Australasian truffle-like fungi. VII. Mesophellia (Basidiomycotina, Mesophelliaceae)

Trappe, JM; Castellano, MA; Malajczuk, N.

doi:10.1071/sb9960773

Cited by 17 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…Bettongs may use ridges to avoid dense vegetation, but there are likely to be other advantages. They are small animals (1.2 kg; Vernes 1999) with large home ranges (60 ha; Vernes & Pope 2001), and the truffles they feed upon are patchily distributed (Trappe et al . 1996a,b).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fine‐scale habitat preferences and habitat partitioning by three mycophagous mammals in tropical wet sclerophyll forest, north‐eastern Australia

Vernes

2003

Austral Ecology

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Fine-scale habitat preferences of three co-occurring mycophagous mammals were examined in a tropical wet sclerophyll forest community in north-eastern Australia. Two of the three mammal species responded to finescale variation in vegetation and landform around individual trap locations. At a broad scale, the northern bettong ( Bettongia tropica ), an endangered marsupial endemic to the Australian wet tropics region, showed a preference for ridges over mid-slopes and gullies, irrespective of forest type. In contrast, the northern brown bandicoot ( Isoodon macrourus ), a widespread marsupial, displayed a preference for Eucalyptus woodland over adjacent Allocasuarina forest, irrespective of topographic category. The giant white-tailed rat ( Uromys caudimaculatus ), a rodent endemic to the wet tropics, showed no particular preference for either forest type or topographic category. A multiple regression model of mammal capture success against three principal habitat gradients constructed from 21 habitat variables using principal component analysis indicated strong species-specific preferences for fine-scale vegetation assemblages. Bettongs preferred areas of Eucalyptus woodland with sparse ground cover, low densities of certain grass species, high density of tree stems and few pig diggings. Bandicoots, in contrast, favoured areas in both forest types with dense ground cover, fewer tree stems and greater numbers of pig diggings; that is, characteristics least favoured by bettongs. The striking differences in fine-scale habitat preferences of these two mammals of similar body size and broad habitat requirements suggest a high degree of fine-scale habitat partitioning. White-tailed rats did not show preference for any of the habitat gradients examined.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fine‐scale habitat preferences and habitat partitioning by three mycophagous mammals in tropical wet sclerophyll forest, north‐eastern Australia

Vernes

2003

Austral Ecology

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“…Adoption of area‐restricted searching on encountering suitable forage would be an appropriate strategy by which a small animal like the northern bettong could effectively exploit patchily distributed truffles, particularly if the interpatch distance is typically greater than the size of the patch being exploited (Walsh 1996). Truffles in Australian forests are distributed in a clumped fashion (Taylor 1992; Trappe et al 1992, 1996a,b; Claridge et al 1993). Discrete clusters probably range in size from 5 to 100 cm in diameter on most occasions, and the interpatch distance is likely to be considerably greater than this (J. Trappe, pers.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Each quadrat was centred on a recent bettong digging, so the amounts of fungus recovered represent biomass at bettong foraging points after a foraging event, rather than field biomass of fungus per se. Fruit‐bodies are typically distributed as discrete clusters (Trappe et al 1996a,b). To reduce the likelihood of resampling the same cluster of fruit‐bodies, we chose a minimum distance between quadrats of at least 20 m. On a broader scale, quadrat location was constrained so that equal numbers of quadrats fell within each of the three major topographic categories (gully, mid‐slope, ridge), in order to sample across the full range of topographic features.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The remainder of the diet comprises mostly subterranean vegetation such as grass roots, tubers and ground‐orchids (Johnson & McIlwee 1997; Vernes et al 2001). Truffles are typically distributed non‐randomly in the landscape as discrete clusters (Trappe et al 1996a,b), often in association with the root‐mass near the base of host trees (Claridge et al 1993). Bettongs locate clusters of truffles by olfaction (Donaldson & Stoddart 1994) and when bettongs forage for any type of subterranean food, they leave behind characteristic cup‐shaped diggings (Garkaklis et al 1998) that can be differentiated from the diggings made by other animals (Triggs 1996).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effect of fire on northern bettong (Bettongia tropica) foraging behaviour

