Diet of the western pygmy possum, Cercartetus concinnus Gould (Marsupialia: Burramyidae), at Innes National Park, South Australia, and evaluation of diet sampling methods

Australian Journal of Zoology

Volumn 55, Issue 5, 2007, Pages 275-284

  Pestell, Angela J L ^a,b   Petit, Sophie ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA   (Australia)

^b Department for Environment and Heritage ^*  (Australia)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

DIET; EVERGREEN TREE; FECES; HERB; MARSUPIAL; MOTH; PALYNOLOGY; PHENOLOGY;

AUSTRALASIA; AUSTRALIA; INNES NATIONAL PARK; SOUTH AUSTRALIA;

ANIMALIA; BURRAMYIDAE; CERCARTETUS CONCINNUS; EUCALYPTUS; LEPIDOPTERA; MELALEUCA; METATHERIA;

EID: 39049166198     PISSN: 0004959X     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1071/ZO07037     Document Type: Article

References (46)

1. Australian National University (undated). 'Indo-Pacific pollen database'. Available at: http://pollen.anu.edu.au/pollensearch.phtml [Verified 23 August 2005]
2. Beattie, A. J. (1971). A technique for the study of insect-borne pollen. The Pan-Pacific Entomologist 47, 82.
3. Birtchnell, M. J., and Gibson, M. (2006). Long-term flowering patterns of melliferous Eucalyptus (Myrtaceae) species. Australian Journal of Botany 54, 745-754. doi:10.1071/BT05160
4. Cadzow, B., and Carthew, S. M. (2004). The importance of two species of Banksia in the diet of the western pygmy-possum Cercartetus concinnus and the little pygmy-possum, Cercartetus lepidus in South Australia. In 'The Biology of Possums and Gliders'. (Eds R. L. Goldingay and S. M. Jackson.) pp. 246-253 (Surrey Beatty: Sydney.)
5. Carthew, S. M., and Goldingay, R. L. (1997). Non-flying mammals as pollinators. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 12, 104-108. doi:10.1016/S0169-5347(96)10067-7
6. Cross, J., and West, J. (2002). Dodonaea - the hop bush. Australian Plants online, Association of Societies for Growing Australian Plants. Available at: www.farrier.riv.csu.edu/ASGAP/APOL27/sep02-1.html [Verified 26 October 2005]
7. Department for Environment and Heritage (2003). Innes National Park Management Plan. Government of South Australia, Adelaide.
8. Dobson, M., Goldingay, R. L., and Sharpe, D. J. (2005). Feeding behaviour of the squirrel glider in remnant habitat in Brisbane. Australian Mammalogy 27, 27-35.
9. Firth, R. S. C., Jefferys, E., Woinarski, J. C. Z., and Noske, R. A. (2005). The diet of the brush-tailed rabbit-rat (Conilurus penicillatus) from the monsoonal tropics of the Northern Territory Australian Wildlife Research 32, 517-523. doi:10.1071/WR04127
10. Gartrell, B. D., and Jones, S. M. (2001). Eucalyptus pollen grain emptying by two Australian nectarivorous psittacines. Journal of Avian Biology 32, 224-230. doi:10.1111/j.0908-8857.2001.320304.x
11. Goldingay, R. L. (2000). Small dasyurid marsupials - are they effective pollinators? Australian Journal of Zoology 48, 597-606. doi:10.1071/ZO00015
12. Goldingay, R. L., and Kavanagh, R. P. (1995). Foraging behaviour and habitat use of the feathered glider (Acrobates pygmaeus) at Waratah Creek, New South Wales. Wildlife Research 22, 457-469. doi:10.1071/WR9950457
13. Goldingay, R. L., Carthew, S. M., and Whelan, R. J. (1987). Transfer of Banksia spinulosa pollen by mammals: implications for pollination. Australian Journal of Zoology 35, 319-325. doi:10.1071/ZO9870319
