Ecology of the Honey possum, Tarsipes rostratus, in Scott National Park, Western Australia

2007 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 25 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.D. Bradshaw ◽  
R.D. Phillips ◽  
S. Tomlinson ◽  
R. J. Holley ◽  
S. Jennings ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Plant Species ◽  
Western Australia ◽  
National Park ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Phytophthora Cinnamomi ◽  
Late Summer ◽  
Food Sources ◽  
Burnt Areas ◽  
Honey Possum ◽  
Capture Rates

The Honey possum, Tarsipes rostratus, is an obligate nectarivore, known to feed on plant species from only three Families in south-western Western Australia: Myrtaceae, Proteaceae and Epacridaceae. These plants can be adversely affected by fire, decreased rainfall or groundwater levels and the pathogen Phytophthora cinnamomi. We investigated the ecology of T. rostratus in terms of: (i) how the population fluctuated in response to rainfall and fire over a 20-year period and (ii) changes in diet and movements during a period of decreased food availability in late summer. Mean capture rates were significantly positively correlated with mean flowering rates of Banksia ilicifolia over a 20-year period. Winter capture rates were also significantly positively correlated with both annual and winter rainfall two years prior to trapping in recently burnt areas, but not in long unburnt� areas. Capture rates were significantly higher in unburnt Banksia woodland during winter but densities there have declined since 1996, associated with the death of many Banksia ilicifolia trees from persistent Phytophthora infection. Notwithstanding this decline, winter capture rates in the unburnt areas were still approximately double those in the burnt areas 6 years after the last fire. Short-term capture rates were negatively correlated with barometric pressure, showing that movement and foraging is stimulated by the passage of low pressure frontal weather systems. Despite the paucity of known food sources flowering in late summer and autumn, there was no evidence of T. rostratus using plant species from other than the three above-noted Families. Utilisation areas in summer were also no larger than those previously recorded across all seasons in Scott National Park. Some individuals, however, moved extensive distances to locate spatially restricted food sources. The conservatism of their diet and the sensitivity of the population to changes in rainfall and fire history indicate that T. rostratus populations are particularly vulnerable to some of the environmental changes now occurring in south-western Australia.

scholarly journals The plant pathogen Phytophthora cinnamomi influences habitat use by the obligate nectarivore honey possum (Tarsipes rostratus)

2016 ◽  
Vol 64 (2) ◽  
pp. 122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shannon J. Dundas ◽  
Giles E. St J. Hardy ◽  
Patricia A. Fleming
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Use ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Plant Pathogens ◽  
Phytophthora Cinnamomi ◽  
Habitat Preferences ◽  
Flowering Plant ◽  
Food Sources ◽  
Vegetation Communities ◽  
Vegetation Surveys ◽  
Honey Possum

Introduced plant pathogens can devastate susceptible plant communities, and consequently impact on animal communities reliant on plants for food and habitat. Specifically, plant pathogens change the floristic diversity of vegetation communities, thereby reducing availability of food sources for fauna (e.g. pollen and nectar) and result in major changes to habitat structure when canopy and understorey plant species succumb to disease. Phytophthora cinnamomi poses a threat to flowering plant species (e.g. Banksia species) which are important food sources for nectarivorous fauna. The honey possum (Tarsipes rostratus) is the only obligate nectarivorous non-flying mammal living on a restrictive diet of nectar and pollen; consequently, these tiny mammals are likely to be particularly vulnerable to the landscape-wide devastation caused by P. cinnamomi. We investigated habitat selection by honey possums in a vegetation community infested with P. cinnamomi to determine how these mammals respond to habitat affected by this pathogen. Over four seasons, 18 honey possums were fitted with radio-transmitters and tracked to identify habitat preferences. Vegetation surveys were compared for locations selected by honey possums (as determined from tracking) and randomly selected sites. Radio-tracking revealed that sites selected by honey possums were significantly taller, denser, and more floristically diverse than their paired random locations. The presence of P. cinnamomi influences habitat use by honey possums, but animals show resilience in terms of using the best of what is available in both P. cinnamomi–affected and unaffected locations. Habitat patches comprising less susceptible species, or plants that have yet to succumb to infection, provide refuge and food resources for honey possums. Management to reduce the spread of existing P. cinnamomi infestations and prevent contamination of new locations will benefit vegetation communities and associated faunal communities, while identifying honey possum food plant species that are resilient to the pathogen may support revegetation attempts.

