Is the conservation value of small urban remnants of eucalypt forest limited by increased levels of nest predation?
Scott D. Piper A B and Carla P. Catterall A A Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Griffith University, Nathan, Qld 4111, Australia. B Corresponding author. Email: s.piper@griffith.edu.au Abstract Levels of predation on bird nests may be increased in small remnant patches compared with levels in extensive forests, owing to edge-related nest predation or mesopredator release. Previous work using artificial nests has demonstrated that increased rates of nest predation, owing mainly to avian predators, occur near edges of fragmented subtropical Australian eucalypt forests. This implies that levels of nest predation within small patches of remnant forest, which could effectively be all ‘edge’, may also be increased. We used artificial nests, deployed on the ground and 1–4 m above the ground in shrubs, to compare levels of nest predation and predator assemblages between interiors of small (10–20 ha) suburban remnant patches and extensive tracts (>400 ha) of subtropical Australian eucalypt for
