Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2024L00270:body:0:p21
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2024L00270
Segment Type: other
Provision Reference: 
Character Range: 57462–60511

of individuals also persisted in unburnt linear refuges of sub-alpine woodland at Lake Mountain and Mt Bullfight (D. Harley and J. Antrobus, pers. comm.). While the pattern of recolonisation is still not fully understood, the rapid recolonisation throughout some of the severely burnt areas suggests that colonies were able to persist. Furthermore, sampling soon after the 2009 bushfires found that Leadbeater's possum were significantly less abundant in unburnt sites where fire had approached within 500–1000 m (in comparison to unburnt areas without such proximity to recently burnt areas), suggesting that the detrimental short-term impacts of fire are greater than simply the proportion of the landscape that has been burnt (Lindenmayer et al. 2013c).
Most of the core habitat requirements are consistent across the three broad habitat types in which the species occurs: montane ash forest (comprising about 96% of suitable habitat), sub-alpine (snow gum) woodland (about 4%) and lowland swamp forest (less than 1%) (Department of Environment and Primary Industries 2014a). However, there are additional specific factors characteristic of each of these habitat types, as described below.
A small number of records in 'mixed species' forests had smooth-barked eucalypt species present other than mountain ash, such as manna gum (E. viminalis) or mountain gum (E. dalrympleana) (McBride et al. 2019) which might have provided the same habitat resources, but these have mostly been close to areas of montane ash forest. Other surveys sampling marginal habitat, to reduce uncertainty in the Habitat Distribution Models, have not detected the species within these drier forest types (ARI unpublished data), and so the extent to which mixed species forest is used by Leadbeater's possum is unclear.

Implications for conservation management
    * The extent, quality and connectivity of suitable habitat is the critical factor for conservation of Leadbeater's possum, and conservation management actions should focus primarily on factors and actions that serve to increase (or most effectively reduce the rate of decline in) the current and future habitat extent, quality and connectivity.

Priority research needs to enhance management
    * Undertake further surveys in mixed species forest and lowland habitats dominated by smooth-barked eucalypts to determine how widespread the species is in these more marginal habitat types.

3.4.2             Montane ash forest habitat
The vast majority of the Leadbeater's possum population occurs in montane ash forest, dominated by mountain ash (E. regnans), alpine ash (E. delegatensis) or shining gum (E. nitens), at altitudes from 400–1,200 m above sea level (Lindenmayer 1989; Lindenmayer et al. 1989). In montane ash forest, Leadbeater's possum occurs at highest densities in multi-aged forest containing several age classes of eucalypts, including live and dead hollow-bearing trees, together with a dense midstorey of wattles (notably A. dealbata, A. obliquinervia, A. melanoxylon or A. frigescens)