Floristic and structural components of habitat use by the eastern pygmy-possum (Cercartetus nanus) in burnt and unburnt habitats

摘要

The eastern pygmy-possum, Cercartetus nanus (Marsupialia:nBurramyidae), inhabits a wide range of vegetation types innsouth-eastern Australia, from coastal heaths and woodlandsnthrough open and closed forests to subalpine heath and tem-nperate rainforests (Turner and Ward 1995; Tulloch 2004).nHowever, C. nanus is seldom observed or trapped in wildlifensurveys (Bowen and Goldingay 2000), and appears to benrare; in 2002 it was listed as a vulnerable species in Schedulen2 of the New South Wales Threatened Species ConservationnAct 1995. Only a few studies have investigated the ecology ofnC. nanus (e.g. Turner 1985; Laidlaw and Wilson 1996;nBladon et al. 2002), and factors limiting its distribution andnhabitat use remain poorly understood. The species appears tonbe generally more common in open woodland and heathlandnwith a dense shrub layer and an abundance of flowers (Turnern1985; Laidlaw and Wilson 1996; Tulloch 2001; Bladon et al.n2002).