14. Hall, S. (1980). The diets of two coexisting species of Antechinus (Marsupialia: Dasyuridae). Australian Wildlife Research 7, 365-378. doi:10.1071/WR9800365
15. Hart, R. K., Calver, M. C., and Dickman, C. R. (2002). The index of relative importance: an alternative approach to reducing bias in descriptive studies of animal diets. Wildlife Research 29, 415-421. doi:10.1071/WR02009
16. Heinze, D., Broome, L., and Mansergh, I. (2004). review of the ecology and conservation of the mountain pygmy possum Burramys parvus. In 'The Biology of Australian Possums and Gliders'. (Eds R. L. Goldingay and S. M. Jackson.) pp. 254-267. (Surrey Beatty: Sydney.)
17. Hopf, F., Shimeld, P., and Pearson, S. (2005). The Newcastle Pollen Collection. Ver. 3.03. Available at: http://www.aqua.org.au/AQUA/Pollen/search. htm [Verified 23 August 2005]
18. Horner, B. (1994). The importance of Banksia marginata and Banksia ornata as a food source for Cercartetus concinnus (the western pygmypossum) and Cercartetus lepidus (the little pygmy-possum). B.App.Sc.(Honours) Thesis, University of Adelaide.
19. Hume, I. D. (2004). Diets and digestive strategies of possums and gliders. In 'The Biology of Australian Possums and Gliders'. (Eds R. L. Goldingay and S. M. Jackson.) pp. 199-206. (Surrey Beatty: Sydney.)
20. Kavanagh, R. P. (1987). Forest phenology and its effects on foraging behaviour and selection of habitat by the yellow-bellied glider, Petaurus australis Shaw. Australian Wildlife Research 14, 371-384. doi:10.1071/WR9870371
21. Keiper, P., and Johnson, C. N. (2004). Diet and habitat preference of the Cape York short-nosed bandicoot (Isoodon obesulus peninsulae) in north-east Queensland. Wildlife Research 31, 259-265. doi:10.1071/WR02030
22. Kemp, L. F., and Carthew, S. M. (2004). Nest site selection by the western pygmy-possum Cercartetus concinnus. In 'The Biology of Australian Possums and Gliders'. (Eds R. L. Goldingay and S. M. Jackson.) pp. 237-245. (Surrey Beatty: Sydney.)
23. Law, B. (2001). The diet of the common blossom bat (Syconycteris australis) in upland tropical rainforest and the importance of riparian areas. Wildlife Research 28, 619-626. doi:10.1071/WR00058
24. Law, B., Mackowski, C., Schoer, L., and Tweedie, T. (2000). Flowering phenology of myrtaceous trees and their relation to climatic, environmental and disturbance variables in northern New South Wales. Austral Ecology 25, 160-178. doi:10.1046/j.1442-9993.2000.01009.x
25. Mansergh, I., Baxter, B., Scotts, D., Brady, T., and Jolley, D. (1990). Diet of Burramys parvus (Marsupialia: Burramyidae) and other small mammals in the alpine environment at Mt Higginbotham, Victoria. Australian Mammalogy 13, 167-177.
26. McConchie, C. A., Hough, T., Singh, M. B., and Knox, R. B. (1986). Pollen presentation on petal combs in the geoflorous heath Acrotriche serrulata (Epacridaceae). Annals of Botany 57, 155-164.
27. Misso, G. E. (1997). Nesting sites and habitat of the western pygmy-possum Cercartetus concinnus. B.App.Sc.(Honours) Thesis, University of Adelaide.
28. Pestell, A. J. L. (2005). Patterns of capture, genetic structure, and diet of western pygmy possums, Cercartetus concinnus Gould (Marsupialia: Burramyidae), in Innes National Park, South Australia. B.App.Sc.(Honours) Thesis, University of South Australia, Adelaide.
29. Pestell, A. J. L., and Petit, S. (2007). Methods and ethical considerations of pitfall trapping for the western pygmy possum (Cercartetus concinnus Gould) (Marsupialia: Burramyidae), with observations on capture patterns and nest sites. Wildlife Research 34, 296-305.
