Predators, Prey & Fire in the Carlisle Heathland

Carlisle State Park (5600 hectares) is a sandy and wet heathland with perched lakes. It contains several rare fauna, including the ground parrot, and is well known for the varieties of orchids.

Mark le Pla from the Conservation Ecology Centre at Cape Otway spoke at the Geelong Field Naturalists meeting in October 2022, where he described the response of predators and prey to fire in the biodiverse heathland of Carlisle State Park. Using a combination of GPS tracking and remote-sensing camera technologies, Mark described just how hard life is for a threatened native mammals such as the Long-nosed Potoroo. Mark explained that of the 20 Potoroos exposed to fire, only 4 have survived up to 5 weeks post fire. That is a 80% mortality rate. These animals show strong resistance to move their home range after fire, so regardless of how much of their homerange has been burnt, they still try to eek out an existance after the fire. The Long-nosed Potoroo live in the dead skirt of the grass-trees which are highly flamable in a fire.

Mark’s research also investigated how predators react after a fire and found they don’t always go by the rules. GPS attached to wild cats and foxes in the Carlisle State Park reveal some foxes may come into the burn area and use it intensely while cats are more cautious as they are also prey to foxes.

This valuable research provides an insight into the strategies and types of burns that can be utilised in the future for the survival of the Long-nosed Potaroo, Southern Brown Bandicoots and Echidna in the Carlisle heathland.