“Individual roosts have distinguishable seasonal patterns of abundance and occupation.” & “Intra- and inter-annual variations in abundance can be extreme” &“Roost abundance peaks in March”
Prior studies reported inconsistent patterns in occupancy and abundance (Table 2). In out dataset, seasonal patterns in abundance and density were roost specific (Figure 9). Some roosts showed patterns consistent with the general notion that total roost abundance peaks towards March (Nelson 1965b; State of NSW and Office of Environment and Heritage 2018) (e.g. ‘Redcliffe’, ‘Canungra’ and ‘Clunes’). Others showed no considerable fluctuation in abundance (‘Burleigh’) or peaks at other times (‘Toowoomba’, ‘Sunnybank’, ‘Avondale’, ‘Lismore’) (Figure 9). The latter cases potentially highlight that population dynamics are more strongly driven by local dynamics in these roosts (e.g. food availability) (Parry-Jones & Augee 1992; Eby et al. 1999; Parry‐Jones & Augee 2001; Giles et al. 2016), than reproductive cycles as described in Nelson (1965b). Little red flying-foxes showed seasonal trends in occupancy and density, peaking in February-March (Appendix S2). Seasonal trends in grey-headed and black flying-fox numbers were less consistent between roost sites (Appendix S2).

Discussion

The success of efforts to conserve Pteropodid bats across their distribution relies on effective population and habitat management. Pivotal to this is a baseline understanding of species ecology and behaviour, which is currently lacking for the majority of these species (Fujita & Tuttle 1991; Mickleburgh, Hutson & Racey 2002). Here we provide a synthesis on all existing literature, as well as an unprecedented empirical dataset, to meet that need for Australian species of Pteropus . We highlight that many existing beliefs on which conservation and management decisions are based, are unsupported or outdated, and suggest that management plans should be updated to incorporate improved knowledge. Most importantly, we highlight that a one-size-fits-all approach to roost management will be inappropriate, given the extent of variation between sites even within a regional area. Roost management guidelines need to be changed to promote a more tailored approach that requires preliminary data acquisition before management plans are formulated and approved.