Broad-toothed rat, Mastacomys fuscus (Rodentia, Muridae), found in alpine heathland in Tasmania.

Abstract

THE broad-toothed rat Mastacomys fuscus is a native, herbivorous rodent that occurs in New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. On the Australian mainland the species has been recorded in several habitats at altitudes ranging from sea level to 1800 m. In alpine and sub-alpine areas of New South Wales and Victoria it has been recorded in heathlands, open eucalypt woodlands and wet sedgelands (Calaby and Wimbush 1964; Dixon 1971; Seebeck 1971; Bubela et al. 1991). At lower altitudes in Victoria, it has been recorded in wet sclerophyll forests with a dense undergrowth, coastal heathland, coastal grassland and in a pine plantation (Seebeck 1971; Wallis et al. 1982; Warneke 1960). In Tasmania, M. fuscus has been previously recorded only in buttongrass moorlands of western Tasmania at altitudes ranging from sea level to 900 m (Finlayson 1933; Andrews 1968; Green 1968, 1984; Hocking and Guiler 1983; Driessen and Comfort 1991; Slater 1992; Driessen 1998). Buttongrass moorland (also referred to as sedgeland) is a treeless vegetation typically dominated by Gymnoschoenus sphaerocephalus (buttongrass) that covers more than a million hectares in Tasmania, predominantly in the western part of the State (Jarman et al. 1988). Buttongrass moorland is a very variable vegetation group and not all communities recognised within buttongrass moorland provide habitat for M. fuscus (Driessen and Comfort 1991; Slater 1992; Driessen 1998). The purpose of this note is to report the results of a survey for M. fuscus in alpine heathland, a habitat in which the species has not been previously recorded in Tasmania. This finding has significant implications for the conservation status of this species.