Hello All,
The following article, from the SMH, details attempts to conserve the Pygmy
Possum.
Regards,
Chris Coleborn
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>From little pines big pygmy possum colonies grow
Sydney Morning Herald
By James Woodford
March 19, 2005
Scientists are recreating a bonsai-like forest on the summit of one of the
nation's highest mountains in a bid to save a highly endangered possum.
There are fewer than 400 adult pygmy possums in NSW, all living in a
minuscule area 20 kilometres long and 10 kilometres wide, north of Thredbo.
Their preferred habitat is arguably the harshest on the continent - the
highest peaks in the Australian Alps.
Climate change and development in the mountains have already reduced their
range. A stand of mountain plum pines on top of Mount Blue Cow was destroyed
when wildfires swept through Kosciuszko National Park in January 2003, and
on parts of the nearly 2000-metre peak the conifers have failed to
regenerate. This could be disastrous for the pygmy possums, because they
need the pines for shelter and food.
Analysis of the trees killed in the 2003 fires has shown that devastating
blazes have swept the high country about once every 80 years. But this time
in places they were too severely burnt to regenerate.
The Department of Environment and Conservation has taken cuttings from
surviving pines on the mountain in order to propagate 1000 of the diminutive
trees in possibly the most elevated revegetation attempt in Australia.
The State Environment Minister, Bob Debus, said: "We might not be able to
stop climate change, but we can do other things, such as this, to reduce its
impact in order to help this species."
Plum pines grow a mere two millimetres a year. Keith McDougall, who works
for the department as a threatened species officer, said they were like
natural bonsais. The tallest ones are almost 330 years old but are just tens
of centimetres high.
"We are not talking about big shrubs," Dr McDougall said. "We're not talking
about huge trees. They are a prostrate plant that may be many metres long."
Linda Broome, the scientist co-ordinating the recovery of the possums, said
the aim was to replace the plum pine in areas where they did not appear to
be regenerating naturally. "We are just helping it along," she said.
The possums eat the seeds and fruit of the pines, and the beetles,
millipedes and caterpillars that shelter on them.
It was not known how long the pines will take to produce seeds, said Dr
Broom, but "we are talking a few decades, rather than centuries".
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