Mycophagy among Australian mammals is widespread and likely plays an important role in the dispersal and maintenance of fungi communities within the ecosystem. While many native mycophagous species have declined greatly over the past 200 years, the quenda (Isoodon fusciventer) has remained abundant across southwest Western Australia, persisting even in urban and peri-urban environments. As omnivores, quenda are known to feed opportunistically on fungi, but what type and how this changes with urbanisation has not yet been investigated.
Quenda scats were collected from foraging digs at thirteen bushland remnants on the Swan Coastal Plain south of Perth. Scats were analysed using high throughput sequencing to identify the fungi present. More than 800 fungal molecular operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were found across the 60 unique scats examined. There was an average of 46.1 OTUs per scat sample (range 8–120), with a significant negative correlation between the number of OTUs per sample and the distance from the urbanisation (Rs=-0.348, p=0.007). Scat fungal community was correlated with vegetation condition in bushland remnants, with a greater diversity of fungi from scats collected from natural bushland reserves compared to suburban remnants. Over half of the fungi OTUs detected (57.6%) putatively formed macroscopic fruiting bodies – fungi that would intuitively be most attractive to bandicoots, and a high proportion of the OTUs identified were known to be mycorrhizal (47.8%). Mycorrhizal fungi facilitate soil nutrients and water uptake for their host plant, playing an important role in healthy plant functioning. The consumption and dispersal of mycorrhizal fungi in quenda scat may have flow-on effects for plant health through mycorrhizal fungi dispersal.
This data gives us insight, not only into the fungal component of quenda diet, but also allow us to draw inferences about the fungal community found across the urban interface and the potential role of quenda in dispersing mycorrhizal fungi.