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Common Dunnart (Sminthopsis murina)

The Common Dunnart is a small, nocturnal, ground-dwelling marsupial of dry forests, open woodlands, mallee and heathland in eastern and southern Australia. It can occur on development sites where native ground cover, logs, rocks and connected dry forest remain, and it is Vulnerable in Victoria despite being widespread nationally.

Conservation status

Victoria, Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988: Vulnerable.

Breeding season

The following pattern combines the recorded August to March breeding season with Victorian observations of young, winter torpor and post-fire movement. Timing can vary between regions, so field programs should confirm local activity.

Before clearing, confirm local records and habitat condition, and avoid disturbing nests or artificial cover during the breeding and dependent-young period where practicable.

  • Breeding: Breeding begins in August or September. Males become aggressive and females attract mates with 'chit' calls. Breeding continues into March in the broader species account, but the strongest documented Victorian activity is August to October.
  • Young: Young are pouch dependent during the breeding period, remain dependent for about 60 to 65 days and are weaned around December in temperate Nillumbik observations. Juveniles reach adult size at about 150 days.
  • Movement and dispersal: The species is not migratory. It may move nomadically between suitable patches and can colonise areas after fire, with local densities reported to increase about 2 to 4 years after burning. Individuals can forage across several hectares each night.
  • Torpor and reduced activity: Surface activity may reduce during cold weather. Torpor and use of daytime burrows or hollow logs have been recorded during autumn and winter, especially when temperatures are low or prey is less available.
  • Highest clearing risk: Risk is highest from August to December, when breeding, pouch young and dependent young may be present. Autumn and winter clearing can also disturb torpid animals in burrows, hollow logs and ground refuges.

Identification

The Common Dunnart is a very small, mouse-sized dasyurid with a pointed muzzle, large rounded ears and a thin, lightly haired tail. Identification in the field can be difficult, particularly where it overlaps with the White-footed Dunnart.

Fur is light brown, mouse-grey or grey above, often darker on the head and neck, with pale or white underparts and feet. The eyes are large and may show a dark ring. The tail is pinkish-grey, lightly haired and about the same length as the head and body.

Head and body: 6.4 to 12 cm.

Tail: 6.8 to 9.2 cm in the Victorian field guide, and 6.8 to 9.2 cm for females or 7.9 to 9 cm for males in the taxonomic account.

Weight: Males 16 to 28 g and females 10 to 22 g in the taxonomic account; the Australian Museum gives maximum weights of 40 g for males and 25 g for females.

Identification: Separating similar species

The White-footed Dunnart is the most important field confusion species. Close examination of the underside of the hind feet is normally required. The Common Dunnart has unfused, granular interdigital pads that are rarely striated, whereas the White-footed Dunnart has striations on the foot pads. The Common Dunnart also has a shorter muzzle and a flatter distinction between the forehead and muzzle than the White-footed Dunnart.

A House Mouse has a longer, almost naked tail with obvious scale rings, lacks the Common Dunnart's deep ear notch and has a distinctive musty odour. An Agile Antechinus is generally larger and darker, and lacks the Common Dunnart's eye ring.

  • Do not rely on camera images alone where Common and White-footed Dunnarts may overlap.
  • Use an appropriately licensed ecologist or fauna handler to examine the hind-foot pads if species confirmation is required.

Identification: Field signs

Day nests are cup-shaped structures made from dried grass and leaves. They have been recorded in hollow logs, grass clumps and rock crevices, and nests under artificial cover may be about 70 to 110 mm wide.

Females attract males with a series of 'chit' calls. The supplied documents do not provide validated diagnostic descriptions of tracks, scats or eyeshine, so these signs should not be used alone for identification.

  • Treat a small cup-shaped nest in dense grass, a log hollow or a rock crevice as a potential dunnart refuge.
  • Record calls, nests and refuge locations, but confirm species from a captured animal or suitable diagnostic evidence where required.

