Installing chainsaw‐carved hollows in medium‐sized live trees increases rates of visitation by hollow‐dependent fauna

<p dir="ltr">Anthropogenic disturbance has resulted in a global reduction in the abundance of mature, hollow-bearing trees. Nest boxes have long been used to provide supplementary shelter sites in revegetated and regenerating landscapes, but limitations in their effectiveness when offsetting the loss of mature trees has led to increased interest in novel designs of artificial hollows. For example, mechanically excavating cavities into the trunk or branches of trees. However, the effectiveness of artificial hollows in attracting wildlife to visit small- or medium-sized, growing trees in human-disturbed landscapes has received little attention. In this study, we installed chainsaw hollows that were designed for small, hollow-dependent mammals and birds into the trunks of live medium-sized trees. </p><p dir="ltr">We conducted a before-after control-impact experiment using passive camera traps to monitor changes in visitations by wildlife to (1) mature hollow-bearing trees, (2) developing trees without hollows (i.e. control trees), and (3) developing trees with newly installed chainsaw hollows. </p><p dir="ltr">We found that, compared to large hollow-bearing trees and control trees, the developing trees that were selected for chainsaw hollow construction showed the greatest visitation rates by hollow-dependent wildlife (i.e. number of visits) during the “post-impact” surveys. </p><p dir="ltr">Our results suggest that chainsaw hollows designed to replicate the external physical characteristics of natural tree hollows could be effective in attracting target hollow-dependent fauna to developing trees in regenerating and revegetated landscapes. Further studies are required to compare the effectiveness of natural hollows, chainsaw hollows, and nest boxes when deployed in a range of human-disturbed landscapes.</p>