White-footed Dunnart (Sminthopsis leucopus)

Conservation status

Queensland, Nature Conservation Act 1992: Vulnerable.

New South Wales, Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016: Vulnerable.

Victoria, Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988: Vulnerable.

Breeding season

The following pattern is based mainly on Victorian records. Timing may vary across Tasmania, New South Wales and the isolated Queensland population.

Seasonal timing is best documented for Victoria. The supplied documents do not provide a separate breeding calendar for Tasmania, New South Wales or north-eastern Queensland.

• Breeding: Mating occurs in late July and August in Victoria.
• Births: Females give birth in September or October, with up to 10 young.
• Young attached to teats: Young remain attached to the mother's teats in the rudimentary pouch for about two months after birth.
• Young in nest and dispersal: After detaching from the teats, young are suckled in the nest for about another month before dispersing. The exact dispersal month is not stated, so January is indicative rather than a confirmed peak.
• Highest clearing risk: Risk is highest from late winter through summer because mating, births, pouch dependence and nest dependence occur from July to approximately January. Clearing can also remove daytime refuges and breeding sites at any time of year.

Identification

The White-footed Dunnart is a very small dasyurid, similar in size to a House Mouse. It is difficult to identify reliably from a brief sighting, camera image or general body shape alone.

Adults recorded in New South Wales and Victoria have a head and body length of 67 to 98 mm, a tail length of 67 to 82 mm and a usual weight of 16 to 32 g.

The species is generally terrestrial and is most active at night, especially during the six hours after sunset. It may climb, with climbing recorded in Tasmania.

Identification: Distinguishing similar dunnarts

White-footed Dunnarts and Common Dunnarts are difficult to distinguish in the field. The most reliable stated field character is close examination of the underside of the hind feet.

Where the ranges overlap, the White-footed Dunnart is generally associated with wetter, denser and more heathy habitat, while the Common Dunnart is associated with drier and more open habitat. Camera images may not provide enough detail for a confident species identification.

• Treat an unidentified small dunnart as a potential White-footed Dunnart where the site is within the known range and contains suitable habitat.
• Obtain expert confirmation from a captured animal or suitable close-up images of the underside of the hind feet where species-level identification is required.

Identification: Field signs

During daytime searches, likely signs include a small animal sheltering beneath bark strips, small rotting logs, dense litter, in a ground burrow or in a tree hollow.

A nest recorded in Victoria consisted of a burrow into dense litter at the base of a mallee-form Eucalyptus willisii. In Tasmania, nests have been recorded in bark, rotting logs, tree hollows, beneath wood piles and in unused huts.

The supplied documents do not provide diagnostic descriptions of tracks, scats, calls or eyeshine. Absence of detections during trapping or camera surveys should not be treated as proof that the species is absent.

Distribution: States and broad regions

The White-footed Dunnart has a disjunct distribution across southern and eastern Australia. It is patchily distributed, and many records are close to the coast or along major river valleys.

The species occurs throughout Tasmania and in a band across southern Victoria and south-eastern New South Wales. In Victoria, records extend along the coastline and inland along the Yarra, Tambo and Macalister valleys.

It is rarely recorded more than 150 km from the coast. An outlier population occurs in the Paluma area of north-eastern Queensland, including rainforest habitat.

Victorian records are concentrated in southern Wannon, the fringes of the Otway Ranges, the southern Mornington Peninsula, the Yarra Valley upstream of Warrandyte, the foothills of the Latrobe Valley, the Wilsons Promontory to Cape Liptrap area and East Gippsland, particularly around Bairnsdale and Buchan.

Distribution: Population information

The species is listed as Vulnerable in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria in the supplied project information. It is not listed under the EPBC Act in that information.

The available Victorian assessment identifies a restricted area of occupancy and suspected continuing declines associated with fire, habitat quality and predation. Populations may be small and fragmented, with a reported risk to genetic viability.

