Fauna-habitat relationships: a basis for identifying key stand structural attributes in temperate Australian eucalypt forests and woodlands

Abstract

We review a representative sample of the literature concerning fauna-habitat relationships in temperate Australian eucalypt forests and woodlands as a basis for identifying some key stand structural attributes in these ecosystems. Our review identifies 56 studies in south-east and south-west Australia in which the presence or abundance of different fauna were significantly associated with vegetation structural attributes at the scale of a stand. The majority of these studies concern bird, arboreal mammal, and ground mammal habitat requirements, with relatively few studies addressing the habitat requirements of reptiles, invertebrates, bats or amphibians. We identify 34 key structural attributes from these 56 studies, by grouping similar attributes, and then representing each group with a single generic attribute. Relatively few of these attributes are incorporated into indices used to quantify fauna habitat. We highlight the need for a quantitative method for selecting which key attributes should form the basis for an index of structural complexity or other surrogate measure of faunal diversity.