Developing and implementing strategies for the rehabilitation of affected and

Presently, Alcoa World Alumina and the Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) are developing and implementing techniques to rehabilitate regions of the northern jarrah forest severely affected by P. cinnamomi. These rehabilitation techniques, known as Dieback Forest Rehabilitation (DFR) embrace some of the

findings and recommendations of the present study. For example, during the present study large fallen logs were identified as important habitat components to the mardo. Current DFR techniques now ensure that large logs are no longer piled and burnt, but instead they are retained and pushed into strategically located habitat piles. Preliminary trapping surveys show that female mardo are using the log piles for nesting (unpublished report to DEC 2005). Further research and long term monitoring is required. In addition, infested areas are being rehabilitated with P. cinnamomi resistant jarrah and marri as well as other species in an attempt to recreate the vegetation structure and complexity herein identified as important to the mardo. When, present in highly impacted areas, B. sessilis is also being retained. As shown during the present study, dense patches of B. sessilis appear to have a positive influence on mardo patch occupancy.

The conservation of nesting and refuge sites is critical to many small mammal species (van der Ree et al. 2006). Xanthorrhoea preissii is highly susceptible to P. cinnamomi and was identified as a major contributing factor to the presence of mardos. In addition, mardos have been found using X. preissii for nesting (Swinburn et al. 2007). Therefore, a major recommendation from the current study is that further research be conducted to (1) understand why some X. preissii individuals remain in long term degraded areas, (2) determine if there are variations in susceptibility to P. cinnamomi among X. preissii populations and (3) evaluate the feasibility of transplanting and maintaining mature X. preissii individuals to rehabilitate severely degraded sites. Any research conducted to evaluate the transplantation of X. preissii into highly disturbed locations should include phosphite applications or other fungicides to ensure that the plants are not killed by the

5.4. Concluding remarks and management implications

Phytophthora cinnamomi has devastated many native plant communities throughout southern Australia. In Western Australia, the magnitude of the impact has encouraged 40 years of funding, research and policy both at the university and Government level in an attempt to understand the pathogen. However, until the present study, the indirect impact of P. cinnamomi on habitat quality for native fauna has been largely ignored. The present study has been the first to provide definitive evidence that P. cinnamomi is a significant threatening process to a fauna species in Western Australia. As a consequence of this evidence, it is an urgent recommendation that research is continued to further our understanding about the threat P. cinnamomi presents to other Western Australian mammal fauna. Given inevitable funding restrictions, a way forward is to identify key fauna species from different guilds and model their responses to P. cinnamomi. Until such studies have been completed, P. cinnamomi should be considered by all environmental managers and planners as a significant threatening agent to the conservation of native mammal fauna in the south-west of Western Australia.

REFERENCES

Abbott I. & Loneragan I. (1986) Ecology of jarrah (Eucalyptus marginata) in the northern Jarrah forest of Western Australia. In: Bulletin No 1. Department of Conservation and Land Management, Perth.

Armstrong K. N. & Nichols O. G. (2000) Long-term trends in avifaunal recolonisation of rehabilitated bauxite mines in the jarrah forest of south-western Australia. Forest Ecology and Management 126, 213-25.

Bell D. T. & Heddle E. M. (1989) Floristic, morphologic and vegetational diversity. In: The Jarrah forest: A complex Mediterranean ecosystem (eds B. Dell, J. J. Havel and N. Malajczuk) pp. 53-66. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, The Netherlands. Borsboom A. C. (2005) Xanthorrhoea: A review of current knowledge with a focus on X. johnsonii and X. latifolia, two Queensland protected plants-in-trade. Environmental Protection Agency, Queensland.

Braithwaite R. W. (1979) Social dominance and habitat utilization in Antechinus stuartii (Marsupialia). Australian Journal of Zoology 27, 517-28.

Burbidge A. A. & McKenzie M. L. (1989) Patterns in modern decline of Western Australia’s vertebrate fauna: causes and conservation implications. Biological Conservation 50, 143-98.

Burgman M. A. & Lindenmayer D. B. (1998) Conservation Biology for the Australian Environment. Surrey Beatty & Sons Pty Ltd, Sydney.

Burnham K. P. & Anderson D. R. (2002) Model selection and multimodel inference: a practical information-theoretic approach. Springer-Verlag, New York, New York, USA.

Cadzow B. & 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.