Vernes

Haydon

2001

Austral Ecology

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An examination of movement paths, foraging patterns and habitat use of an endangered mycophagous marsupial, the northern bettong (Bettongia tropica), was undertaken in fire-prone forest in north-eastern Australia before and after experimentally induced fires. Fungal biomass remaining at bettong foraging points was similar across the study area prior to burning, but increased significantly on burnt ground during the period after fire. After burning, significantly more bettongs chose to forage in burnt habitat and those that did experienced higher probabilities of truffle recovery. Using data from spool-and-line tracking, observed movement patterns of bettongs were compared with those expected from a simple null model of animal movement (a correlated random walk). Analysis of mean-squared displacement revealed that 22% of observations fell beyond the model's 95% prediction interval. Further analysis revealed the reasons for the model's inadequacy: bettongs exhibited area-restricted search behaviour by taking significantly more frequent and more acute turns immediately prior to and following recovery of hypogeous fungi (truffles), and by taking significantly more frequent and more acute turns following any other foraging activity. In general ecological terms, the results indicate a flexible response by the northern bettong to habitat alteration and increased food availability brought about by low intensity fires.

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“…This hypothesis was based initially on the observation that the foraging activity by these animals for hypogeous fungi in a limited number of habitats may increase substantially very soon after a forest is burnt (Christensen 1980;Taylor 1991;Vernes 2000). In all cases, the fungi in question were members of the family Mesophelliaceae (Trappe et al 1992(Trappe et al , 1996a, particularly the genus Mesophellia, which is endemic to eucalypt-dominated forests and woodlands of Australia (Dell et al 1990, Trappe et al 1996b) and specific to certain kinds of habitats (Claridge et al 2000b). Mesophellia fruit-bodies have a hard, brittle outer skin or peridium, a fleshy inner peridium in which mycorrhizae of associated host trees develop, and a central core of firm to leathery tissue which is the main nutritional component sought by the animal mycophagist (Claridge and Cork 1994 -see Figure 1).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Managing habitat for mycophagous (fungus-feeding) mammals: a burning issue?

Claridge

Trappe

2004

Conservation of Australia's Forest Fauna

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In the past two decades the ecological relationships among mycophagous (fungus-feeding) mammals and their fungal food resources have been variously investigated. An unresolved issue stemming from this research is the importance of fire in creating and enhancing fungal supply for animals such as potoroos, bettongs and bandicoots. Some authors have suggested fire is a major positive influence, because it stimulates fruit-body production by fungi and is therefore necessary for mycophagous mammals to survive. However, careful review of relevant literature identifies no clear pattern in effects of fire on the wide range of hypogeous fungi eaten by mammals. Evidence of a 'co-evolutionary relationship', as some authors have implied, is also ambiguous. We are concerned that some land management agencies, which use prescribed fire for hazard reduction or silvicultural purposes, selectively use speculative data about fire effects on hypogeous fungi to further justify the fire regimes they ordinarily apply. A series of rigorous studies is necessary to better understand the effects of fire on the fruiting of hypogeous fungi and how that influences populations of mycophagous mammals.

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Australasian truffle-like fungi. VII. Mesophellia (Basidiomycotina, Mesophelliaceae)

Cited by 17 publications

References 14 publications

Fine‐scale habitat preferences and habitat partitioning by three mycophagous mammals in tropical wet sclerophyll forest, north‐eastern Australia

Fine‐scale habitat preferences and habitat partitioning by three mycophagous mammals in tropical wet sclerophyll forest, north‐eastern Australia

Effect of fire on northern bettong (Bettongia tropica) foraging behaviour

Managing habitat for mycophagous (fungus-feeding) mammals: a burning issue?

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