Eucalypt Woodland in Cape York Peninsula as Habitat for Arboreal Marsupials: Responses of the Common Brushtail Possum

Winter, J. W. (2007) Eucalypt Woodland in Cape York Peninsula as Habitat for Arboreal Marsupials: Responses of the Common Brushtail Possum. Tree Kangaroo and Mammal Group, Atherton (121pp.).

From an analysis of surveys, anecdotal information, published literature and habitat assessments, this report concludes that the Common Brushtail Possum has not undergone a general decline throughout the Peninsula. However, the late dry season is identified as period of water stress for canopy foliage, the main source of water for the possums. The possums must then depend on ground vegetation and understorey foliage for water. So extensive fires that remove these layers from large areas may also eliminate the possums. The report recommends using fire to produce a fine scale mosiac of burnt areas and areas that have been unburnt for at least five years, in order to maximise diversity of understorey and shrub species. Broad-scale clearance of very tall eucalypt forests on aluminous laterite mined for bauxite may also locally elimanate the possum. [pdf 2.7 Mb]