30. Petit, S. (1997). The diet and reproductive schedules of Leptonycteris curasoae curasoae and Glossophaga longirostris elongata (Chiroptera: Glossophaginae) on Curaçao. Biotropica 29, 214-223. doi:10.1111/j.1744-7429.1997.tb00026.x
31. Petit, S. (2001). The reproductive phenology of three sympatric species of columnar cacti on Curaçao. Journal of Arid Environments 49, 521-531. doi:10.1006/jare.2001.0801
32. Saffer, V. M. (1998). comparison of foodplant utilisation by nectar-feeding marsupials and birds in the Fitzgerald River National Park, Western Australia. Ph.D. Thesis, Murdoch University, Perth.
33. Scarff, F. R., Rhind, S. G., and Bradley, J. S. (1998). Diet and foraging behaviour of brush-tailed phascogales (Phascogale tapoatafa) in the jarrah forest of south-western Australia. Wildlife Research 25, 511-526. doi:10.1071/WR98007
34. Siegel, S., and Castellan, N. J., Jr (1988). 'Nonparametric Statistics for the Behavioural Sciences'. (McGraw-Hill: New York.)
35. Smith, A. P., and Broome, L. S. (1992). The effects of season, sex, and habitat on the diet of the mountain pygmy-possum (Burramys parvus). Wildlife Research 19, 755-768. doi:10.1071/WR9920755
36. SPSS Inc (2005). 'SPSS 14.0. SPSS Incorporated.' (SPSS Inc.: Chicago, IL.)
37. Strahan, R. (Ed.) (1995). 'The Mammals of Australia.' (Reed Books: Sydney.)
38. Thomas, D. W. (1988). Analysis of diets of plant-visiting bats. In 'Ecological and Behavioural Methods for the Study of Bats'. (Ed. T. H. Kunz.) pp. 211-220. (Smithsonian Institute Press: Washington, DC.)
39. Tulloch, A. (2004). The importance of food and shelter for habitat use and conservation of the burramyids in Australia. In 'The Biology of Australian Possums and Gliders'. (Eds R. L. Goldingay and S. M. Jackson.) pp. 268-284. (Surrey Beatty: Sydney.)
40. Turner, V. (1984). Eucalyptus pollen in the diet of the feathertail glider, Acrobates pygmaeus (Marsupialia: Burramyidae). Australian Wildlife Research 11, 77-81. doi:10.1071/WR9840077
41. van Tets, I. G., and Hulbert, A. J. (1999). A comparison of the nitrogen requirements of the eastern pygmy possum, Cercartetus nanus, on a pollen and on a mealworm diet. Physiological and Biochemical Zoology 72, 127-137. doi:10.1086/316649
42. van Tets, I. G., Hutchings, K., and Nicolson, S. W. (2000). Relative merits of using purified proteins and natural foods in studies of wildlife nutrition: the nitrogen requirements of a rodent pollinator. African Zoology 35, 207-215.
43. Wakefield, N. A. (1963). The Australian pigmy possums. Victorian Naturalist 80, 99-116.
44. Wooller, R. D., Richardson, K. C., and Bradley, G. O. (1999). Dietary constraints upon reproduction in an obligate pollen- and nectar-feeding marsupial, the honey possum (Tarsipes rostratus). Journal of Zoology 248, 279-287. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.1999.tb01028.x
45. Wooller, R. D., Russell, E. M., and Renfree, M. B. (1983a). Technical note: a technique for sampling pollen carried by vertebrates. Australian Wildlife Research 10, 433-434. doi:10.1071/WR9830433
46. Wooller, R. D., Russell, E. M., Renfree, M. B., and Towers, P. A. (1983b). A comparison of seasonal changes in the pollen loads of nectarivorous marsupials and birds. Australian Wildlife Research 10, 311-317. doi:10.1071/WR9830311