Estimated area of occupancy in Victoria: 1,187 km², based on 2 by 2 km grids from accepted post-1970 Victorian records

Estimated mature individuals: 1,000 to 5,000

Suspected number of locations: 8

Likely habitat within the CAR reserve system: 49% across all land tenures in the Victorian spatial analysis

Distribution: Survey interpretation

Dunnarts can be missed by standard survey methods. In one Victorian survey, no dunnarts were captured during 400 Elliott trap nights or detected during 471 camera trap nights at Cathedral Range State Park, despite an earlier camera record.

Pitfall trapping is reported as more effective for dunnarts than Elliott trapping in some forest settings, although it can be difficult and labour intensive. Artificial cover objects such as concrete pavers or roof tiles were recommended for future surveys.

Habitat: Vegetation communities

The White-footed Dunnart uses structurally varied habitats with ground cover, litter and shelter. It is associated with both moist vegetation and early to mid-successional habitats after fire or forestry disturbance.

In Victoria, habitat includes coastal tussock grassland and sedgeland, wet heath, and forest or woodland with a dense heathy understorey or mid-storey.

In south-eastern New South Wales, preferred sites have included treeless ridges and mid-slopes with less than 51% ground cover. Gullies and areas with a ferny ground layer were not selected in the cited studies.

The species has been recorded in a range of soil types, from coarse sands to silty clay loams, and in areas with mean annual rainfall from about 660 mm at Aireys Inlet to 1,100 mm in the Otway Ranges.

Habitat: Successional structure

The species is associated with early to mid-successional vegetation after fire or forestry operations. In the Otway Ranges, it has been recorded in regrowth 4 to 16 years after fire, with peak numbers at 4 to 9 years after fire.

Suitable habitat can contain a patchy mixture of low vegetation, dense heath, litter, logs and unburnt patches. In a post-fire survey near Lake Eildon, occupied sites had sparse tall shrubs and variable, patchy vegetation below 1 m.

• Retain dense heath patches, litter, fallen timber, bark and unburnt vegetation when planning clearing or access routes.
• Avoid treating recently burnt or logged vegetation as having no fauna value, as early successional habitat can be used by the species.

Habitat: Climate and elevation

The documented distribution is concentrated in coastal and near-coastal southern Australia, moist areas of south-eastern Australia, Tasmania and the Paluma area of north-eastern Queensland.

The supplied documents do not provide a reliable national elevation limit. Sites in Victoria include coastal heath, river valleys, foothills and forested areas.

Foraging habitat: Diet

The White-footed Dunnart forages mainly on the ground at night. It is an opportunistic predator that uses litter, low vegetation and other ground-layer features where arthropods occur.

The diet is generally insectivorous and includes a wide range of ground-dwelling arthropods up to about 18 mm long. Small vertebrates, including scincoid lizards, are also eaten occasionally.

The supplied documents do not identify particular food plants. Vegetation matters mainly by supporting ground-dwelling prey and providing cover while the animal forages.

Typical prey size: Ground-dwelling arthropods up to about 18 mm long

Foraging period: Mainly nocturnal, with highest activity during the six hours after sunset

Foraging habitat: Foraging features

Important foraging features include leaf litter, bark, fallen twigs, small logs, dense heath and patchy vegetation below about 1 m. These features support invertebrate prey and provide cover from predators.

Fire can temporarily reduce food availability by removing litter, dead leaves, bark and twigs that provide habitat for invertebrates. Lightly scorched sites with unburnt patches have supported detections after fire.

• Retain litter, bark, small logs and low dense vegetation within and beside proposed work areas.
• Where clearing is unavoidable, inspect and manage ground cover and fallen timber before night-time activity, and avoid creating large areas of bare ground between retained habitat patches.

Foraging habitat: Foraging range

Home ranges are stable and generally undefended, with extensive overlap within and between sexes. An average home range of about 0.9 ha was recorded in coastal dry heathland.

Male range lengths of 55 to 120 m have been recorded. Some New South Wales studies reported explorer males travelling up to 1,025 m in one night, although a Victorian study did not find evidence for separate resident and explorer male classes. Males travelled up to 450 m between October and November in one Victorian study.

