An increase in the use of artificial habitat structures for wildlife species under threat from habitat loss or disturbance is not without risk according to the results of a study published recently in the journal Austral Ecology.
Co-author Tenaya Duncan, a Conservation and Wildlife Biology PhD student at Western Australia’s Murdoch University, said artificial structures could be a double-edged sword unless their use was backed by sound ecological science that considered the design, construction, and positioning of the structures.
“Many of the world’s natural environments have been irreparably modified and damaged, so species have lost critical habitat components they need to survive. Increasingly conservationists and developers seek to supplement these destroyed components with artificial habitat structures that are now used in marine, freshwater and terrestrial environments,” she said.
Duncan and her fellow PhD student researchers from Deakin University and the University of Western Australia, found that unless appropriate controls were implemented artificial structures could lead to an increase in predation, as well as exposure to fatal environmental conditions, disease, the spread of invasive species, and even a decline in genetic diversity. They can also be embraced as a ‘greenwashing mechanism’ so unsustainable practices appear to be more environmentally responsible.
“While these structures can certainly have positive conservation outcomes and help the recovery of populations, they need to be carefully planned with appropriate knowledge of the critical features animals use to bask, hibernate, reproduce and take refuge from environmental stressors and predators,” she said.
In addition to the appropriate design, construction, and positioning of artificial habitat structures in the landscape the study also found it was essential that wildlife population conservation was properly supported and monitored over the long-term.
“If done badly, artificial structures may actually facilitate further impingement on natural areas and habitat destruction. Importantly we also mustn’t lose sight of the underlying threats that are causing species decline in the first place. Artificial habitats generally don’t address these underlying threats, and once destroyed, natural habitats take a long time to recover – if they’re able to recover at all,” she said.
Anne Layton-Bennett
‘The risks and rewards of using artificial habitat structures for wildlife conservation’ is available at doi.org/10.1111/aec.13376