A lone tree in a paddock might seem like a paltry habitat for native animals but Canberra scientists have shown how critical the trees are using an unusual method.
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Glow-in-the dark gecko trails are being used to show how vital trees are for linking native habitats across the patchwork of Australian farmland.
Conservation scientist Geoff Kay of the Australian National University's Fenner School of Environment and Society plucked the tree-dwelling marbled geckos from their perches, dusted their scaly bellies with a fluorescent powder and dropped them off at varying distances from their tree.
Using an ultraviolet light under the cover of darkness, Mr Kay and his team tracked the glowing trails left by the nocturnal reptiles as they scurried back towards their tree.
"I found that it was a really useful way to follow their fine-scale movements. We don't know anything about the movement of small animals especially in agricultural landscapes," Mr Kay said.
"For larger animals, we're able to radio track or radio collar but for very small animals it's challenging to find ways to follow their every movement in the landscape and that's very important so we can determine what impact we have in terms of the farming landscape on the conservation of these animals."
Mr Kay found when dropped 40 metres away from the tree, the lizards moved "like a bullseye" back towards it, but at 80 metres, the geckos wandered about "more aimlessly".
"This shows these trees aren't just acting as habitats, they're actually more like flagpoles are to a golfer. They're kind of motivating them or helping them navigate their way to the next patch of habitat," Mr Kay said.
The findings could have broad implications for farmland management across Australia, Mr Kay said.
"Seventy per cent of our country is covered in agricultural landscapes, it's not all national parks, there's very little amounts of pristine environments left," Mr Kay said
"Land clearing rates in Australia are nearly among the highest in the world yet biodiversity is really important to conserve so we've found that having these trees in the landscape are really vital to moving these animals around."
The researchers also found the direction in which fields were cropped also impacted the movement of the geckos.
"What I found was that when the animal was placed even just adjacent to their habitat tree, where you would assume that they might walk towards it, I found these animals were actually being railroaded by the direction the tractors had pulled, they were being forced to walk down the lines of these crops," Mr Kay said.
"Even if the tree was two or three crop rows over, they wouldn't see it, they just went the direction of the crops because it heavily influences their movement and it shows these cropping activities are really hindering efforts to connect landscapes."
Mr Kay hoped the findings of his research would inform how farmers clear and crop their land.
