The loss of suitable macro-and microhabitats can negatively affect an animal's ability to persist in an area, ultimately leading to range contractions. The western quoll Dasyurus geoffroii is a wide-ranging Australian carnivore that has suffered a catastrophic range contraction since European settlement, partly due to landscape fragmentation. Bauxite mining in the jarrah forest of south-western Australia, where western quoll currently persist, disturbs and fragments large areas, potentially reducing habitat available to quolls. We examined macro-and microhabitat use by western quolls in fragmented landscapes containing remnants of unmined jarrah forest and bauxite mine restoration to determine the impacts of this fragmentation on its ecology. Specifically, we aimed to identify the microhabitats required by western quoll for denning and movement and if post-mining restored forests provided these microhabitats. Quolls used restoration of varying ages for denning. They were adaptable in den substrates used, selecting subterranean burrows associated with surface rocks in restoration where preferred substrates used in unmined forest (hollow logs and stumps) were less available. Logs were also an important microhabitat used by quolls to traverse through unmined forest and we recommend more logs are restored post-mining. Our results suggest that post-mining restoration provides a permeable matrix for western quolls, and individuals quickly re-colonize restored areas and use available habitat, particularly for denning. Important microhabitats such as logs, stumps and large hollowbearing trees are relatively sparse in restored forest. Our study does not explicitly consider the potential effects of this on quoll survival and demography so further studies of breeding success and long-term survival across multiple generations of quoll are recommended. We concluded that forest restoration can be an important strategy in managing fragmented landscapes for wide-ranging species by providing pathways for movement, habitat for re-colonization and improved landscape connectivity for these species.bs_bs_banner Animal Conservation. Print

Groundwater levels in the northern jarrah forest have declined at rates up to 0.5 m year−1 owing to increased aridity in south‐western Australia in the last 40 years. The forest has also been mined and rehabilitated resulting in significant areas of postmining forest. We tested the impact of declining groundwater levels and mining on evapotranspiration by jarrah forest overstorey. We hypothesized that trees in jarrah forest are facultative phreatophytes (will use groundwater where available but are not reliant on it) and water use per unit overstorey leaf area index (Los) of postmining forest is the same as that of postharvest forest. We measured sapflow at 7 sites in the northern jarrah forest and measured rainfall interception by the canopy at 9 sites. Stemflow was measured at 3 sites. Shallow depth to groundwater was associated with a larger ratio of transpiration per unit leaf area (Eos/Los), but there was little difference in Eos/Los between postmining and postharvest jarrah forest. Eos/Los ranged from 250 ‐ 340 mm year−1 (m2 m−2)−1 at sites where depth to groundwater was >15 m but was up to 400–500 mm year−1 (m2 m−2)−1 at some sites with shallow groundwater. Based on relationships between transpiration, rainfall interception, and Los, it is possible to estimate overstorey evapotranspiration in jarrah forest from Los, especially if spatial layers are available for depth to groundwater. We conclude that jarrah forest is conservative in its water use and likely to be resilient to a drying climate. Management implications for the northern jarrah forest are briefly discussed.