Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2023L01713:body:0:p38
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2023L01713
Segment Type: other
Provision Reference: 
Character Range: 174426–177290

is a previously unrecognised vulnerability of mangrove communities (Duke et al. 2017; 2022) and the water mouse to climate change. Dieback of seaward fringing mangroves from 'drowning' during La Niña conditions (Duke et al. 2022) may also impact the water mouse through increased exposure to wave and wind action.
Mangrove dieback in the upper tidal zone, potentially due to pig activity, has been recorded from Muralag/Prince of Wales Island in the Torres Strait (Fell et al. 2019), and mangrove dieback due to Phytophthora spp. infection has been recorded in the Normanby River area of Princess Charlotte Bay in far north Queensland, in the Northern Territory, and possibly also in the Gladstone area of the central Queensland coast (Weste et al. 1982).

4.4                  Prolonged and extreme inundation
The upper mangrove zone where the water mouse occurs is generally protected from intense wave action caused by cyclones and storms, and the water mouse appears to be well adapted to infrequent and temporary inundation from flood and storm surge in southeast Queensland (Van Dyck 1994; Kaluza 2013; Kaluza 2021 pers. comm.). However, the tropical coast from Mackay to Broome – excluding the islands of the Torres Strait – is subject to intense cyclones (Bureau of Meteorology Cyclone Tracks) that can cause damaging storm surges well above the highest astronomical tide (e.g. Yasi: Queensland Government 2012) and extreme wet season floods that can inundate vast areas of the lower catchments for long periods of time (Warfe et al. 2011). Damaging cyclones and east coast lows, and extreme seasonal floods, are anticipated to increase in frequency as climate change progresses (Knutson et al. 2010, 2020; Parker et al. 2018; Tabari 2020).
Prolonged, frequent and/or extreme inundation of water mouse habitat in is likely to result in high rates of mortality with localised declines and extirpations. The resilience of the water mouse to prolonged and extreme inundation events, and its capacity to disperse and recolonise impacted areas, is unknown.
Figure 20: A water mouse on top of its mud shelter during a flood caused by an east coast low and high tide.
Source: © Janina Kaluza (Great Sandy Strait in 2015).

4.5                  Introduced predators

European red fox: central and southern Queensland coast
The introduced European red fox (Vulpes vulpes) – a rodent predator (Stobo-Wilson et al. 2021) – is a primary threat to the water mouse in areas where the distributions of these two species overlap i.e. along the central and southern Queensland coast including on K'gari/Fraser Island, Minjerribah/North Stradbroke Island and Bribie Island. Foxes are an emerging threat on K'gari/Fraser Island and South Stradbroke Island, where they established as recently as 2012 and 2013 respectively (Allen et al. 2017). Fox density is highest in areas