OMEN
03-27-2009, 11:12 AM
A POSSUM population believed to have been wiped out by climate change is in fact clinging to survival, scientists say.
Researchers say they have discovered three living brown lemuroid ringtail possums in the Daintree National Park, on Cape York, although the Daintree possums were believed to have been killed off during a heat wave in 2005.
No white lemuroid possums - which once accounted for 40 per cent of the lemuroid possum population in the area - have been located so far.
But Associate Professor Steve Williams of James Cook University said there was no reason to believe they wouldn't have survived alongside their brown relatives.
"I don't think there is any reason to believe the white ones are harder hit than the brown ones," he said.
Lemuroid ringtail possums are found in just two locations, at the Carbine Tablelands in the Daintree and in the Atherton Tablelands, west of Cairns, though white lemuroids are extremely rare in the latter location.
Prof Williams said the Daintree possums had not been spotted since an extended heatwave in 2005, leading to the belief that they had been pushed to extinction by climate change.
He said the species could not cope with extended periods of temperatures over 27 degrees.
"Over the last 50 years, the number of days where you get that temperature has been steadily increasing, to the point that in 2005 there were 27 consecutive days where the temperature went above that threshold," he said.
"That seems to have really knocked them down."
Prof Williams said the species still hadn't been found in locations where they had been common and his research team would try to identify why they had survived in the current location.
He said the possums remained extremely vulnerable and another heatwave could wipe them out.
"I don't think they are out of danger in any shape or form. It is very clear that these heatwaves are steadily increasing," he said
NEWS AU
Researchers say they have discovered three living brown lemuroid ringtail possums in the Daintree National Park, on Cape York, although the Daintree possums were believed to have been killed off during a heat wave in 2005.
No white lemuroid possums - which once accounted for 40 per cent of the lemuroid possum population in the area - have been located so far.
But Associate Professor Steve Williams of James Cook University said there was no reason to believe they wouldn't have survived alongside their brown relatives.
"I don't think there is any reason to believe the white ones are harder hit than the brown ones," he said.
Lemuroid ringtail possums are found in just two locations, at the Carbine Tablelands in the Daintree and in the Atherton Tablelands, west of Cairns, though white lemuroids are extremely rare in the latter location.
Prof Williams said the Daintree possums had not been spotted since an extended heatwave in 2005, leading to the belief that they had been pushed to extinction by climate change.
He said the species could not cope with extended periods of temperatures over 27 degrees.
"Over the last 50 years, the number of days where you get that temperature has been steadily increasing, to the point that in 2005 there were 27 consecutive days where the temperature went above that threshold," he said.
"That seems to have really knocked them down."
Prof Williams said the species still hadn't been found in locations where they had been common and his research team would try to identify why they had survived in the current location.
He said the possums remained extremely vulnerable and another heatwave could wipe them out.
"I don't think they are out of danger in any shape or form. It is very clear that these heatwaves are steadily increasing," he said
NEWS AU