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Wombats
 
Erin Roger - PhD Student
Research Supervisors: Dr Daniel Ramp and Dr Shawn Laffan
 
My research aims to quantify the dispersion and survival of common wombats in road-impacted environments, while the focus of my research is a 40 km stretch of the Snowy Mountains Highway in Kosciuszko National Park. We have nine years of fatality information for this stretch of road, with great variability in the average number of animals killed each year. The study is Geographic Information System (GIS) based and uses locations of killed animals as well as burrow locations as base information.
 

I am looking at the spatial aspects of metapopulation dynamics, as well as population trends in light of dispersal, re-colonisation and potential limiting factors. The goals of my research are to quantify:

  • Environmental factors that affect the suitability of habitat for wombats in road impacted environments
  • Environmental factors that contribute to collisions between vehicles and wombats
  • How fatalities and other threats affect the long-term viability of populations
  • How roads, as attractive sinks, can affect common species
 
Contact Information
Tel: +61 2 9385 8276
Email: e.roger@student.unsw.edu.au

A Question of Balance interview link: http://www.aqob.com.au/details.php?p_id=296&listid=207&slistid=&menuid=category_id_19&submenuid=
 
Publications

Roger, E., S. W. Laffan, and D. Ramp. 2007. Habitat selection by the common wombat (Vombatus ursinus) in disturbed environments: Implications for the conservation of a `common' species. Biological Conservation 137:437-449.
 
Roger, E., and D. Ramp. Accepted. Incorporating habitat use in models of fauna fatalities on roads. Diversity and Distributions.
 
Ramp, D., Roger, E. In Press. Frequency of animal-vehicle collisions in New South Wales. Too Close for Comfort. Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
     

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