Distribution: National range

The Common Dunnart has a broad but patchy distribution across eastern and southern Australia. Records and range descriptions in the supplied material extend from northern Queensland through New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia.

The documented range extends from Cooktown in Queensland south through New South Wales, inland to near Adelaide, and across western and central Victoria. The taxonomic account describes the nominate form as occurring in eastern and south-eastern Australia, including eastern Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and eastern and south-eastern South Australia.

The species is associated mainly with dry forest, open woodland, mallee and heath. It is generally replaced by the White-footed Dunnart in similar coastal Victorian habitats and is absent from high-elevation closed forests in northern Queensland.

  • Queensland: eastern Queensland, including the Cooktown area, with the nominate form also recorded in eastern Queensland and Fraser Island in the taxonomic account.
  • New South Wales: eastern and southern areas, including coastal and inland dry forest, woodland and heath.
  • Victoria: mainly northern and western parts of the state, with records in Nillumbik, Christmas Hills, Kinglake and other dry forest areas.
  • South Australia: eastern and south-eastern areas, including Peppermint Box Woodland in the Burra Hills and areas near the eastern ranges of the Mid North.

Distribution: Known concentrations and subpopulations

The supplied documents do not define national strongholds or estimate the total population. Records indicate patchy local populations, including sites in the Burra Hills, Nillumbik, Christmas Hills, Kinglake National Park and other dry forest areas of Victoria.

In a New South Wales study, density reached approximately 3 to 7 individuals per hectare after wildfire. Another account reports densities of up to 6 individuals per hectare in areas burned 2 to 4 years earlier. These are local study results, not a national population estimate.

National population: Not estimated in the supplied documents.

Local post-fire density: Up to approximately 6 individuals per hectare in some areas 2 to 4 years after fire; another study recorded a peak of approximately 3 to 7 individuals per hectare.

Trend: The species is considered Least Concern globally, but local declines and possible population reductions are reported in Victoria. It is listed as Vulnerable in Victoria.

Distribution: Development survey context

A regional record is not evidence that the species is present on a particular site. Populations can be difficult to detect, occur at low density and use several daytime refuges. Failure to detect the species during a survey does not demonstrate absence.

  • Treat connected dry forest, open woodland, mallee or heath with dense grass, logs, rocks or low shrub cover as potential habitat.
  • Where habitat is suitable, use more than one survey method because Common Dunnarts are less frequently detected in Elliott traps than some other small mammals.

Habitat: Habitat types

Common Dunnarts use dry, structurally varied habitats with open shrub cover and a well-developed ground layer. Habitat structure, shelter and protection from predators appear to be more important than the identity of individual plant species.

The species occurs most commonly in dry sclerophyll forest, open forest, woodland, mallee heath and dry heathland. It can also use transitional habitat near rainforest, although it is absent from high-elevation closed forests in northern Queensland.

In southern Victoria it occupies open, grassy and heathy dry forest with low understorey cover. In Nillumbik, records are associated mainly with Grassy Dry Forest on clay loams along ridges and north or west-facing slopes, although records also occur in Heathy Dry Forest and Wet Forest.

Elevation limit: No numerical elevation limit is given. The species is absent from high-elevation closed forests in northern Queensland.

Typical climate and structure: Dry, open habitats with low shrub cover and a dense grass or ground layer.

Habitat: Vegetation communities

Recorded or suitable Victorian vegetation includes Grassy Dry Forest and Heathy Dry Forest, with Red Box, Red Stringybark, Long-leafed Box, Messmate or Candlebark overstorey and grasses such as Red-anther Wallaby Grass and Poa species.

The species has also been recorded in Peppermint Box Grassy Woodland in the Burra Hills, where it may enter the ecological community from adjoining drier mallee vegetation.

Habitat: Structural features

In Nillumbik, occupied habitat has been associated with shrub cover of less than 20 percent and grass cover greater than 50 percent. Logs, embedded rocks, rock crevices and complex ground structure provide cover and reduce exposure to predators.