Susceptibility of Plant Species in Banksia Woodlands on the Swan Coastal Plain, Western Australia, to Infection by Phytophthora cinnamomi

1996 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 433 ◽  
Author(s):  
BL Shearer ◽  
M Dillon
Keyword(s):  
Plant Species ◽  
Western Australia ◽  
Coastal Plain ◽  
Phytophthora Cinnamomi ◽  
Number Of Species ◽  
Swan Coastal Plain ◽  
Adjacent Soil ◽  
Cross Tabulation

Estimates of the susceptibility of plant species in Banksia woodland to Phytophthora cinnamomi Rands were obtained by determining the incidence of plant death and frequency of isolation of the pathogen, among species occurring in 46 disease centres on the Swan Coastal Plain south of Perth, Western Australia. In the disease centres, dicotyledons outnumbered monocotyledons. About half of all species occurring in the disease centres were from four families of dicotyledons, with the largest number of species from the Myrtaceae, Proteaceae and Papilionaceae. The greatest number of species of monocotyledons were from the Anthericaceae and Cyperaceae. No deaths were recorded for 47% of species found in three or more disease centres. These species were mainly from the Cyperaceae, Haemodoraceae, Myrtaceae and Papilionaceae. The species that tended to die frequently in disease centres were mainly from the Papilionaceae, Proteaceae, Epacridaceae, Xanthorrhoeaceae and the Zamiaceae. Phytophthora cinnamomi was isolated from 26 of the 95 species occurring in three or more disease centres. For most species, the frequency of isolation of P. cinnamomi from recently dead plants was much less than the frequency of dead plants sampled. Isolation from plants was less frequent than from adjacent soil. The pathogen was isolated from recently dead plants or soil mainly for species of the Proteaceae, Myrtaceae, Papilionaceae, Dasypogonaceae, Iridaceae and Xanthorrhoeaceae. Cross-tabulation of species by incidence of plant death and isolation of P. cinnamomi from plant and soil, provided the opportunity to classify the response of plant species to infection by P. cinnamomi.

Quantification of the susceptibility of the native flora of the South-West Botanical Province, Western Australia, to Phytophthora cinnamomi

2004 ◽  
Vol 52 (4) ◽  
pp. 435 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. L. Shearer ◽  
C. E. Crane ◽  
A. Cochrane
Keyword(s):  
Western Australia ◽  
National Park ◽  
Phytophthora Cinnamomi ◽  
Natural Environments ◽  
The South ◽  
Irreversible Damage ◽  
Eucalyptus Marginata ◽  
Native Flora ◽  
South West ◽  
Wide Range

This study compares, for the first time, variation in estimates of susceptibility of native flora to Phytophthora cinnamomi Rands among four databases and proposes an estimate of the proportion of the flora of the South-West Botanical Province of Western Australia that is susceptible to the pathogen. Estimates of the susceptibility of south-western native flora to P. cinnamomi infection were obtained from databases for Banksia woodland of the Swan Coastal Plain, jarrah (Eucalyptus marginata Donn. ex Smith) forest, the Stirling Range National Park and Rare and Threatened Flora of Western Australia. For the woodland, forest and national park databases, hosts were naturally infected in uncontrolled diverse natural environments. In contrast, threatened flora were artificially inoculated in a shadehouse environment. Considerable variation occurred within taxonomic units, making occurrence within family and genus poor predictors of species susceptibility. Identification of intra-specific resistance suggests that P. cinnamomi could be having a strong selection pressure on some threatened flora at infested sites and the populations could shift to more resistant types. Similar estimates of the proportion of species susceptible to P. cinnamomi among the databases from the wide range of environments suggests that a realistic estimate of species susceptibility to P. cinnamomi infection in the south-western region has been obtained. The mean of 40% susceptible and 14% highly susceptible equates to 2284 and 800 species of the 5710 described plant species in the South-West Botanical Province susceptible and highly susceptible to P. cinnamomi, respectively. Such estimates are important for determining the cost of disease to conservation values and for prioritising disease importance and research priorities. P. cinnamomi in south-western Australia is an unparalleled example of an introduced pathogen with a wide host range causing immense irreversible damage to unique, diverse but mainly susceptible plant communities.

