The impact of fire on the honey possum Tarsipes rostratus in the Fitzgerald River National Park, Western Australia
In: Everaardt, Annika <https://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/view/author/Everaardt, Annika.html> (2003) The impact of fire on the honey possum Tarsipes rostratus in the Fitzgerald River National Park, Western Australia. PhD thesis, Murdoch University, 2003
Hochschulschrift
Zugriff:
The honey possum Tarsipes rostratus is a tiny (7 - 12 g) highly specialised flower-feeding marsupial endemic to the south-western corner of Australia. The impact of fire on this small mammal was studied, over a 19-year period, in the Fitzgerald River National Park, a large (330,000 ha) area of relatively undisturbed heathland/shrubland, rich in the proteaceous and myrtaceous plants upon which the honey possum appears to rely for food. The honey possum is the most abundant and widespread mammal in this Park. Capture rates of honey possums were significantly related to the years since the vegetation was last burnt, annual rainfall in the preceding (but not the current) year, the season when trapping occurred, and the trapping grid operated. Capture rates declined markedly after fire and remained low (less than one third of those in long unburnt vegetation) for about 4 - 5 years following a fire. Rates of capture then increased steadily over the next 20 - 25 years, with maximal abundance recorded about 30 years after fire. Thereafter, there appeared to be a slight decline in capture rates, but even in the vegetation unburnt for longest (> 50 years since fire), honey possum abundance was substantial and relatively stable. In contrast to these changes in abundance, the structure of the honey possum population, with 79 % adults and 57 % males, appeared little influenced by fire history, annual rainfall, season or grid. The increase in the rates of capture of honey possums following fire paralleled the pattern of availability of cover in the vertical and, to a lesser extent, horizontal plane. Indeed, projective foliage cover took around 20 years after fire to reach levels similar to those available in areas unburnt for even longer. The trend in capture rates was also congruent with the maturation of the most frequently visited foodplants of honey possums, particularly Banksia nutans (summer flowering) and B. baueri (winter flowering). Areas long unburnt still contained shelter and foodplants adequate for honey ...
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The impact of fire on the honey possum Tarsipes rostratus in the Fitzgerald River National Park, Western Australia
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Autor/in / Beteiligte Person: | Everaardt, Annika ; Wooller, Ron |
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Zeitschrift: | Everaardt, Annika <https://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/view/author/Everaardt, Annika.html> (2003) The impact of fire on the honey possum Tarsipes rostratus in the Fitzgerald River National Park, Western Australia. PhD thesis, Murdoch University, 2003 |
Veröffentlichung: | 2003 |
Medientyp: | Hochschulschrift |
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