Breeding habitat: Breeding biology

Breeding is seasonal and appears to be concentrated into a short period. Breeding habitat needs secure nest sites close to suitable cover and food resources.

In Victoria, mating occurs in late July and August. Females give birth in September or October, with up to 10 young. Young remain attached to the mother's teats in the rudimentary pouch for about two months, then remain in the nest and are suckled for about another month before dispersing.

The species appears to have only one short breeding season during its lifetime. The supplied documents do not provide a confirmed age at maturity or adult lifespan.

Mating: Late July and August in Victoria

Births: September or October

Litter size: Up to 10 young

Gestation: Not stated in the supplied documents

Pouch dependence: Young remain attached to the teats for about two months

Nest dependence after pouch attachment: About a further month

Age at maturity and lifespan: Not stated in the supplied documents

Breeding habitat: Breeding habitat features

Known or likely nest sites include dense litter, burrows, tree hollows, rotting logs, bark nests and dense heath. A Victorian nest was a burrow into dense litter at the base of a mallee-form Eucalyptus willisii.

Nest sites are rarely observed in Victoria, so apparently suitable cover should be retained even when no nest is found during pre-clearance searches.

• Retain dense litter, small rotting logs, bark strips, tree hollows and dense heath during clearing.
• Schedule pre-clearance inspections and fauna handling around the July to January breeding and dependent-young period where practicable.
• Do not remove potential nest materials or burn retained habitat immediately before or during the breeding season.

Sheltering habitat: Known refuges

Daytime shelter is provided by ground-level cover and cavities. Shelter sites can be lost quickly during vegetation clearing, fire, slashing, stockpile placement or removal of fallen timber.

The species shelters beneath strips of bark and small rotting logs, and in ground burrows and tree hollows during the day.

In Tasmania, recorded nest sites include bark nests in tree-fern tops, rotting logs, tree hollows, spaces beneath wood piles and unused huts. In Victoria, dense heath has been used as an opportunistic refuge.

• Inspect bark strips, small logs, hollows, dense litter and dense heath before they are disturbed.
• Retain connected patches of ground cover around potential refuges rather than isolating individual logs or hollows.
• Where animals are encountered during works, stop the activity and use an appropriately authorised fauna handler.

Sheltering habitat: Fire refuges

Unburnt patches, hollows, underground burrows, bark and small rotting logs can provide shelter during or after fire. The species has been recorded at lightly scorched sites containing unburnt vegetation.

Severe fire can remove cover and nesting sites, exposing animals to predators until vegetation recovers.

• Map and protect unburnt patches and retained shelter features within fire-affected work areas.
• Avoid piling cleared vegetation over retained habitat or potential shelter sites.
• Do not assume that a recently burnt site is unoccupied without targeted survey and consideration of nearby unburnt refuges.

Threats: Clearing and fragmentation

The main documented risks are habitat loss and fragmentation, inappropriate fire, predation and disease-related habitat degradation. These risks can be greater where populations are already small or isolated.

Clearing for agricultural and residential development, particularly in coastal areas, is likely to cause population declines through habitat loss and fragmentation.

Fragmentation may reduce movement between small populations and contribute to loss of genetic viability. Clearing can also remove litter, logs, bark, dense heath and nest sites used during the day and breeding season.

The supplied documents do not provide species-specific road mortality rates. Roads, access tracks and construction corridors should nevertheless be assessed as sources of habitat removal, fragmentation and disturbance wherever they cross suitable habitat.

• Avoid clearing coastal heath, wet heath, sedgeland and dense heathy understorey where practicable.
• Retain habitat links between occupied or potentially occupied patches, especially where the species is known to use overlapping home ranges.
• Stage clearing so fauna habitat is not removed before surveys, approvals and handling arrangements are complete.

Threats: Fire and fuel management

Intense and extensive bushfires can kill this ground-dwelling species, remove cover and nesting sites, reduce invertebrate prey and increase exposure to foxes and feral cats.

