TREENET Symposium Speaker:
Brian Gepp

Speaker Biography

Prior to graduating with a BSc Hons and MSc, Brian assisted with research projects on seagulls, seals and termites.  His Honours Degree focussed on the Social Behaviour of the Endemic Pearson Island Rock Wallaby, located in the Great Australian Bight.

Whilst employed by the South Australian Government’s forestry organisation, Brian completed his Masters Degree on a comparison of bird populations between different aged pine plantations and native forests in the Mount Lofty Ranges, SA.

Over a 30 year working career, he conducted research projects examining the effects of erosion, recreational impacts, the use of fire as part of habitat management. Research regarding the significance of retaining and managing sustainable cohorts of hollow-bearing trees for fauna remains a particular and ongoing interest.

Session Abstract

The long-term importance of urban fauna hollows

with Quang Vu

Many peri-urban areas in Australia have been devastated by wildfires, leading to the decline of hollow-bearing trees and, subsequently, the loss of suitable habitat for hollow-dependent species. Fauna boxes were proposed as a temporary solution and were installed as a substitute for natural tree hollows; however the visitation rate of hollow-dependent species was low. It was suspected that the nest box microclimate differed from the microclimate of natural tree hollows. To better understand the differences between fauna boxes and natural hollows, Quang’s Honours project focused on two main objectives: to investigate the internal structure of natural tree hollows and to recreate the structure of natural hollows in artificial fauna boxes to potentially encourage greater use. Temperature testing showed that the newly designed fauna boxes had better insulation and moderated their microclimate more than previous designs, which supports further application of the new design and ongoing research to investigate its potential benefit to fauna.

Browse Our Resources

To browse our extensive library of resources from this and other authors, click below.
BROWSE

TREENET acknowledges the Traditional Owners of country throughout Australia and recognises their continuing connection to land, waters and culture.
We pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging.

Scroll to Top