Use of tall wooden poles by four species of gliding mammal provides further proof of concept for habitat restoration

Abstract

Tall wooden poles (glide poles) and rope canopy-bridges are frequently installed along new highways in Australia to maintain population connectivity for gliding mammals. Knowledge of the use of these structures is rudimentary. We monitored two pairs of glide poles and a canopy-bridge over three years at Port Macquarie, New South Wales. The sugar glider (Petaurus breviceps) and the squirrel glider (Petaurus norfolcensis) were collectively detected on 12-18% of nights on the pole pairs compared with 1% on the rope-bridge. The feathertail glider (Acrobates frontalis) was detected on 3% of nights on the pole pairs compared with 0.2% on the rope-bridge. The yellow-bellied glider (Petaurus australis) was detected twice on one pole. Our results demonstrate that gliding mammals readily use glide poles. Further research is needed to resolve whether glide poles can mitigate the barrier effect of the road canopy gap.