<
https://theconversation.com/potoroos-digging-for-truffles-keep-their-forests-healthy-but-for-how-long-271844>
"Think truffles and you’ll probably think of France. But Australia is actually
a global hotspot for truffle-like fungi, boasting hundreds of different
species. Like culinary truffles, these truffle-like fungi produce underground
sporing bodies rather than send up mushrooms.
Living underground has its challenges. Fungi which form mushrooms above ground
can easily disperse their spores (the fungal equivalent to a plant’s seed) on
the wind. But truffle-like fungi can’t do this. Instead, they rely on native
mammals to follow their pungent smells, dig up the underground sporing body,
eat it and disperse their spores in their scat.
Many native mammals eat fungi when they are easily available, including common
brushtail possums (
Trichosurus vulpecula), swamp wallabies (
Wallabia
bicolor), bush rats (
Rattus fuscipes), and greater bilbies (
Macrotis
lagotis), but they generally don’t rely on them for a large part of their diet
in the same way as potoroos and bettongs do. Among these fungi fans, there’s
one species which stands out.
Australia’s most specialised fungi-eater is the long-footed potoroo (
Potorous
longipes), which relies on these fungi for over 90% of its diet. It’s likely
to be one of the most fungi-dependent mammals in the world. Their nocturnal
work digging up and eating fungi supports forests in southeastern Australia by
helping to maintain the fungi-tree symbiosis.
The long-footed potoroo has long been rare due to habitat loss and fox
predation. It’s been endangered for decades. Once considered more widespread,
their range is now restricted to two regions between Victoria and New South
Wales, much of which burned during the 2019-2020 megafires.
But there’s a newer threat: climate change.
In our new research, we analyse a rare long-term collection of potoroo scats.
We found that as conditions get hotter, these potoroos are eating a much
smaller range of fungi. This has significant implications for potoroo diets,
fungal dispersal, and the health of our forests."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
