Media Release (11 April 2008)
Installation of Nesting Boxes
Students from the School of Applied Sciences and Engineering at the
Gippsland campus will get hands-on experience monitoring the nesting
habits of local wildlife thanks to a unique collaboration with Facilities
and Services.
In the past few weeks staff from Facilities and Services have installed
48 nesting boxes in various wooded areas.
The boxes have been specifically designed to suit various bird and
mammal species such as bats, bush-tailed and ring-tailed possums, sugar
gliders, owls, lorikeets, rosellas, large parrots and smaller birds such
as pardalotes.
The students will establish records of the use of the nesting boxes.
A purpose built inspection camera will help with the monitoring.
Senior Lecturer in Biological and Environmental Sciences Dr Wendy Wright
said many native Australian birds and mammals were dependant on hollows
in trees for shelter and for rearing their young.
"Unlike the woodpeckers of Europe and America, our native animals
do not create their own hollows," Dr Wright said.
"Instead, the hollows form naturally as trees age and are exposed
to extremes of temperature, wetting and drying cycles, wind, fire
and lightning.
"However, hollows take time to form and so they only really
occur in older trees. This means that recently revegetated areas, even
those designed for conservation of biodiversity, are often lacking
in this important resource for wildlife."
Dr Wright said the joint project was a great opportunity for students
in the Environmental Management program to be involved in a long-term
ecological monitoring project.
"This is a collaborative project between an academic unit and
Facilities and Services and will allow students to get hands-on experience," Dr
Wright said.
"While nesting boxes are no substitute for old growth vegetation,
it's great to see some provision being made for wildlife on our regional
campus."
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