Options
Title
Truffle consumption by New Guinea forest wallabies
Fields of Research (FoR) 2008:
Author(s)
Lebel, Teresa
Publication Date
2011
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2008
Abstract
Although the fungal diet of Australian mammals, including macropodids (kangaroos and wallabies), is reasonably well understood, no work has been done on mycophagy among New Guinea mammals. We examined stomach samples from the black forest wallaby, 'Dorcopsis atrata' (one sample), greater forest wallaby, 'Dorcopsis hageni' (two samples), lesser forest wallaby, 'Dorcopsulus vanheurni' (five samples), and the dusky pademelon, 'Thylogale brunii' (one sample), for the presence of spores of epigeous (mushroom-like) and hypogeous (truffle-like) macrofungi. All wallaby species were found to have consumed a range of fungal taxa as part of their diet, including those taxa that form symbiotic relationships with forest trees and produce truffle-like fruit-bodies. This is the first record of truffle consumption of fungi by mammals in New Guinea. Our work suggests that forest wallabies are important dispersers of fungi, and may play a significant role in maintaining mycorrhizal communities and healthy forest ecosystems in New Guinea.
Publication Type
Journal Article
Source of Publication
Fungal Ecology, 4(4), p. 270-276
Publisher
Elsevier Ltd
Place of Publication
United Kingdom
ISSN
1878-0083
1754-5048
Peer Reviewed
Yes
HERDC Category Description
Peer Reviewed
Yes
Statistics to Oct 2018:
Visitors: 150<br />Views: 149<br />Downloads: 0
Permanent link to this record