Ecological Research

, Volume 25, Issue 3, pp 579–589 | Cite as

Floral nectar sugar composition and flowering phenology of the food plants used by the western pygmy possum, Cercartetus concinnus, at Innes National Park, South Australia

  • Damian S. Morrant
  • Sophie Petit
  • Russell Schumann
Original Article
First Online:
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Accepted:

Abstract

The western pygmy possum (Cercartetus concinnus) is a small nocturnal marsupial that relies primarily on the nectar and pollen of myrtaceous species at Innes National Park and may occasionally also ingest invertebrates. This study confirmed plant utilization by C. concinnus using scat samples and pollen swabs, and investigated the flowering phenology of dietary plants to determine resource availability. We compared nectar composition between day and night and analyzed nectar sugar production for dietary species. Pollen swabs and scats suggested that C. concinnus relied primarily on the nectar and pollen of Kingscote mallee, Eucalyptus rugosa (76.8% of grains counted in combined scat samples) at Innes National Park, when available; only one of 30 scat samples contained numerous moth scales. The nectars of the species investigated showed marked differences in their composition, but only Melaleuca gibbosa and M. halmaturorum sugar composition changed between day and night. The nectar sugar ratio of E. rugosa differed from those of most other species investigated. C. concinnus may select this plant’s flowers because its nectar is relatively high in hexose sugars. Although E. diversifolia was abundant, its flowers were mostly ignored by possums, perhaps because the nectar in these flowers was proportionately much richer in sucrose than other species’. E. rugosa’s flowering index (calculated from flower load and canopy size) was greatest in December. Six of the seven eucalypt species flowered between November and April; for half of the year pygmy possums must find other resources.

Keywords

Diet Flowering phenology Nectar Pygmy possum Sugar ratio 
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Notes

Acknowledgments

We thank I. Ametov for her assistance in the laboratory, J. Slocombe, R. Aebi, and D. Carver, for their help with obtaining equipment, H. West for help with finances, M. O’Leary for help with eucalypt identification, and P. Rismiller, R. Sharrad, and two anonymous persons for reviewing the manuscript. Thanks also to the volunteers who helped with this research and the great staff of Innes. This work was supported by a National Geographic Society Research and Exploration Grant (8070-06 to S.P. with A. Sharp, and collaboration of R.S., and D.M.); the Nature Foundation of South Australia (grant to S.P.); the Field Naturalists Society of South Australia (Lirabenda Endowment Fund Research Grant to D.M.); the Department for Environment and Heritage (South Australia; Northern and Yorke Region; to S.P.); the University of South Australia (UniSA) (travel); the UniSA Division of Information Technology, Engineering and the Environment (Seed Funding to S.P. and R.S., Scholarship to Promising Undergraduate Student D.M.); and the LHDV Honours fund of the School of Natural and Built Environments (D.M.). The animal ethics permit number from the IMVS was 105/06; the DEH permit number was S24841.

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Copyright information

© The Ecological Society of Japan 2010

Authors and Affiliations

  • Damian S. Morrant
    • 1
  • Sophie Petit
    • 1
  • Russell Schumann
    • 2
  1. 1.Sustainable Environments Research Group, School of Natural and Built EnvironmentsUniversity of South AustraliaMawson LakesAustralia
  2. 2.Levay & Co. Environmental Services, Ian Wark Research InstituteUniversity of South AustraliaMawson LakesAustralia

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