The species can use early post-fire habitat and has been recorded in regrowth 4 to 16 years after fire, with peak numbers at 4 to 9 years in one Otway study. Fire effects therefore depend on severity, the availability of unburnt refuges and the recovery of vegetation.

Fuel management in conservation reserves may be unsuitable where it removes habitat or creates overly frequent or intense burns.

• Retain unburnt refuges and patches of dense vegetation during fire planning.
• Assess fire severity, time since fire and vegetation recovery when interpreting survey results.
• Avoid broad-scale disturbance that removes all litter, logs and low cover from a site.

Threats: Predators and disease

Foxes and feral cats are documented predators. Predation risk can increase after intense fire when cover and nesting sites are removed.

Phytophthora-related degradation of coastal heathlands may affect some populations. The supplied documents do not provide a species-specific disease transmission pathway beyond this habitat impact.

• Manage food waste, carcasses and other attractants around work compounds to avoid increasing feral cat and fox activity.
• Prevent the spread of Phytophthora in susceptible heathland by following project hygiene and vehicle washdown procedures.
• Retain dense ground cover and shelter features that reduce exposure to predators.

Threats: Other disturbance

Recreational use can modify habitat through activities such as trampling coastal foredunes. Similar ground disturbance from construction access, plant movement and storage areas can remove low cover and compact or bury potential shelter.

The supplied documents do not identify a specific hydrology threat or provide a quantitative threshold for water-level or drainage change. Hydrology changes should be assessed where they alter wet heath, sedgeland, litter moisture or the structure of dense understorey habitat.

Survey methodology: 1. Elliott trapping

Survey for the White-footed Dunnart in suitable coastal, heath, woodland and forest habitat, especially where dense heathy cover, litter, logs, bark or hollows remain. It is nocturnal and difficult to distinguish from the Common Dunnart in photographs, so use trapping or another method that permits close examination where species confirmation is required.

Use Elliott trapping where animals must be captured for examination and reliable species identification.

The species is active mainly during the six hours after sunset, so set traps before dusk and check them early each morning.

A Victorian survey used 25 traps in a 5 by 5 metre grid at each site, with four consecutive nights of trapping, giving 100 trap nights per site and 400 trap nights across four sites.

Place traps near dense heath, ground cover, logs, bark, burrows and other likely shelter, while avoiding exposed positions.

Activity: Nocturnal, with highest activity in the six hours after sunset.

Example trapping effort: 25 traps in a 5 by 5 metre grid for four nights, or 100 trap nights per site.

• Use appropriate mammal bait and provide weather protection, insulating material and nesting material in each trap.
• Check traps every morning, identify captured animals, record sex and capture location, and release animals at the point of capture unless an authorised wildlife professional directs otherwise.
• Use a more effective method, such as pitfall trapping, where the survey objective and site conditions allow it, because Elliott trapping can fail to detect dunnarts.

Survey methodology: 2. Camera trapping

Use infrared camera traps to survey nocturnal activity, particularly where trapping is unsuitable or where a broad area must be checked.

Set cameras close to the ground and target dense ground vegetation, unburnt patches, logs, bark, burrows and habitat near known or historic records.

A Victorian survey used two cameras at each site, opposite a bait station, with cameras approximately 2 metres from the bait and the sensor about 25 centimetres above ground.

Published effort: 471 camera trap nights in Cathedral Range State Park and 630 camera trap nights in Lake Eildon National Park and adjoining State Forest.

Detection after fire: Four dunnart sites were all lightly scorched and contained unburnt patches of vegetation.

• Operate cameras at night because the species is nocturnal.
• Leave cameras in place for 3 to 4 weeks where practicable, and record the number of operational camera nights for each unit.
• Use camera trapping to identify areas of activity, but do not rely on photographs alone to separate the White-footed Dunnart from the Common Dunnart.
• Treat a camera record as a dunnart record requiring confirmation unless range, habitat and other evidence support identification.

Survey methodology: 3. Artificial cover and targeted searches

Use concrete pavers or roofing tiles as artificial cover where the project requires repeated checks and where pitfall trapping is impractical.