Phytophthora cinnamomi invasion, a major threatening process to conservation of flora diversity in the South-west Botanical Province of Western Australia

2007 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
pp. 225 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. L. Shearer ◽  
C. E. Crane ◽  
S. Barrett ◽  
A. Cochrane
Keyword(s):  
Plant Species ◽  
Plant Communities ◽  
Western Australia ◽  
Phytophthora Cinnamomi ◽  
Ex Situ ◽  
Effective Control ◽  
Susceptible Plant ◽  
The South ◽  
South West ◽  
Indirect Impacts

The invasive soilborne plant pathogen Phytophthora cinnamomi Rands is a major threatening process in the South-west Botanical Province of Western Australia, an internationally recognised biodiversity hotspot. Comparatively recent introduction of P. cinnamomi into native plant communities of the South-west Botanical Province of Western Australia since the early 1900s has caused great irreversible damage and altered successional change to a wide range of unique, diverse and mainly susceptible plant communities. The cost of P. cinnamomi infestation to community values is illustrated by examination of direct (mortality curves, changes in vegetation cover) and indirect impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem dynamics, the proportion of Threatened Ecological Communities infested, Declared Rare Flora either directly or indirectly threatened by infestation and estimates of the proportion of the native flora of the South-west Botanical Province susceptible to the pathogen. While direct impacts of P. cinnamomi have been poorly documented in the South-west Botanical Province, even less attention has been given to indirect impact where destruction of the habitat by the pathogen affects taxa not directly affected by infection. Current poor understanding and quantification of indirect impacts of P. cinnamomi through habitat destruction results in an underestimation of the true impact of the pathogen on the flora of the South-west Botanical Province. Considerable variation of susceptibility to P. cinnamomi among and within families of threatened flora and responses of taxa within the genus Lambertia show how classification within family and genus are poor predictors of species susceptibility. Within apparently susceptible plant species, individuals are resistant to P. cinnamomi infection. Intra-specific variation in susceptibility can be utilised in the long-term management of threatened flora populations and needs to be a high research priority. Current control strategies for conservation of flora threatened by P. cinnamomi integrate hygiene and ex situ conservation with disease control using fungicide. Application of the fungicide phosphite has proven effective in slowing progress of P. cinnamomi in infested, threatened communities. However, variation in plant species responses to phosphite application is a major factor influencing effective control of P. cinnamomi in native communities. A greater understanding of the mechanisms of action of phosphite in plant species showing different responses to the fungicide may provide options for prescription modification to increase phosphite effectiveness in a range of plant species. The range of responses to P. cinnamomi infection and phosphite application described for Lambertia taxa suggests that the genus would make an ideal model system to elucidate the mechanisms of resistance to P. cinnamomi and the effectiveness of phosphite against the pathogen.

The influence of annual rainfall upon capture rates of a nectar-dependent marsupial

1998 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 165 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. D. Wooller ◽  
K. C. Richardson ◽  
C. A. M. Garavanta ◽  
V. M. Saffer ◽  
C. Anthony ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Western Australia ◽  
Water Availability ◽  
South Coast ◽  
Annual Rainfall ◽  
The South ◽  
Honey Possum ◽  
Capture Rates

The capture rates of honey possums, Tarsipes rostratus, on the south coast of Western Australia were significantly related to annual rainfall in the preceding year. It is suggested that numbers of the short-lived and aseasonally breeding honey possum fluctuate in relation to nectar levels, which vary with cumulative water availability.