Cahill D. M., Wilson B. A. & Armistead R. J. (2002) Phytophthora Dieback: Assessment in the Otway National Park, Victoria. A report conducted by Deakin University for Parks Victoria, Geelong.

Carati C. J. (1982) Ecological strategies of A. flavipes leucogaster (Waterhouse 1838) in the jarrah forest (Eucalyptus marginata) of Western Australia. Honours thesis. School of Environmental and Life Sciences. Murdoch University, Perth, Western Australia.

Carter J. (2003) Vegetation attributes that influence the mardo (Antechinus flavipes leucogaster) in healthy, dieback affected and rehabilitated forest. Honours thesis. Conservation Biology, Murdoch University, Perth.

Catling P. C. & Burt R. J. (1995) Studies of the ground-dwelling mammals of Eucalypt forests in south-eastern New South Wales: the effect of habitat variables on distribution and abundance. Wildlife Research 22, 271-88.

Catling P. C., Coops N. C. & Burt R. J. (2001) The distribution and abundance of ground-dwelling mammals in relation to time since wildfire and vegetation structure in south-eastern Australia. Wildlife Research 28, 555-64.

Christensen P. E. & Kimber P. C. (1975) Effect of prescribed burning on the flora and fauna of south-west Australian forests. In: Managing Terrestrial Ecosystems (eds J. Kikkawa and H. A. Nix) pp. 85-106. Proceedings of the Ecological Society of Australia. Churchward H. M. & Dimmock G. M. (1989) The soils and landforms of the northern jarrah forest. In: The Jarrah forest: A complex Mediterranean ecosystem (eds B. Dell, J. J. Havel and N. Malajczuk) pp. 13-21. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, The Netherlands.

Clarke K. R. & Gorley R. N. (2001) Primer V5: User Manual/Tutorial. Primer-E, Plymouth.

Colquhoun I. J. & Hardy G. E. S. J. (2000) Managing the risk of Phytophthora root and collar rot during bauxite mining in the Eucalyptus marginata (jarrah) forest of Western Australia. Plant Disease 84, 116-27.

Croft D. B. (2004) Behaviour of Carnivorous marsupials. In: Predators With Pouches: The Biology of Carnivorous Marsupials (eds M. E. Jones, C. R. Dickman and M. Archer). CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood.

Crowther M. S. (2002) Distribution of species of the Antechinus stuartii - A. flavipes complex as predicted by bioclimatic models. Australian Journal of Zoology 50, 77-91. Crowther, M. S., Spencer P. B. S., Alpers D. & Dickman C. R. (2002) Taxonomic status of the mardo, Antechinus flavipes leucogaster (Marsupialia : Dasyuridae): a morphological, molecular, reproductive and bioclimatic approach. Australian Journal of Zoology 50, 627-47.

Crowther, M. S. (2008) Yellow-footed Antechinus, Antechinus flavipes (Waterhouse, 1838). In. The Mammals of Australia. Third Edition. (Eds S. V. Dyck and R. Strahan). Reed New Holland, Sydney.

Davison E. M. (1994) Role of environment in dieback of jarrah: Effects of waterlogging on jarrah and Phytophthora cinnamomi, and the infection of jarrah by P. cinnamomi. Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia 77, 123-6.

Dell B. & Malajczuk N. (1989) Jarrah dieback - A disease caused by Phytophthora cinnamomi. In: The Jarrah forest: A complex Mediterranean ecosystem (eds B. Dell, J. J. Havel and N. Malajczuk) pp. 67-87. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, The Netherlands.

Dickman C. R. (1980) Ecological studies of Antechinus stuartii and Antechinus flavipes (Marsupialia: Dasyuridae) in open-forest and woodland habitats. Australian Zoologist

Dickman C. R. (1991b) Use of trees by ground-dwelling mammals: implications for management. In: Conservation of Australia's Forest Fauna (ed D. Lunney) pp. 125-36. The Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales, Sydney.

Dickman C. R., Parnaby H. E., Crowther M. S. & King D. H. (1998) Antechinus agilis (Marsupialia: Dasyuridae), a new species from the A. stuartii complex in south-eastern Australia. Australian Journal of Zoology 46, 1-26.

Dwyer P. D., Hockings M. & Wilmer J. (1979) Mammals of Cooloola and Beerwah. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Queensland 90, 65-84.

