Habitat fragmentation changes landscape patterns and can disrupt many important ecological processes. Movement allows individuals to find resource patches to maintain their fitness and habitat fragmentation can disrupt this process. We explored the ecological impact of habitat fragmentation on movement and space use of a specialist folivore, the koala Phascolarctos cinereus. We GPS tracked koala movements within a fragmented agricultural landscape. We calculated the total distance moved across four months and the number of core patches by each koala. We used four metrics (proximity, functional connectivity, clumpiness, perimeter‐to‐area fractal dimension) to quantify landscape fragmentation within koala home ranges and determine its effects on movement and space use. Functional connectivity had the greatest effect on individual movement and space use. Decreasing connectivity led to longer and more direct movements by koalas and more core patches within an individual home range. Our study provides insight into the effects of habitat fragmentation on animal movement and space use, which can be used by wildlife managers to plan and manage landscapes more effectively. We conclude that restoring or protecting resource patches to promote greater functional connectivity will reduce the costs associated with the isolation of resource patches for species occupying fragmented landscapes. By providing a quantitative relationship between habitat connectivity and movement and space use costs, our results enable managers to set restoration targets, by identifying the most effective way to provide the functional connectivity minimizing the negative impact on focal species.

Arboreal folivores are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of extreme climate change-driven heatwaves and droughts as they rely on leaf moisture to maintain hydration. During these increasingly frequent and intense weather events, leaf water content may not be enough to meet their moisture requirements, potentially leading to large-scale mortality due to dehydration. Water supplementation could be critical for the conservation of these animals. We tested artificial water stations for a threatened arboreal folivore, the koala (Phascolarctos cinereus), as a potential mitigation measure during hot and dry weather in New South Wales, Australia. We provided ground and tree drinkers to koalas and investigated changes in use with season, environmental conditions and foliar moisture. Our study provides first evidence of the regular use of free water by koalas. Koalas used supplemented water extensively throughout the year, even during cooler months. Time spent drinking varied with season and depended on days since last rain and temperature. The more days without rain, the more time koalas spent drinking. When temperature was high, visits to water stations were more frequent, indicating that in hot weather koalas need regular access to free water. Our results suggest that future changes in rainfall regimes and temperature in Australia have the potential to critically affect koala populations. Our conclusions can be applied to many other arboreal folivorous mammals worldwide which rely on leaves for their nutritional and water requirements. Artificial water stations may facilitate the resilience of vulnerable arboreal folivores during heat and drought events and may help mitigate the effects of climate change.

Herbivores live in a landscape of fear and must incorporate danger in their foraging decisions, balancing their need of food and safety using a variety of cues to assess the risk of predation. These cues can either be direct (i.e. signalling the possible presence of a predator) or indirect (i.e. linked to the likelihood of encountering a predator). How then do herbivores negotiate these multiple cues in the landscape? And which type of cues do foraging herbivores use to assess variation in predation risk? We examined these questions by investigating the foraging responses of a free‐ranging marsupial herbivore, the common brushtail possum Trichosurus vulpecula to perceived predation risk. We found that indirect habitat‐related cues of predation (i.e. feeder location) consistently influenced foraging, while other more variable indirect (i.e. illumination) and direct cues (i.e. predator odour) did not. Giving‐up‐density at above‐ground feeders was always lower than at on‐ground feeders. Possums spent more time and foraged more at the above‐ground feeders than at the on‐ground feeders. Our results demonstrate that when multiple cues are present, varying in the accuracy of the information they provide about predation risk, possums respond to habitat‐related cues. Possums manage risk by modifying behaviours, reducing time spent foraging in areas where potential risk is perceived as high. Thus, when the location of a predator at a certain point in time and space is unknown, and food demands are high, habitat‐related cues are a safe choice to assess predation risk, with reliable returns for free‐ranging herbivores.