Habitat preferences need to be understood if species are to be adequately managed or conserved. Habitat preferences are presumed to reflect requirements for food, shelter and breeding, as well as interactions with predators and competitors. However, one or more of these requirements may dominate. Tree‐cavity‐dependent wildlife species are one example where shelter or breeding site requirements may dominate. We installed 120 nest boxes across 40 sites to target the vulnerable Brush‐tailed Phascogale (Phascogale tapoatafa ) and the non‐threatened Sugar Glider (Petaurus breviceps ). The provision of shelter sites where few of quality are available may enable better resolution of habitat preferences. Over three years, we observed the Brush‐tailed Phascogale at 17 sites, whereas the Sugar Glider was observed at 39 sites. We tested four broad hypotheses (H1–H4) relating to habitat that may influence occupancy by these species. There was no influence of hollow (cavity) abundance (H1) on either species suggesting our nest boxes had satisfied their shelter requirements. There was no influence of habitat structure (canopy and tree proximity) (H2) immediately around the nest box trees. We found no influence of distance to the forest edge (H3). Variables at and away from the nest box site that appear to reflect foraging substrates (H4) were influential on the Brush‐tailed Phascogale. Sugar Glider occupancy was only influenced by a single variable at the nest box site. The lack of influence of any other variables is consistent with the very high occupancy observed, suggesting most of the forest habitat is suitable when shelter sites are available. We found no evidence that the Sugar Glider reduced site use by the Brush‐tailed Phascogale.

中文翻译：

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巢箱揭示了盒式铁皮森林中树栖哺乳动物的栖息地偏好

如果要对物种进行适当的管理或保护，则需要了解生境的偏好。栖息地的偏爱被认为反映了对食物，住房和繁殖的需求，以及与掠食者和竞争者的相互作用。但是，这些要求中的一项或多项可能占主导地位。依赖树洞的野生动植物物种就是其中一个主要的庇护所或繁殖场所需求的例子。我们在40个地点安装了120个巢箱，以针对易受伤害的刷尾Phascogale（Phascogale tapoatafa）和不受威胁的Sugar Glider（Petaurus breviceps））。在质量极差的地方提供避难所可能会更好地解决栖息地的偏爱。三年来，我们在17个地点观察到了刷尾的Phascogale，而在39个地点观察到了Sugar Glider。我们测试了与栖息地有关的四个广义假说（H1-H4），这些假说可能影响这些物种的占有率。没有空洞（空）丰度（H1）对这两个物种的影响，表明我们的巢箱已满足其庇护所的要求。巢箱树周围没有栖息地结构（树冠和树木接近度）（H2）的影响。我们发现距离到森林边缘（H3）没有影响。巢箱部位和远离巢箱部位的变量似乎反映了觅食基质（H4），对刷尾Phascogale有影响。Sugar Glider的占用率仅受巢箱位置的单个变量影响。缺少其他任何变量的影响与观测到的占用率很高相吻合，这表明当有庇护所时，大多数森林栖息地都是合适的。我们没有发现证据表明Sugar Glider减少了刷尾Phascogale的现场使用。