1. The platypus is a cryptic mammal that inhabits freshwater streams and rivers of eastern Australia. Tracking the movements of wild platypuses has been notoriously difficult due to the animals' morphology and methodological limitations. Knowledge of fine‐scale movements and interactions among individuals remain particularly poorly understood, as do responses to changes in hydrology.
2. We tracked movements of 15 platypuses (six females, nine males) downstream of the Jindabyne Dam on the Snowy River, using externally attached acoustic transmitters (September–November 2017), to assess spatio‐temporal activity patterns among individuals and changes in movement and activity before and after an environmental flushing flow. As the study took place during the breeding season, we expected to observe overlap in area of activity among males and females, but not among males due to increased territoriality during these months. We also anticipated that a large flow event would impact their activity and foraging behaviour, possibly displacing platypuses downstream.
3. Overlaps in area of activity and temporal co‐occurrence within a pool varied among individuals, with two resident males exhibiting some spatial overlap of activity and varying temporal co‐occurrence, despite tracking during the breeding season. All six tracked females were captured in the same pool and appeared to be residents, possibly highlighting preferences for certain habitats during the breeding months.
4. We found no evidence that the movements of adult platypuses were affected by an environmental flushing flow, with no significant changes to area of activity, number of detections, or daily range of movements. However, foraging duration increased in the week after the flow, possibly associated with increased prey availability.
5. These findings suggest that territoriality between males during and after the breeding season may depend on platypus density and resource availability and that pools with high resource availability may support several breeding females.

中文翻译：

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鸭嘴兽的精细运动和相互作用，以及环境冲洗流的影响

1. 鸭嘴兽是一种隐居的哺乳动物，栖息在澳大利亚东部的淡水溪流中。由于动物的形态和方法学限制，追踪野生鸭嘴兽的运动非常困难。人们对精细运动和个体之间相互作用的知识以及对水文变化的反应知之甚少。
2. 我们使用外部连接的声发射器（2017年9月至11月）跟踪了斯诺伊河金达拜恩大坝下游15只鸭嘴兽的运动（六只雌性，九只雄性），以评估个体之间的时空活动模式以及运动和活动的变化在环境冲洗流之前和之后。由于研究是在繁殖季节进行的，我们预计会观察到雄性和雌性的活动区域重叠，但由于这几个月中领土的增加，雄性之间没有重叠。我们还预计，大流量事件会影响它们的活动和觅食行为，可能会取代鸭嘴兽向下游移动。
3. 个体内活动区域和时间共生的重叠面积因个体而异，尽管在繁殖季节进行了追踪，但两只定居的雄性在活动上存在一定的空间重叠，并且时间共现变化。所有六只被追踪的雌性都被捕获在同一个水池中，似乎是居民，这可能突出了繁殖月份对某些栖息地的偏好。
4. 我们没有发现证据表明成年鸭嘴兽的运动受环境冲洗流量的影响，活动面积，检测次数或每日运动范围均无明显变化。但是，觅食时间在水流后的一周内增加，可能与猎物的可利用性增加有关。
5. 这些发现表明，在繁殖季节期间和之后，雄性之间的地域性可能取决于鸭嘴兽的密度和资源的可利用性，而具有高资源可利用性的库可能会支持数只繁殖的雌性。