Fox, Georgia (2025) A comparison of the fungal diets of sympatric small mammals and the methods used to study them. Honours thesis, University of Southern Queensland. (Unpublished)
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Text (Whole thesis)
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Abstract
Fungi play a significant role in ecosystems as decomposers, nutrient recyclers, plant pathogens and as symbionts of plants. Knowledge of how fungi function and interact within their given habitat is essential to understanding ecosystem functioning and will inform management approaches. The dispersal of fungi can be mediated by wind, water or by animals through consumption, an interaction known as mycophagy. Mammalian mycophagists are important in many ecosystems, particularly in the Australian context. However, the methods used to study the fungal diets of mammals remain inconsistent. The project aimed to compare the fungal diets of sympatric small mammal species in south-east Queensland. Additionally, this project aimed to compare spore morphology and DNA metabarcoding, the two predominant methods used in studies of this kind, in their efficiency and effectiveness. Mammals were live trapped to collect scat samples. Spore morphology analysis was conducted using light microscopy with spore traits examined using an existing key and comparison with known taxa observed at field sites. DNA was extracted from scat samples and sent for sequencing at the Australian Genome Research Facility (AGRF) with returned sequences phylogenetically analysed. The two methods were compared by analysing the fungal species richness able to be identified in each sample and a cost efficiency analysis was conducted encompassing cost and time taken to achieve fungal identifications. All mammals tested were shown to consume fungi and two novel mycophages were identified with 19 taxa identified through spore morphology analysis and 20 taxa identified through DNA metabarcoding. Results differed slightly in the species and functional groups of fungal taxa detected between the two methods with DNA metabarcoding revealing a higher median richness of fungi detected in samples but cost-efficiency showed no significant differences between the methods. The research presented here shows that mammals are important vectors for fungal dispersal in southeast Queensland, with the results highlighting that all mammal species considered are comparably mycophagous. It is hoped that this will further highlight the need for dynamic environmental management approaches and that further research will be conducted into small mammal mycophagy.
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| Item Type: | Thesis (Non-Research) (Honours) |
|---|---|
| Item Status: | Live Archive |
| Faculty/School / Institute/Centre: | Current – Faculty of Health, Engineering and Sciences - School of Agriculture and Environmental Science (1 Jan 2022 -) |
| Supervisors: | Edwards, Meg; Dearnaley, John |
| Qualification: | Bachelor of Science (Honours) |
| Date Deposited: | 06 Jan 2026 02:51 |
| Last Modified: | 06 Jan 2026 02:51 |
| URI: | https://sear.unisq.edu.au/id/eprint/53069 |
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