Retain unburnt patches, fallen logs, grass clumps, litter and embedded rocks during site preparation. Removing these features can reduce both shelter and the invertebrate prey layer.

  • Map and retain connected patches of dense grass, logs, rock crevices and low shrub cover before clearing.
  • Avoid treating all apparently open ground as unsuitable habitat, because the species may use structurally complex microhabitats within otherwise sparse vegetation.
  • Where habitat is fragmented, retain links to nearby unburnt or regenerating dry forest and heath.

Foraging habitat: Diet and prey

The Common Dunnart is a nocturnal insectivore that searches through ground cover and litter for invertebrates. It can forage across several hectares in a night and may use different parts of a site as prey availability changes.

Documented prey includes beetles, scarabs, cockroaches, cricket larvae, moths, other insect larvae and spiders. The species is opportunistic and can consume a wide range of arthropods available at the time.

In spring and summer, studies recorded greater use of scarabs, beetles, cockroaches, moths and larvae. In autumn and winter, spiders became more important, with other arthropods also taken.

Diet: Mainly terrestrial invertebrates, especially beetles, cockroaches, cricket larvae, moths, other larvae and spiders.

Seasonal prey pattern: Beetles, cockroaches, moths and larvae are prominent in spring and summer; spiders become more prominent in autumn and winter.

Foraging habitat: Foraging habitat and range

Foraging occurs at night through grass, litter, low vegetation, fallen timber, rock margins and other ground cover. In a telemetry study, individuals foraged across several hectares each night and maintained several daytime refuge sites.

Ground cover supports both the dunnart and its prey. Fire or clearing that removes litter, bark, twigs and grass can reduce invertebrate availability in the short term and expose animals to predators.

Nightly foraging area: Several hectares, based on one telemetry study.

  • Retain dense grass, leaf litter, fallen bark, logs and embedded rocks within and beside work areas.
  • Avoid broad removal of ground cover where practicable, particularly during the breeding season and in occupied or recently burned habitat.
  • Keep spoil, stored materials and vehicle movements away from known refuge and foraging areas.

Breeding habitat: Breeding biology

Breeding occurs during the warmer part of the year, with timing and litter production varying between regions. Suitable breeding habitat provides dry nests, dense ground cover and nearby invertebrate prey.

Males become aggressive at the start of breeding and may be seriously injured during combat. Females attract males with vocalisations. Two litters may be produced during the August to March breeding season, although one annual breeding cycle has been observed in temperate Nillumbik.

Females carry young in the pouch and provide parental care for about 60 to 65 days. Young reach full adult size at about 150 days. In temperate observations, males were seldom seen after September and adult females were not usually observed after the young became independent.

Breeding season: August to March; local Nillumbik observations recorded one cycle mainly from August to October.

Litter size: Up to 8 to 10 young per litter, with up to two litters recorded in a season.

Gestation: Approximately 12 to 12.5 days.

Pouch and dependency: Young are weaned after approximately 60 to 65 days.

Age at adult size: Approximately 150 days.

Lifespan: Not stated in the supplied documents. Most males may survive only one breeding season.

Breeding habitat: Breeding habitat features

Breeding females require dry, protected nest sites in hollow logs, grass clumps, rock crevices or similar ground refuges. Nests are made from dried grass and leaves and may be 70 to 110 mm wide.

Dense grass cover, nearby prey and protection from foxes and cats are important around breeding refuges. Pavers or roof tiles may provide temporary artificial shelter, but they must be installed and checked under appropriate wildlife permits and safety procedures.

  • Avoid disturbing nests and artificial cover from August to October where possible, when pouch young are likely and handling can cause stress.
  • Retain unburnt refuges and dense ground cover beside any area proposed for ecological burning or clearing.
  • Use a suitably licensed fauna ecologist or spotter catcher for any required inspection, capture or relocation.

Sheltering habitat: Natural refuges

During the day, Common Dunnarts shelter close to the ground in small, covered refuges. They may use several refuges and can enter torpor when temperatures fall or food becomes scarce.

