Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2024L00270:body:0:p24
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2024L00270
Segment Type: other
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Character Range: 65545–68620

2013; Nelson et al. 2017). However, further research is required to understand the extent to which Leadbeater's possum can use such spatial variation, and if there are negative consequences from using separate foraging and nesting areas. In lowland swamp forest at Yellingbo, spatial separation between foraging habitat (within the swamp) and den trees (distributed along the swamp margins) has been observed (Harley et al. 2005). Despite these observations, it is reasonable to conclude that the best quality habitat has overlapping foraging and denning resources.
Fire impacts may be exacerbated where salvage logging (the harvesting of fire-impacted trees following bushfire) is practised, as this results in further losses of the critical resource of large hollows (Lindenmayer and Ough 2006; Likens and Lindenmayer 2012; Lindenmayer et al. 2012; Lindenmayer and Laurance 2012; Lindenmayer et al. 2015a; Lindenmayer et al. 2015b). The removal of hazardous trees following bushfires, while important for human safety, can negatively impact the quality of habitat for Leadbeater's possums by reducing the abundance of hollow-bearing trees or creating large openings and breaks in the otherwise dense vegetation structure. Reduced vegetation structure influences the ability of possums to move through continuous midstorey and canopy vegetation, and may increase the risk of predation by owls, cats and foxes due to increased edge effects or possums descending to the ground.
Habitat suitability is also related to some topographic and climate features, with highest incidence of Leadbeater's possum in forests on east and south facing slopes (Lindenmayer et al. 1990a; Lindenmayer et al. 1993c). In a separate habitat modelling study, those montane ash forests considered most likely to be currently occupied by Leadbeater's possums were characterised by lush vegetation in gullies, located in areas that have relatively low summer temperatures and high summer rainfall (Lumsden et al. 2013).

3.4.3             Decline in habitat extent, suitability and connectivity: montane ash forest
The extent, quality and connectivity of Leadbeater's possum habitat in montane ash forest is undergoing severe ongoing decline. This is a consequence of changing fire regimes, habitat loss due to historical timber harvesting, ongoing habitat fragmentation, and interactions among these factors. The extensive 1939 bushfire burnt about 85% of mountain ash forests in the Central Highlands (Burns et al. 2015), but left a landscape legacy of standing dead large hollow-bearing trees that formed suitable denning sites for Leadbeater's possum. However, the abundance of these large hollow-bearing trees has declined substantially, partly due to extensive salvage logging, subsequent bushfires and the natural decay and collapse of the remaining stags and other large old trees (Lindenmayer and Ough 2006).
Figure 4: Observed and projected changes in the average density of large hollow-bearing trees in mountain ash forests in the Central Highlands
Source: Figure derived from Lindenmayer