Environment Australia (2001) Threat Abatement Plan for the Dieback Caused by the Root-rot Fungus Phytophthora cinnamomi. Biodiversity Group, Canberra.

Fox B. J. (1982) Fire and mammalian secondary succession in an Australian coastal heath. Ecology 63, 1332-41.

Fox B. J. & Monamy V. (2007) A review of habitat selection by the swamp rat, Rattus lutreolus (Rodentia: Muridae). Austral Ecology 32, 837-49.

Frazer D. S. & Petit S. (2007) Use of Xanthorrhoea semiplana (grass-trees) for refuge by Rattus fuscipes (southern bush rat). Wildlife Research 34, 379-86.

Garkaklis M. J., Calver M. C., Wilson B. A. & Hardy G. E. S. J. (2004) Habitat alteration caused by an introduced plant disease, Phytophthora cinnamomi: a potential threat to the conservation of Australian forest fauna. In: Conservation of Australia's Forest Fauna (Second Edition) (ed D. Lunney). Royal Society of New South Wales, Mosman.

Gaskin C. (2002) Fungal utilisation by mammals: The effects of Phytophthora cinnamomi degradation on mycophagy in the Darling Range, W.A. Honours thesis in: Conservation Biology, Murdoch University, Perth.

Gentilli J. (1989) Climate of the jarrah forest. In: The Jarrah forest: A complex Mediterranean ecosystem (eds B. Dell, J. J. Havel and N. Malajczuk) pp. 23-40. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, The Netherlands.

Gleeson A. (2002) The influence of soil characteristics on the spread of Phytophthora cinnamomi in the northern jarrah forest (Eucalyptus marginata) of south-western Australia. Honours thesis. University of Western Australia, Perth.

Goldingay R. L. (2000) Small dasyurid marsupials - are they effective pollinators? Australian Journal of Zoology 48, 597-606.

Hackett D. J. & Goldingay R. L. (2001) Pollination of Banksia spp. by non-flying mammals in north-eastern New South Wales. Australian Journal of Botany 49, 637-44. Havel J. J. (1975a) Site-vegetation mapping in the northern jarrah forest (Darling Range). 1. Definition of site-vegetation types. In: Forests Department Bulletin No. 86, Perth, Western Australia.

Havel J. J. (1975b) Site-vegetation mapping in the northern jarrah forest (Darling Range). 2. Location and mapping of site-vegetation types. In: Forests Department Bulletin No. 87, Perth, Western Australia.

Heddle E. M., Havel J. J. & Loneragan O. W. (1980a) Focus on the northern jarrah forest. Conservation and recreation areas. In: Forest Focus pp. 1-27. Department of Conservation, Perth.

Heddle E. M., Loneragan O. W. & Havel J. J. (1980b) Vegetation complexes of the Darling System, Western Australian. In: Atlas of natural resources, Darling System, Western Australia. Department of Conservation and Environment, Perth.

Hindmarsh R. & Majer J. D. (1977) Food requirements of mardo (Antechinus flavipes (Waterhouse) and the effect of fire on mardo abundance. In: Research Paper. Forests Department of Western Australia.

Holland G. J. & Bennett A. F. (2007) Occurrence of small mammals in a fragmented landscape: the role of vegetation heterogeneity. Wildlife Research 34, 387-97.

How R. A., Cooper N. K., Girardi L. & Bow B. G. (2002) The mardo: an examination of geographic variation in morphology and reproductive potential in Antechinus flavipes in south-western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum 20, 441-7. Jones M. E., Oakwood M., Belcher C. A., Morris K., Murray A. J., Woolley P. A., Firestone K. B., Johnson B. & Burnett S. (2004) Carnivore concerns: Problems, issues and solutions for conserving Australasia's marsupial carnivores. In: Predators with Pouches: The Biology of Carnivorous Marsupials (eds M. Jones, C. Dickman and M. Archer) pp. 422-34. CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne.

Kelly L. T. & Bennett A. F. (2008) Habitat requirements of the yellow-footed antechinus (Antechinus flavipes) in box-ironbark forest, Victoria, Australia. Wildlife Reseach, 128-33.

Kemp L. F. & 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). Surrey Beatty and Sons, Chipping Norton.

Kinnear J. E., Onus, M. L., and Bromilow, R.N. (1988) Fox control and rock wallaby population dynamics. Australian Wildlife Research 15, 435-50.

