Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2023L01713:body:0:p40
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2023L01713
Segment Type: other
Provision Reference: 
Character Range: 179581–182523

2016; Kaluza 2018; Pioneer Catchment Landcare 2020). Feral pig rooting causes significant structural damage to water mouse shelters and habitat, and to natural hydrological flows (Redhead & McKean 1975; Burnham 2000).
Predation and habitat loss by feral pigs is a recognised Key Threatening Process for threatened species in Australia.
Figure 22: Pig damage to water mouse habitat (left) and a mud mound shelter (right).
Source: © Ian Gynther (Pumicestone Passage).
Cat: all areas
Predation by cats (Felis catus) may have a negative impact on the water mouse population in some locations and there is some concern that control programs for European red fox may result in increased predation pressure from cats where these two predators co-occur in water mouse habitat (Boody 2021 pers. comm.). The water mouse falls within the preferred prey size range of feral cats (Woolley et al. 2019), although feral cat predation is believed to be a minor concern in the remote Northern Territory due to a limited overlap in the ecological communities occupied by the two species (Woinarski et al. 2006; Woinarski & Burbidge 2016).
Predation by feral cats is a recognised Key Threatening Process for threatened species in Australia.

4.6                  Cropping and aquaculture
The loss and degradation of water mouse habitat in floodplains and coastal swamps is likely to have occurred in the past for the development of crop fields, e.g. sugar cane (Ovington 1978; Kaluza et al. 2016) and there are plans for Aquaculture Development Areas immediately adjacent to intertidal areas along the north and central Queensland coasts, which may restrict inland migration of water mouse habitat as sea levels rise. Aquaculture developments across the water mouse distribution have the potential to impact this species through habitat loss and altered hydrology unless adequately regulated to avoid such impacts. Land clearance, including for crops, is a recognised Key Threatening Process for threatened species in Australia.

4.7                  Coastal pollution
Industrial waste, sewage, and thermal effluent from industrial and urban developments in coastal areas are a recognised threat to the water mouse and its habitat (Van Dyck & Gynther 2012).
Chemical
The impacts of regular mosquito control (spray) programs in mangrove, saltmarsh and wetland habitats near urban areas may impact the water mouse through bioaccumulation within their crab and invertebrate prey (Van Dyck et al. 2006) and through physical damage to habitat.
Runoff from Diuron and other residual herbicides that are used during crop production can cause dieback of grey mangrove (Shearer 2004), which is a significant habitat component for the water mouse. Historical widespread use of residual herbicides may have led to the loss and degradation of water mouse habitat along the east coast of Queensland. The use of residual herbicide is now controlled, although contraindicative