Place artificial cover in suitable ground habitat and inspect it during the species' active period, following the project's animal ethics, permit and handling requirements.

Search for shelter under bark, small rotting logs, in ground burrows and in tree hollows during daytime habitat inspections, but do not disturb these features unnecessarily.

Identification: White-footed and Common Dunnarts can be distinguished by close examination of the underside of the hind feet.

Survey limitation: No dunnarts were detected in 400 Elliott trap nights or 471 camera trap nights in Cathedral Range State Park.

• Use artificial cover as a supplementary method and do not treat failure to find a dunnart as evidence that the species is absent.
• Record the location, type and condition of each artificial cover object and any animal detected beneath it.
• Use close examination of the underside of the hind feet if a captured animal must be distinguished from the Common Dunnart.

Survey methodology: Minimum effort and reporting

• Survey all suitable habitat within the disturbance footprint and any retained habitat that could receive relocated animals.
• Use nocturnal camera trapping for 3 to 4 weeks where practicable, and document camera placement, baiting, operational nights, weather and habitat condition.
• Use trapping effort that is sufficient for the project risk, with the published Victorian example of 25 traps for four nights at each site as a reference rather than a universal requirement.
• Record all detections, non-detections, trapping nights, camera nights, survey conditions, habitat features and identification confidence.
• Submit verified records and relevant survey metadata to the wildlife database used by the relevant state or territory authority.
• Report any threatened species detection, injury, mortality, capture or relocation in accordance with the project approval and the relevant state or territory permit.

Before habitat disturbance: Avoid and minimise habitat loss

Plan around the species' patchy distribution and dependence on dense ground cover, shelter and early to mid successional vegetation. Fire, clearing, fragmentation, predators and loss of litter can reduce habitat quality even when the work footprint is small.

Typical home range: About 0.9 hectares on average, with overlapping, generally undefended home ranges.

Distribution pattern: Patchy in southern Victoria, with records extending along major river valleys and generally rarely more than 150 kilometres from the coast.

• Retain coastal tussock grassland, sedgeland, wet heath and forest or woodland with a dense heathy understorey or mid-storey.
• Retain dense ground cover, litter, small rotting logs, strips of bark, burrows and tree hollows used for daytime shelter and nesting.
• Keep retained habitat connected to nearby suitable vegetation, because fragmentation can reduce movement and genetic viability in small populations.
• Avoid unnecessary disturbance to early successional habitat, including regrowth from about 4 to 16 years after fire where the species may occur.
• Keep machinery, laydown areas, access tracks and spoil outside retained habitat and avoid creating new barriers between habitat patches.

Before habitat disturbance: Approvals and timing

Victorian breeding period: Mating in late July and August; young born in September or October; young remain attached to the teats for about two months and are then suckled in the nest for about one further month.

• Check the current EPBC Act listing and referral requirements before works begin, and obtain all required state or territory threatened species, wildlife handling and animal ethics approvals.
• Confirm the applicable state listing and project obligations in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria where the species is listed as Vulnerable.
• Schedule clearing outside the Victorian mating and birthing period where practicable, noting that mating occurs in late July and August and young are born in September or October.
• Do not assume that seasonal avoidance removes the need for a pre-clearance survey, because adults, juveniles and nests may be present outside the breeding period.
• Prepare a fauna management plan that identifies survey methods, qualified personnel, stop-work triggers, handling arrangements, veterinary contacts, relocation sites and reporting requirements.

Before habitat disturbance: Pre-clearance preparation

• Complete a targeted pre-clearance survey of all suitable habitat, including dense heath, litter, logs, bark, burrows, hollows and retained vegetation beside the work area.
• Mark retained habitat, shelter features, access limits and no-go areas before machinery enters the site.
• Use exclusion fencing where it can keep machinery, vehicles and people out of retained habitat without blocking animal movement between connected habitat patches.
• Inspect the footprint immediately before clearing and repeat the inspection after any major change in fire, weather, access or work timing.
• Confirm that the proposed relocation area contains suitable dense cover, litter, shelter and connectivity and is not already occupied at a level that would create additional risk.

