PLANTS, FUNGI AND BETTONGS - A FIRE-DEPENDENT CO-EVOLUTIONARY RELATIONSHIP

Digging activity by Bettongia gaimardi increased in small areas burnt by a low intensity fire at a site in northern Tasmania. A gap of several days occurred after the fire before digging began. Sporocarps of only one genus of mycorrhizal fungi (Mesophellia) were eaten by bettongs after the fire, in contrast to high numbers of species eaten in surrounding unburnt areas. It is hypothesized that the fire selectively stimulated the production of sporocarps by Mesophellia (a genus associated with eucalypts) rather than by simply making them more accessible or detectable. Stimulation of production of sporocarps by fire may ensure high infection rates and facilitate the uptake by eucalypts of nutrients released by the fire. These observations have important management implications.