Seasonal truffle consumption by long-nosed bandicoots ('Perameles nasuta') in a mixed rainforest-open forest community in north-eastern New South Wales

Abstract

Scats of long-nosed bandicoots ('Perameles nasuta') from north-eastern New South Wales were examined for seasonal occurrence of fungi. Fungus was detected in bandicoot diets in all seasons, but samples from autumn and winter were more likely to contain fungi, and more taxa were consumed in these seasons, compared with spring and summer. Individual scat samples also contained more spore types in autumn and winter than in spring and summer. My results support other work in temperate south-eastern Australia that indicate an autumn and winter peak in fungal availability, and a stronger focus on fungal consumption by mammals at this time of year.