During habitat disturbance: Daily site controls

Use staged clearing and active supervision because the species shelters on or near the ground and may be missed by a rapid inspection. The fauna spotter catcher must have authority to pause work whenever an animal or suitable shelter feature is encountered.

• Brief operators each day on the exclusion zones, clearing sequence, spotter catcher signals and animal handling procedures.
• Inspect the active work area at the start of each shift and after breaks, overnight shutdowns, heavy rain, fire or changes to the clearing footprint.
• Clear vegetation in stages towards retained habitat so animals have an opportunity to move into suitable cover rather than being isolated by machinery.
• Keep the spotter catcher in direct communication with the machine operator and maintain a clear line of sight to the active clearing area.
• Prevent access by domestic cats and reduce conditions that attract feral cats and foxes to retained or relocation habitat.

During habitat disturbance: Habitat feature handling

• Stop and inspect dense heath, litter, bark strips, small rotting logs, burrows and tree hollows before removing or crushing them.
• Retain logs, bark and litter in place wherever practicable, and place any approved salvage in nearby retained habitat with similar cover.
• Do not burn, chip or bury habitat features until the spotter catcher has checked them and the fauna management plan permits the action.
• Treat hollows and burrows as potential shelter or nest sites even when no animal is visible.
• Avoid creating open, heavily disturbed ground between retained patches because loss of cover can increase exposure to fox and cat predation.

During habitat disturbance: Animal encounters and stop-work triggers

• Stop work immediately if a White-footed Dunnart, unidentified dunnart, injured animal, dependent young, active nest or occupied shelter feature is found within the work area.
• Allow an uninjured animal to move into nearby retained habitat where this can occur safely and the approved fauna procedure allows it.
• Only an appropriately authorised and experienced person may capture, handle, identify or relocate the animal.
• Use the minimum handling time needed for identification, health assessment and release, and do not attempt foot examination unless the person is authorised and trained.
• Relocate an uninjured animal only to nearby retained habitat that provides dense cover, litter and shelter, and record the release location.
• Send injured animals to an approved wildlife carer or veterinarian under the project response procedure, and record the outcome.
• Keep work stopped until the spotter catcher confirms that the animal has moved, has been safely relocated, or that the approved authority has provided further direction.

During habitat disturbance: Records and incident reporting

• Record the date, time, location, habitat, activity, animal condition, identification confidence, handling, release location and personnel for every encounter.
• Record all injuries, deaths, escapes, failed searches, damaged exclusion fencing and departures from the approved clearing sequence.
• Notify the project environmental officer and relevant regulator or permit holder when a threatened species incident or unexpected concentration of animals occurs.
• Update the work plan when detections show that retained habitat, buffers, staging or relocation arrangements are not adequate.

After habitat disturbance: Post-clearance checks

Post-clearance work must check that no animals or dependent young remain in the footprint and that retained habitat has not been isolated or degraded. Monitoring should focus on whether cover and shelter return and whether the species continues to use the retained area.

• Complete a final inspection of the cleared footprint, debris piles, retained edges, logs, bark, hollows and burrows before removing fauna controls.
• Inspect any staged or salvaged habitat features for trapped, injured or sheltering animals before they are moved again.
• Check retained habitat for edge damage, sediment, dust, weeds, changed drainage, fire impacts and loss of litter or ground cover.
• Keep exclusion fencing, no-go markers and access controls in place until the environmental officer confirms that the risk from the works has ended.

After habitat disturbance: Monitoring and adaptive management

Published recovery observation: In the Eastern Otways, dunnarts recolonised sites burnt in 1983 after an absence of three years and were recorded there until 18 years after fire.

• Use repeat camera trapping, artificial cover or approved trapping at retained habitat and relocation areas where the project approval requires evidence of continued use.
• Use the same camera locations, operating periods and detection measures where possible so results can be compared between monitoring rounds.
• Investigate declining detections, increased cat or fox activity, loss of dense cover and unexpected fire effects, and change site management when these risks occur.
• Continue monitoring through the post-fire or post-clearing recovery period because the species may recolonise disturbed areas but may also disappear as vegetation succession changes.

