and sex influenced the vigilance levels across both regions, with higher levels seen in winter and female kangaroos. This study is the first to compare urban and non-urban vigilance of large mammals at a landscape level and provide novel insights into behavioural adaptations of large mammals to urban environments.
全球城市土地利用范围的迅速扩大给许多野生动物物种带来了挑战。城市景观对许多物种来说是一种全新的环境，但我们对野生动物对城市环境行为适应的了解仍然不足。本研究在景观层面比较了一种大型哺乳动物对城市化的警惕行为。在这里，我们调查了澳大利亚两个地区城市（ = 12）和非城市（ = 12）的袋鼠种群，以及袋鼠警惕性与城市化之间的关系。我们采用线性建模方法来确定反捕食警惕行为和进行的警惕行为数量是否受到土地利用类型（即城市或非城市）、人口密度、袋鼠种群统计学特征和环境因素的影响。两个研究区域的袋鼠行为有所不同；在人口密度也最高的南部地区，城市地区的袋鼠警惕性高于非城市地区，然而在北部地区未发现土地利用的影响。季节和性别影响了两个地区的警惕水平，冬季和雌性袋鼠的警惕水平更高。本研究首次在景观层面比较了大型哺乳动物的城市和非城市警惕性，并为大型哺乳动物对城市环境的行为适应提供了新的见解。
