Hot climate, hot koalas: the role of weather, behaviour and disease on thermoregulation.

Thermoregulation is critical for endotherms living in hot, dry conditions, and maintaining optimal core body temperature () in a changing climate is an increasingly challenging task for mammals. Koalas () have evolved physiological and behavioural strategies to maintain homeostasis and regulate their but are thought to be vulnerable to prolonged heat. We investigated how weather, behaviour and disease influence for wild, free-living koalas during summer in north-west New South Wales.

Novel typing scheme reveals emergence and genetic diversity of Chlamydia pecorum at the local management scale across two koala populations.

To overcome shortcomings in discriminating Chlamydia pecorum strains infecting the koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) at the local level, we developed a novel genotyping scheme for this pathogen to inform koala management at a fine-scale subpopulation level. We applied this scheme to two geographically distinct koala populations in New South Wales, Australia: the Liverpool Plains and the Southern Highlands to South-west Sydney (SHSWS). Our method provides greater resolution than traditional multi-locus sequence typing, and can be used to monitor strain emergence, movement, and divergence across a range of fragmented habitats.

Genetic markers of Chlamydia pecorum virulence in ruminants support short term host-pathogen evolutionary relationships in the koala, Phascolarctos cinereus.

In ruminants infected with Chlamydia pecorum, shorter lengths of coding tandem repeats (CTR) within two genes, the inclusion membrane protein (incA) and Type III secretor protein (ORF663), have been previously associated with pathogenic outcomes. In other chlamydial species, the presence of a chlamydial plasmid has been linked to heightened virulence, and the plasmid is not ubiquitous in C. pecorum across the koala's range.

Efficacy of a synthetic peptide Chlamydia pecorum major outer membrane protein vaccine in a wild koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) population.

Chlamydiosis is a significant disease affecting Eastern Australian koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) populations, impacting individual animal welfare and fecundity and therefore influencing population dynamics. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of a synthetic peptide vaccine based on 4 components of the Chlamydia pecorum major outer membrane protein (MOMP), over an 18-month period in a koala population severely impacted by chlamydiosis. Wild koalas were recruited into a vaccination or a placebo treatment group on a random allocation, then followed through a period of 18 months, with recapture at 6 monthly intervals.

Shower thoughts: why scientists should spend more time in the rain.

Stormwater is a vital resource and dynamic driver of terrestrial ecosystem processes. However, processes controlling interactions during and shortly after storms are often poorly seen and poorly sensed when direct observations are substituted with technological ones. We discuss how human observations complement technological ones and the benefits of scientists spending more time in the storm.

Patch quality and habitat fragmentation shape the foraging patterns of a specialist folivore.

Research on use of foraging patches has focused on why herbivores visit or quit patches, yet little is known about visits to patches over time. Food quality, as reflected by higher nutritional quality and lower plant defenses, and physical patch characteristics, which offer protection from predators and weather, affect patch use and hence should influence their revisitation. Due to the potentially high costs of moving between patches, fragmented habitats are predicted to complicate foraging decisions of many animals.

Validation of an Enzyme Immunoassay to Measure Faecal Glucocorticoid Metabolites in Common Brushtail Possums () to Evaluate Responses to Rehabilitation.

Volunteer wildlife rehabilitators rescue and rehabilitate thousands of native animals every year in Australia. However, there is little known about how exposure to novel stimuli during rehabilitation could affect the physiology of wildlife. We investigated this question in a species that commonly enters rehabilitation, the common brushtail possum ().

A Possible Link between the Environment and Nasal Colonisation in Koalas () in the Liverpool Plains, New South Wales.

Cryptococcosis caused by yeasts of the species complex is an increasingly important mycological disease in humans and other mammals. In Australia, cases of -related cryptococcosis are more prevalent in the koala () compared to humans and other animals, likely due to the close association that both and koalas have with species. This provides a cogent opportunity to investigate the epidemiology of spontaneous infections in a free-living mammalian host, thereby offering insights into similar infections in humans.

Needing a drink: Rainfall and temperature drive the use of free water by a threatened arboreal folivore.

Arboreal folivores are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of extreme climate change-driven heatwaves and droughts as they rely on leaf moisture to maintain hydration. During these increasingly frequent and intense weather events, leaf water content may not be enough to meet their moisture requirements, potentially leading to large-scale mortality due to dehydration. Water supplementation could be critical for the conservation of these animals.

Prevalence of cryptococcal antigenemia and nasal colonization in a free-ranging koala population.

Cryptococcosis, caused by environmental fungi in the Cryptococcus neoformans and Cryptococcus gattii species complexes, affects a variety of hosts, including koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus). Cryptococcal antigenemia and nasal colonization are well characterized in captive koalas, but free-ranging populations have not been studied systematically. Free-ranging koalas (181) from the Liverpool Plains region of New South Wales, Australia, were tested for cryptococcal antigenemia (lateral flow immunoassay) and nasal colonization (bird seed agar culture).

Visit, consume and quit: Patch quality affects the three stages of foraging.

Foraging is a three-stage process during which animals visit patches, consume food and quit. Foraging theory exploring relative patch quality has mostly focused on patch use and quitting decisions, ignoring the first crucial step for any forager: finding food. Yet, the decision to visit a patch is just as important as the decision to quit, as quitting theories can only be used if animals visit patches in the first place.

Effects of historically familiar and novel predator odors on the physiology of an introduced prey.

Predator odors can elicit fear responses in prey and predator odor recognition is generally associated with physiological responses. Prey species are often more likely to respond to the odor of familiar rather than alien predators. However, predator naïvety in an introduced prey species has rarely been investigated.

Personality affects the foraging response of a mammalian herbivore to the dual costs of food and fear.

Predators attack and plants defend, so herbivores face the dilemma of how to eat enough without being eaten. But do differences in the personality of herbivores affect the foraging choices of individuals? We explored the ecological impact of personality in a generalist herbivore, the brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula). After quantifying personality traits in wild individuals brought temporarily into captivity, we tested how these traits altered foraging by individuals when free-ranging in their natural habitat.