Kinnear J. E., Onus, M. L., And Summer, N. R. (1998) Fox control and rock wallaby population dynamics. Australian Wildlife Research 25, 81-8.

Kinnear P. R. & Gray C. D. (1994) SPSS for Windows Made Simple. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Hove.

Kirsch J. A. W. (1968) Burrowing by the quenda. Western Australian Naturalist 10, 178-80.

Knight E. H. & Fox B. J. (2000) Does habitat structure mediate the effects of forest fragmentation and human-induced disturbances on the abundance of Antechinus

Kroll A. J. & Haufler J. B. (2006) Development and evaluation of habitat models at multiple scales: A case study with the dusky flycatcher. Journal of Wildlife Management 71, 14-22.

Lacy R. C. (1997) Importance of genetic variation to the viability of mammalian populations. Journal of Mammalogy 78, 320-35.

Laidlaw W. S. & Wilson B. A. (1996) The home range and habitat utilisation of Cercartetus nanus (Marsupialia: Burramyidae) in coastal heathland, Anglesea, Victoria. Australian Mammalogy 19, 63-8.

Laidlaw W. S. (1997) The effects of Phytophthora cinnamomi on the flora and fauna of the Eastern Otways. Ph.D., Deakin University, Geelong.

Laidlaw W. S. & Wilson B. A. (2006) Habitat utilisation by small mammals in a coastal heathland exhibiting symptoms of Phytophthora cinnamomi infestation. Wildlife Research 33, 639-49.

Lamont B. B., Wittkulm R. & Korczynskyj D. (2004) Turner Review No. 8. Ecology and ecophysiology of grasstrees. Australian Journal of Botany, 561-82.

Lee A. K., Bradley A. J. & Braithwaite R. W. (1977) Corticosteroid levels and males mortality in Antechinus stuartii. . In: The Biology of Marsupials (eds B. Stonehouse and D. Gilmore) pp. 209-20. MacMillan, London.

Lee A. K., Woolley P. A. & Braithwaite R. W. (1982) Life history strategies of dasyurid marsupials. In: Carnivorous Marsupials (ed M. Archer) pp. 1-11. Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales, Mosman.

Lee A. K. & Cockburn A. (1985) Evolutionary Ecology of Marsupials. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Lilith M. (2002) The effect of plant disease on fauna and validation of trapping methodology in the Darling Range forest ecosystems. Honours thesis in: Conservation Biology, Murdoch University, Perth.

Lunney D. & Leary T. (1988) The impact on native mammals from land-use changes and exotic species in the Bega District, New South Wales, since settlement. Australian Journal of Ecology 13, 67-92.

Mac Nally R., Parkinson, A., Horrocks, G., Conole, L., and Tzaros, C. (2001) Relationships between terrestrial vertebrate diversity, abundance and availability of coarse woody debris on south-eastern Australian floodplains. Biological Conservation 99, 191-205.

Mac Nally R. & Horrocks G. (2002) Habitat change and restoration: responses of a forest-floor mammal species to manipulations of fallen timber in floodplain forests. Animal Biodiversity and Conservation 25, 1-12.

Mackay J. F. G. & Campbell G. S. (1973) Seasonal behaviour and properties of timber from jarrah trees killed or affected by dieback disease. Australian Forestry Research 2, 1-8.

MacKenzie D. I., Nichols J. D., Lachman G. B., Droege S., Royle J. A. & Langtimm C. A. (2002) Estimating site occupancy rates when detection probabilities are less than one. Ecology 83, 2248-55.

MacKenzie D. I., Nichols J. D., Hines J. E., Knutson M. G. & Franklin A. B. (2003) Estimating site occupancy, colonization and local extinction when a species is detected imperfectly. Ecology 84, 2200-7.

MacKenzie D. I. & Bailey L. L. (2004) Assessing the fit of site-occupancy models. Journal of Agricultural, biological, and environmental statistics 9, 300-18.

MacKenzie D. I. (2005) What are the issues with presence-absence data for wildlife managers. Journal of Wildlife Management 69, 849-60.

MacKenzie D. I. & Royle J. A. (2005) Designing occupancy studies: general advice and allocating survey effort. Journal of Applied Ecology 42, 1105-14.

MacKenzie D. I., Nichols J. D., Royle J. A., Pollock K. H., Bailey L. L. & Hines J. E. (2006) Occupancy Estimation and Modelling: Inferring patterns and dynamics of species occurrence. Elseveir, Amsterdam.