Documented daytime refuges include cup-shaped nests in hollow logs, grass clumps, grass trees, rock crevices, beneath fallen bark, in ground cover and in burrows. In one telemetry study, individuals preferred some agamid burrows because they provided relatively stable temperatures.

Several daytime refuges may be used by one individual. Retaining a network of small shelters is therefore preferable to retaining only one isolated log or rock.

Nest size: Approximately 70 to 110 mm wide.

Refuge types: Hollow logs, grass clumps, grass trees, rock crevices, fallen bark, ground cover, burrows and artificial cover.

Sheltering habitat: Artificial cover

Concrete pavers or roof tiles can help detect Common Dunnarts and provide temporary shelter where natural cover is lacking. The Nillumbik guide recommends heavy pavers of at least 40 by 40 by 3 cm, or two roof tiles of at least 40 by 25 cm each, with drainage and ventilation underneath.

Artificial cover can be overturned by foxes or other predators if it is too light. It should be installed, inspected and maintained by appropriately authorised personnel, with records of location, date, occupancy, species and individual counts.

Recommended paver size: At least 40 by 40 by 3 cm.

Recommended roof tile size: Two tiles, each at least 40 by 25 cm.

  • Use gloves and check for snakes, spiders and ants before lifting artificial cover.
  • Do not handle a dunnart or other native animal unless the required wildlife permits and animal ethics approvals are in place.
  • Move a tile occupied by ants at least 50 cm only where safe and authorised; leave it in place if occupied by another vertebrate.

Sheltering habitat: Torpor and winter shelter

The species may stop surface activity during cold weather and enter torpor during autumn and winter. Torpor lowers metabolic activity and can reduce body temperature. Individuals may remain in burrows or hollow logs during the day.

  • Avoid sealing, filling or excavating burrows, hollow logs and deep ground refuges during autumn and winter.
  • Retain dry shelter with nearby ground cover and avoid creating waterlogged conditions around refuges.

Threats: Clearing and fragmentation

The main documented risks are loss and fragmentation of dry habitat, removal of ground cover and refuges, predation, and inappropriate fire regimes. Risk is often greatest where clearing removes both shelter and the invertebrate layer needed for feeding.

European settlement has caused substantial habitat loss in temperate Victoria. In Nillumbik, historical surveys recorded Common Dunnarts at 20 sites, but habitat loss, fragmentation and degradation may have removed the species from many of those sites.

Clearing can remove grass, litter, logs, rock crevices and prey habitat at the same time. Small, isolated remnants may also expose animals to predators and reduce recolonisation from nearby areas.

  • Survey suitable dry forest, woodland, mallee and heath before clearing, including the ground layer and refuge features.
  • Stage clearing from disturbed areas towards retained habitat only under an approved fauna management plan, so animals have an opportunity to move into connected cover.
  • Retain logs, embedded rocks, dense grass and unburnt refuge patches within or beside the development footprint.

Threats: Predators

Domestic and feral cats and Red Foxes are documented predators and may contribute to local declines. Loss of vegetation cover and refuges increases exposure to predation.

Foxes may learn that dunnarts use artificial tiles and can mark or overturn light tiles. Predator control and heavy, stable artificial cover are therefore important where tiles are used.

  • Keep artificial cover stable and predator-resistant.
  • Control foxes and cats in accordance with approved permits and project procedures where monitoring confirms a risk.
  • Retain dense grass, logs and embedded rocks that allow animals to retreat while foraging.

Threats: Fire and post-fire habitat

Fire can kill animals directly and can remove vegetation, litter and shelter. It can also reduce invertebrate prey in the short term. Common Dunnarts may benefit from early to mid-successional habitat after fire, but suitable structure is temporary and populations can decline as vegetation becomes dense.