scholarly journals Time since fire and average fire interval are the best predictors of Phytophthora cinnamomi activity in heathlands of south-western Australia

2014 ◽  
Vol 62 (7) ◽  
pp. 587 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole Moore ◽  
Sarah Barrett ◽  
Kay Howard ◽  
Michael D. Craig ◽  
Barbara Bowen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Plant Species ◽  
Western Australia ◽  
Phytophthora Cinnamomi ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Plant Diseases ◽  
Interactive Effects ◽  
Management Tool ◽  
Ecological Communities ◽  
Native Plant ◽  
Native Plant Species

Fires are features of ecological communities in much of Australia; however, very little is still known about the potential impact of fire on plant diseases in the natural environment. Phytophthora cinnamomi is an introduced soil-borne plant pathogen with a wide host range, affecting a large proportion of native plant species in Australia and other regions of the world, but its interaction with fire is poorly understood. An investigation of the effects of fire on P. cinnamomi activity was undertaken in the Stirling Range National Park of south-western Australia, where fire is used as a management tool to reduce the negative impact of wildfires and more than 60% of the park is infested with, and 48% of woody plant species are known to be susceptible to, P. cinnamomi. At eight sites confirmed to be infested with P. cinnamomi, the proportion of dead and dying susceptible species was used as a proxy for P. cinnamomi activity. Subset modelling was used to determine the interactive effects of latest fire interval, average fire interval, soil water-holding capacity and pH on P. cinnamomi activity. It was found that the latest and average fire interval were the variables that best explained the variation in the percentage of dead and dying susceptible species among sites, indicating that fire in P. cinnamomi-infested communities has the potential to increase both the severity and extent of disease in native plant communities.

The long-term ability of phosphite to control Phytophthora cinnamomi in two native plant communities of Western Australia

2001 ◽  
Vol 49 (6) ◽  
pp. 761 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. M. Tynan ◽  
C. J. Wilkinson ◽  
J. M. Holmes ◽  
B. Dell ◽  
I. J. Colquhoun ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Plant Species ◽  
Plant Communities ◽  
Western Australia ◽  
Foliar Application ◽  
Phytophthora Cinnamomi ◽  
Native Plant ◽  
In Planta ◽  
Eucalyptus Marginata ◽  
Application Rates ◽  
The Impact

This study examined the ability of foliar applications of the fungicide phosphite to contain colonisation of Phytophthora cinnamomi in a range of plant species growing in natural plant communities in the northern sandplain and jarrah (Eucalyptus marginata) forest of south-western Australia. Wound inoculation of plant stems with P. cinnamomi was used to determine the efficacy of phosphite over time after application. Colonisation by P. cinnamomi was reduced for 5–24 months after phosphite was applied, depending on the concentration of phosphite used, plant species treated and the time of phosphite application. Plant species within and between plant communities varied considerably in their ability to take up and retain phosphite in inoculated stems and in the in planta concentrations of phosphite required to contain P. cinnamomi. As spray application rates of phosphite increased from 5 to 20 g L–1, stem tissue concentrations increased, as did the ability of a plant species to contain P. cinnamomi. However, at application rates of phosphite above 5 g L–1 phytotoxicity symptoms were obvious in most species, with some plants being killed. So, despite 10 and 20 g L–1 of phosphite being more effective and persistent in controlling P. cinnamomi, these rates are not recommended for application to the plant species studied. The results of this study indicate that foliar application of phosphite has considerable potential in reducing the impact of P. cinnamomi in native plant communities in the short-term. However, in order to maintain adequate control, phosphite should be sprayed every 6–12 months, depending on the species and/or plant community.

Ability of phosphite applied in a glasshouse trial to control Phytophthora cinnamomi in five plant species native to Western Australia

2001 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 343 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. J. Wilkinson ◽  
J. M. Holmes ◽  
K. M. Tynan ◽  
I. J. Colquhoun ◽  
J. A. McComb ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Plant Species ◽  
Western Australia ◽  
Phytophthora Cinnamomi
Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document