Fungi as a key dietary component of Australia’s most critically endangered mammal - Gilbert’s Potoroo (Potorous gilbertii).

BOUGHER, NEALE¹, JACKIE COURTENAY², ALAN DANKS³ & INEZ TOMMERUP¹.

¹CSIRO Forestry and Forest Products, Private Bag P.O. Wembley WA 6014 AUSTRALIA, ²Edith Cowan University School of Natural Sciences, Bradford St. Mt Lawley WA 6050 AUSTRALIA. ³Department of Conservation and Land Management, 120 Albany Hwy, Albany WA 6330 AUSTRALIA.

Gilbert’s Potoroo (Potorous gilbertii) is Australia’s most critically endangered mammal. It had been last sighted in the 1870’s and was thought to be extinct until it’s rediscovery in 1994 at Two Peoples Bay Nature Reserve in Western Australia. A captive colony was established soon after to alleviate the precarious situation of only one known wild population. Management options currently underway with Gilbert’s Potoroo such as breeding programs to provide animals for translocation to new areas, require fundamental understanding of the animal’s biology. Dietary requirements are a key part of potoroo biology, and fungi are known to be a significant food source for other potoroo species in Australia. To assess mycophagy with Gilbert’s Potoroo, faecal scats from wild animal populations were examined for fungal material. A wide diversity of fungal spores were observed, including those of genera such as Hysterangium and Zelleromyces. Significant to the proposed translocation of potoroos to new areas is evidence that many of the fungi eaten by Gilbert’s Potoroo are truffle-like fungi having mycorrhizal associations particularly with N-fixing Gastrolobium bilobum shrubs in main potoroo habitats. Further studies aim to match spores from scats to fruit bodies of fungi occurring in the area so that the nutritional contribution of fruit bodies to the diet of Gilbert’s Potoroo can be assessed, and also so fungal spores may be more accurately identified.