In one Victorian account, numbers increased about 3 to 4 years after fire and declined or became difficult to detect after 8 to 9 years. The Nillumbik guide recommends retaining unburnt vegetation during burns and identifies a 10 to 15 year minimum patch-burning cycle for Grassy and Heathy Dry Forest.

Reported post-fire response: Population increase about 3 to 4 years after fire in one Victorian observation, followed by decline or reduced detectability after 8 to 9 years.

Suggested minimum patch-burning cycle: 10 to 15 years for Grassy and Heathy Dry Forest in the Nillumbik guide.

  • Do not burn all suitable habitat at once. Retain unburnt patches and escape cover.
  • Avoid planned burning in spring where possible because the species may be breeding.
  • Assess fire age, ground structure and refuge availability rather than treating all recently burned habitat as unsuitable.

Threats: Other project risks

The supplied documents do not identify a species-specific disease threat or provide evidence of road mortality for the Common Dunnart. Roads, machinery, night lighting, trenching and changes to drainage can nevertheless remove or disturb ground refuges and should be managed where suitable habitat is present.

The species may use areas with different soil moisture conditions after fire, and ground moisture can influence capture rates. The documents do not establish a defined hydrological requirement.

  • Inspect open trenches, pits and stored materials for trapped fauna during works in suitable habitat.
  • Avoid unnecessary night disturbance and retain vegetated links across roads and work areas where practicable.
  • Treat changes to drainage and soil moisture as potential habitat changes, and assess them through the project environmental management process rather than assuming no effect.

Survey methodology: 1. Habitat assessment and daytime searches

Survey this small, nocturnal, ground-dwelling marsupial in dry forest, woodland, mallee heath and structurally open grassy habitat. Use more than one method because Common Dunnarts can be difficult to detect in Elliott traps and camera images may not distinguish them from White-footed Dunnarts.

Map dry sclerophyll forest, open forest, woodland, mallee heath and grassy dry forest before selecting survey sites.

Search retained habitat during the day for fallen logs, rock crevices, grass clumps, burrows and other potential daytime refuges.

Give priority to sites with sparse shrub cover, dense grass cover, logs and embedded rocks. In Nillumbik, occupied sites commonly had shrub cover below 20 percent and grass cover above 50 percent, but these figures should not be treated as universal thresholds.

Record the vegetation type, ground cover, logs, rocks, litter, burn history and connections to nearby retained habitat.

Typical habitat: Dry sclerophyll forest, open forest, woodland, mallee heath and open grassy or heathy dry forest.

Day refuges: Cup-shaped nests in grass clumps, log hollows or rock crevices, and burrows or other covered sites.

Survey methodology: 2. Elliott trapping

Use Elliott traps as one component of a small-mammal survey, not as the sole method for Common Dunnart detection.

For a survey area up to 5 hectares, use at least 20 Elliott A, B or E traps at each sampling site, in two parallel transects separated by 25 metres, with traps 10 metres apart.

Use at least one sampling site in each representative habitat, with a minimum of two sampling sites per 5 hectares. Set traps for four consecutive nights, check them early each morning, close them during the day, and rebait and reopen them in the late afternoon.

Place traps beside runways, logs, tree buttresses, crevices and vegetated cover. Keep traps and bait away from predator scats, and provide a small amount of nesting material.

Use a species-specific bait mixture where available. The general guideline gives peanut butter and rolled oats for small mammals, while the Cathedral Range survey used peanut butter, rolled oats and golden syrup.

Treat a failure to capture a Common Dunnart as a non-detection only. The species is captured less frequently in Elliott traps than some other small mammals.

Minimum effort: 20 traps per site, four consecutive nights, equal to 160 trap nights per 5 hectare subject site.

Trap spacing: 10 metres between traps, with parallel transects 25 metres apart.

Survey methodology: 3. Pitfall trapping and artificial cover

Consider pitfall trapping where site conditions, animal welfare controls and approvals allow it, because pitfall trapping is considered more effective than Elliott trapping for dunnarts in forest habitats.