After habitat disturbance: Close-out and offsets

• Submit survey, encounter, relocation, injury, mortality and monitoring records to the relevant authority and wildlife database.
• Provide the final report to the project environmental officer, including maps of cleared and retained habitat, habitat feature treatment, monitoring results and any non-compliance.
• Maintain any offset, compensation or restoration commitment required by the approval, and do not treat an offset as a substitute for avoiding or minimising habitat loss.
• Review the fauna management plan after the works and record actions needed for future stages.

Rehabilitation actions: Restore cover and shelter

Rehabilitation should recreate the low, dense and structurally varied cover used by the White-footed Dunnart for foraging, shelter and nesting. Prioritise locally appropriate native vegetation and natural shelter features over simplified grass or bare ground.

Habitat types: Coastal tussock grassland and sedgeland, wet heath, and forest or woodland with more than 50 percent dense heathy understorey or mid-storey cover.

Known nest sites: Burrows in dense litter, bark nests in tree-ferns, rotting logs, tree hollows, wood piles and other sheltered structures.

• Replant locally appropriate native heath, sedgeland, tussock and understorey species that rebuild dense ground and mid-storey cover.
• Retain or reinstate leaf litter, bark strips, small rotting logs and other ground shelter in arrangements similar to nearby occupied habitat.
• Reinstate or protect suitable burrows and tree hollows where they occur, and use nest boxes only where the management plan identifies a need and provides an appropriate design and monitoring method.
• Avoid creating large areas of uniform, open ground because the species uses dense cover as a refuge and shelters under bark, logs, in burrows and in hollows.
• Link revegetated areas to existing retained habitat so animals can move through cover rather than across exposed ground.

Rehabilitation actions: Manage weeds, predators and fire

Fire response: The species has been recorded in regrowth 4 to 16 years after fire in the Otway Ranges, with peak numbers at 4 to 9 years after fire.

Fire risk: Intense extensive fires can kill animals, remove cover and nesting sites, and increase short-term predation risk.

• Control weeds without removing the dense native cover, litter and shelter needed by the species.
• Limit access by feral cats and foxes to retained and rehabilitated habitat, and monitor predator activity after clearing and fire.
• Design planned fire regimes to retain unburnt refuges, shelter and habitat continuity, and avoid applying burns uniformly across occupied or newly rehabilitated habitat.
• Use fire planning that recognises the species' association with early to mid successional vegetation while retaining enough cover for shelter, nesting and prey.

Rehabilitation actions: Measure rehabilitation success

Monitoring reference: A Victorian survey used camera trapping for 3 to 4 weeks at each site and recorded fire severity and species detections by site.

• Monitor survival and growth of planted native cover, ground cover density, litter depth, log and bark retention, hollow availability, weed cover and predator activity.
• Use repeat nocturnal cameras, artificial cover or approved trapping to test whether dunnarts use rehabilitated areas.
• Compare monitoring results with nearby retained habitat and record both detections and standardised non-detections.
• Set project-specific success measures for continuous connected cover, functioning shelter features, low weed and predator impacts, and confirmed use by the target species where the approval requires species outcomes.
• Continue monitoring long enough to capture vegetation recovery and the species' response to changing successional stages.

Sources

• [PDF] Sminthopsis leucopus - White-footed Dunnart, bio-prd-naturekit-public-data.s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com: https://bio-prd-naturekit-public-data.s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/species_assessments/Sminthopsis_leucopus_11069.pdf
• Surveys and management guidelines for dunnarts in ..., Victorian Government: https://www.ari.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0028/34966/VBRRA-P30-web-rev.pdf
• 1, Australian Government DCCEEW: https://www.dcceew.gov.au/sites/default/files/env/pages/a117ced5-9a94-4586-afdb-1f333618e1e3/files/21-ind.pdf