Majer J. D. (1978) Further notes on the food requirements of the mardo (Antechinus flavipes (Waterhouse). In: Research Paper 49. Forests Department of Western Australia.

Majer J. D. & Abbott I. (1989) Invertebrates of the jarrah forest. In: The Jarrah Forest: a Complex Mediterranean Ecosystem (eds B. Dell, J. J. Havel and N. Malajczuk) pp. 111-22. Kluwer, Dordrecht.

Majer J. D., Recher H. F., Heterick B. E. & Postle A. C. (2002) The canopy, bark, soil and litter invertebrate fauna of the Darling Plateau and adjacent woodland near Perth, Western Australia, with reference to the diversity of forest and woodland invertebrates. 7.

Marchesan D. & Carthew S. M. (2004) Autoecology of the yellow-footed antechinus (Antechinus flavipes) in a fragmented landscape in southern Australia. Wildlife Research 31, 273-82.

Masters P., Dickman C. R. & Crowther M. S. (2003) Effects of cover reduction on mulgara Dasycercus cristicauda (Marsupialia : Dasyuridae), rodent and invertebrate populations in central Australia: Implications for land management. Austral Ecology 28, 658-65.

Maxwell S., Burbidge A. & Morris K. (1996) The 1996 Action Plan for Australian Marsupials and Monotremes. Wildlife Australia, Canberra.

McComb B. (1994) Mapping potential habitat for vertebrates in forests of Western Australia. In: A final report. Report for the Department of Conservation and Land Management, Western Australia.

McDougall K. L. (1997) Vegetation patterns in the northern jarrah forest of Western Australia in relation to dieback history and the current distribution of Phytophthora cinnamomi. Ph.D. Murdoch University, Perth.

McDougall K. L., St J. Hardy G. E. & J. H. R. (2001) Additions to the host range of Phytophthora cinnamomi in the jarrah (Eucalyptus marginata) forest of Western Australia. Australian journal of Botany 49, 193-8.

McDougall K. L., Hardy G. E. S. J. & Hobbs R. J. (2002a) Distribution of Phytophthora cinnamomi in the northern jarrah (Eucalyptus marginata) forest of Western Australia in relation to dieback age and topography. Australian Journal of Botany 50, 107-14.

McDougall K. L., Hobbs R. J. & Hardy G. E. S. J. (2002b) Floristic and structural differences between Phytophthora infested and adjoining un-infested vegetation in the northern jarrah (Eucalyptus marginata) forest of Western Australia. Australian Journal of Botany 50, 277-88.

Menkhorst P. W. (1995) Mammals of Victoria. Oxford University Press and Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Melbourne.

Menkhorst P. & Knight F. (2001) A Field Guide to the Mammals of Australia. Oxford University Press, Oxford, U.K.

Moir M., Brennan K. E. C. & Wittkuhn R. S. (2006) Fire refugia: The mechanism governing animal survivorship in a highly flammable understorey plant. Forest Ecology and Management 234S, S166.

Monamy V. & Fox B. J. (2000) Small mammal succession is determined by vegetation density rather than time elapsed since disturbance. Austral Ecology 25, 580-7.

Morris K. D. (2000) The status and conservation of native rodents in Western Australia. Wildlife Research 27, 405-419.

Morris K., Johnson B., Orell P., Gaikhorst G., Wayne A. & Moro D. (2004) Recovery of the threatened Chuditch (Dasyurus geoffroii): A case study. In: Predators with Pouches: The Biology of Carnivorous Marsupials (eds M. E. Jones, C. R. Dickman and M. Archer). CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood.

Newell G. R. & Wilson B. A. (1993) The relationship between cinnamon fungus (Phytophthora cinnamomi) and the abundance of Antechinus stuartii (Dasyuridae : Marsupialia) in the Brisbane Ranges, Victoria. Wildlife Research 20, 251-9.

Newell G. R. (1994) The effects of Phytophthora cinnamomi on the habitat utilization of Antechinus stuartii in a Victorian forest. Ph.D. Deakin University,

Nichols O. G. & Watkins D. (1984) Bird utilization of rehabilitated bauxite minesites in Western Australia. Biological Conservation 30, 109-31.

Nichols O. G. & Bamford M. J. (1985) Reptile and frog utilisation of rehabilitated bauxite minesites and dieback-affected sites in Western Australia's jarrah Eucalyptus