Use concrete pavers or roof tiles as artificial cover objects where they can be installed and checked safely. This method allows animals to enter and leave shelters without continuous trap monitoring and can assist with species identification.

Use heavy concrete pavers of at least 40 by 40 by 3 centimetres, or two roof tiles of at least 40 by 25 centimetres each. Provide drainage and ventilation with a shallow gravel or pebble layer, while retaining a small depression for nesting.

Record the location, installation date, inspection date, observer, occupancy, species, number of animals and photographs for every artificial cover object.

Inspect artificial cover objects carefully, wear gloves and check for snakes, spiders and ants. Move a cover object at least 50 centimetres if an ant nest occupies the space, but leave it in place if another vertebrate is using it.

Artificial paver size: At least 40 by 40 by 3 centimetres.

Roof tile size: Two tiles, each at least 40 by 25 centimetres.

Common observation period: October to April is the preferred period for checking occupied tiles; avoid handling animals.

Survey methodology: 4. Camera trapping

Use remote cameras at likely runways, refuges, grass cover, logs and rock features, particularly where trapping is unsuitable or animals occur at low density.

Use cameras in burnt and unburnt habitat where fire effects are part of the assessment, and retain unburnt patches within the survey design.

Do not identify a dunnart from a camera image as Common Dunnart unless the location and habitat provide adequate support or the animal is examined by an authorised person. Common Dunnarts and White-footed Dunnarts cannot be reliably separated from ordinary camera images.

Treat camera detections as records of dunnart presence where species identification is unresolved, and state the identification limitation in the report.

Fire affected detections: Dunnarts were camera trapped at four State Forest sites that were lightly scorched and retained unburnt vegetation patches in the Big River Catchment survey.

Survey methodology: 5. Timing, conditions and minimum effort and reporting

Survey during the active period from September to April where practicable, with artificial cover objects particularly useful from October to April.

Allow for lower surface activity in cold winter conditions because Common Dunnarts can enter torpor and may stop being surface active.

Plan breeding-sensitive work around August to March. Avoid handling females with pouch young, particularly around August to October, unless an approved scientific procedure applies.

Repeat surveys across suitable habitat and use more than one detection method where the result will inform clearing or construction decisions.

Record survey dates, start and finish times, weather, temperature where available, fire history, survey area, method, effort, habitat condition, locations, photographs, species confidence and all non-detections.

Submit confirmed records and relevant unresolved dunnart records to the relevant state or territory wildlife database, such as the Victorian Biodiversity Atlas where applicable.

Retain trap, camera and artificial cover object data with the project environmental records and provide it to the approving authority when required.

Before habitat disturbance: Avoid and minimise habitat loss

Treat suitable dry forest, woodland, mallee heath and grassy dry forest as potential habitat even when recent records are absent. Local occurrence can be patchy and animals may forage over several hectares each night.

Avoid clearing occupied or suitable habitat where practicable, especially areas with dense grass cover, sparse shrubs, logs, rock crevices, embedded rocks, litter and connected vegetation.

Retain daytime refuges, including fallen hollow logs, grass clumps, rock crevices, burrows, bark and ground cover.

Retain connected patches of suitable habitat and avoid creating isolated remnants between the work area and nearby retained vegetation.

Keep unburnt vegetation within or beside fire affected work areas where practicable, because it can provide shelter, food and recolonisation sources.

Before habitat disturbance: Approvals and project planning

Confirm the Commonwealth and state or territory conservation status before works commence. The Common Dunnart is listed as Vulnerable in Victoria in the supplied project information and Victorian guidance.

Check whether the project needs a state wildlife permit, animal ethics approval, fauna handling authorisation or other approval before trapping, handling, relocating or treating animals.

Confirm whether the proposed action requires an EPBC Act referral. The supplied listing states that the species is not listed under the EPBC Act, but the project must still check the current protected species and community listings.

Prepare a fauna management plan that identifies survey results, no-go areas, habitat features, qualified personnel, machinery controls, rescue arrangements, relocation sites, stop-work triggers and reporting requirements.

