Diggings as a Population Index for the Eastern Barred Bandicoot

• Published in: The Journal of wildlife management 1997-10, Vol.61 (4), p.1378-1383
• Main Authors: Mallick, Stephen A., Driessen, Michael M., Hocking, Gregory J.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animal populations; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Animals; Applied ecology; Biological and medical sciences; Conservation, protection and management of environment and wildlife; Depopulation; Ecological studies; Estimate reliability; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General aspects; Habitats; Land management; Marsupials; Parks, reserves, wildlife conservation. Endangered species: population survey and restocking; Pastures; Perameles gunni; Population dynamics; Population ecology; Population estimates; Population number; Population size; Wildlife management; Wildlife population studies
• ISSN: 0022-541X; 1937-2817
• DOI: 10.2307/3802141

Quick, efficient techniques for monitoring populations are vital in ecological studies. Transect methods provide one possible means of monitoring local numbers. We investigated the usefulness of the diggings of the eastern barred bandicoot (Perameles gunnii), an endangered, small-medium sized marsupial of southeastern Australia as an index of population size using a modification of the "kilometric index." Total diggings and mean transect diggings were correlated with P. gunnii numbers on 2 trapping grids in southeastern Tasmania. When grids were combined, mean transect diggings provided a reasonably accurate estimate of animal numbers. We suggest that digging counts provide a quick and efficient method for monitoring changes in local populations of P. gunnii.