Before habitat disturbance: Timing, staging and site preparation

Schedule vegetation removal outside the main breeding period where practicable, and avoid spring clearing because breeding occurs from about August to March.

Stage clearing so animals can move towards retained habitat, while avoiding forcing them across roads, active work zones or exposed ground.

Complete the pre-clearance survey shortly before works and use artificial cover objects, cameras and trapping where the habitat assessment indicates a reasonable likelihood of occurrence.

Mark retained logs, rocks, grass refuges, connected vegetation and any occupied artificial cover objects as exclusion areas before machinery enters.

Use fauna exclusion fencing only where it will guide animals towards safe retained habitat and will not trap them inside the work area or expose them to predators, vehicles or heat.

During habitat disturbance: Daily controls and machinery coordination

A fauna spotter catcher must control the sequence of clearing and keep machinery away from retained refuges until each work area has been checked. Work must stop when an animal or an unassessed habitat feature is found.

Hold a daily pre-start briefing with the spotter catcher, operator, supervisor and environmental officer.

Inspect the work area for dunnarts, nests, burrows, logs, rocks, grass clumps, bark and other refuges before clearing starts each day.

Clear progressively in small sections under the direct direction of the spotter catcher, with machinery stopped whenever the spotter requests it.

Keep machinery, vehicles and stockpiles outside marked retained habitat, exclusion areas and relocation sites.

Do not use fire, smoke, floodlighting or rapid high-speed clearing to flush animals from habitat.

During habitat disturbance: Habitat feature handling

Retain fallen logs, dense grass clumps, embedded rocks and rock crevices wherever possible.

Before moving a log, rock or other cover, inspect beneath and around it for a Common Dunnart, nest, pouch young, snake or other fauna.

If a feature must be moved, have the spotter catcher inspect it, move it slowly, and place it in nearby retained habitat with similar cover and drainage where authorised by the fauna management plan.

Do not lift artificial tiles or pavers without gloves and a careful check for dunnarts, snakes, spiders and ants.

Protect unburnt patches and retained ground cover in fire affected areas, as lightly scorched sites with unburnt vegetation supported dunnart detections in the Victorian survey.

During habitat disturbance: Animal encounters, rescue and stop-work triggers

Stop work immediately if a Common Dunnart is seen, trapped, injured, found with pouch young, or located in a habitat feature that is about to be disturbed.

Allow the animal to move into retained habitat where safe, rather than chasing or handling it.

Only an appropriately authorised fauna handler may capture, examine or relocate the animal, and handling must follow the approved management plan and permit conditions.

Do not handle a female with pouch young unless the authorised procedure specifically permits it and the animal welfare risks have been assessed.

Relocate a healthy animal only to nearby retained habitat with suitable ground cover, refuges and connectivity, and only under the approved relocation procedure.

Take an injured animal to an approved wildlife veterinarian or wildlife carer through the project rescue chain, and do not release it without professional advice.

Resume work only after the spotter catcher has checked the area, the animal or habitat feature has been managed, and the environmental officer has recorded the decision.

During habitat disturbance: Records and escalation

Record each encounter, including date, time, location, habitat feature, animal condition, sex if known, pouch young, photographs, handling, relocation location, injuries and the names and authorisations of personnel involved.

Record all stop-work events, cleared area, machinery used, weather, searching undertaken and the decision to resume work.

Escalate repeated detections, injured animals, deaths, occupied habitat features or unexpected concentrations of animals to the project environmental officer and relevant regulator or permit authority.

Report records to the relevant state or territory wildlife database, including the Victorian Biodiversity Atlas for Victorian records where applicable.

After habitat disturbance: Post-clearance inspection

Post-clearance work must confirm that no fauna or refuges were left at risk and that retained habitat controls remain effective. Monitoring should account for the species' patchy occurrence and seasonal activity.

Inspect the cleared edge, retained vegetation and relocation areas at the end of each clearing stage and after heavy machinery has left.

Check retained logs, rocks, grass cover, artificial cover objects, fencing and access points for damage, disturbance or signs of predation.

Reinspect areas where the animal was detected or where a habitat feature was moved, and document any new nests, tracks, remains or camera detections.

Remove or secure temporary controls only when the fauna management plan and environmental officer confirm that they are no longer required.

After habitat disturbance: Monitoring and reporting

Monitor retained and rehabilitated habitat during the next suitable activity period, preferably from September to April, using artificial cover, cameras and trapping methods suited to the approval conditions.

Repeat monitoring after major construction changes, fire, substantial vegetation loss or predator control failure.

Compare detections with the pre-clearance baseline, while recognising that a non-detection does not prove local absence.

Report survey effort, detections, deaths, injuries, relocations, habitat loss, control failures and corrective actions to the proponent and relevant authorities.

After habitat disturbance: Offsets and residual impacts

Calculate residual loss of suitable habitat and assess whether avoidance and mitigation have reduced impacts to an acceptable level under the applicable approval.

Where approval conditions require an offset or compensatory action, ensure it protects and manages suitable dry forest, woodland, mallee heath or grassy dry forest rather than only planting trees.

Include management of ground cover, logs, rocks, weeds, introduced predators and fire intervals in any site protection or offset management plan.

Rehabilitation actions: Restore structure and cover

Rehabilitation should rebuild the dry, structurally complex ground layer used for shelter and foraging. Tree planting alone will not replace the logs, grass cover, rocks and litter used by this species.

Re-establish locally appropriate dry forest, woodland, mallee heath or grassy dry forest vegetation, using local provenance where required by the project approval.

Restore a dense grass and ground-cover layer with species suited to the local ecological vegetation class, including Poa and Red-anther Wallaby Grass where they are appropriate to the site.

Keep shrub cover open where this matches the pre-disturbance habitat, noting that Nillumbik guidance describes occupied sites with shrub cover below 20 percent and grass cover above 50 percent.

Replace suitable fallen logs, embedded rocks, rock crevices and coarse ground cover in retained or rehabilitated areas.

Install heavy concrete pavers or roof tiles as temporary or supplementary refuges where natural cover is absent, with drainage, ventilation and safe inspection access.

Rehabilitation actions: Fire and predator management

Use a mosaic approach to planned burning where fire is required for ecological management, and retain unburnt vegetation for shelter and foraging.

Do not burn occupied habitat or all available refuges at once.

In the Nillumbik guidance, Common Dunnart numbers increased about 3 to 4 years after fire and declined or became harder to detect after 8 to 9 years; use these observations as local guidance, not as a universal prescription.

The same guidance gives a 10 to 15 year minimum patch-burning cycle for Grassy and Heathy Dry Forest, with a 45 year maximum tolerable fire interval and minimum intervals of 15 years for high-intensity fire and 10 years for low-intensity patchy burns.

Schedule ecological burning in autumn after breeding where practicable, and avoid spring burning when animals may be breeding.

Control foxes and cats where they threaten occupied or rehabilitated habitat, and prevent predator access to artificial refuges by using heavy cover objects and suitable fencing.

Rehabilitation actions: Monitoring and success measures

Inspect rehabilitated sites for grass cover, logs, rocks, litter, refuge condition, weeds, predator signs and connectivity at each monitoring visit.

Use artificial cover objects, remote cameras and approved trapping to test whether Common Dunnarts occupy the restored habitat during the active period.

Record presence, number of individuals, evidence of nesting, refuge use, injuries, predation signs and habitat condition at fixed locations.

Set success measures in the management plan before rehabilitation starts, including survival of planted vegetation, retention of ground cover and refuges, control of weeds and predators, and confirmed use by Common Dunnarts or other agreed habitat indicators.

Submit confirmed records and monitoring results to the relevant state or territory wildlife database and retain photographs and spatial data with the project records.

Sources