Study area
Our study was conducted in the northeast Otway Ranges in Victoria, Australia (38°24′S, 144°1′E). The 2,471-hectare study area comprises eucalypt woodlands, heathlands, and wet shrublands (Figure 1). This part of the Otway Ranges has a mean maximum temperature of 18.4°C and an average annual rainfall of 627 mm (BoM 2021). The dominant overstory vegetation includes messmate (Eucalyptus obliqua ) and brown stringybark (E. baxteri ), with common mid-storey and ground cover species including the myrtle wattle (Acacia myrtifolia ), prickly tea tree (Leptospermum continentale ), and austral grass tree (Xanthorrhoea australis ). The Traditional Owners of this land are the Wadawurrung People.
The region supports a diverse terrestrial mammal community which has suffered considerable decline in recent decades, including the near-threatened long-nosed potoroo (Potorous tridactylus ), the vulnerable swamp antechinus (Antechinus minimus maritimus ) and white-footed dunnart (Sminthopsis leucopus), and the endangered southern brown bandicoot (Isoodon obesulus ) (Wayne et al., 2017; Wilson & Aberton, 2006; Wilson et al., 2001; Wilson et al., 2017; Wilson & Garkaklis, 2020). Foxes and cats are the largest terrestrial predators in the region. Fox control, using baits containing 1080 poison (sodium fluoroacetate), is regularly undertaken by land managers, although the impact on fox occurrence is likely modest (Robley et al. 2019). There is no broadscale management of cats.
There are multiple townships in the region which experience significant seasonal increases in population during the summer months (ODBPC 2021), therefore the risk posed by wildfire to people and assets is considerable. Major wildfires burnt the study area in 1939 (Black Friday; 240,000 ha) and 1983 (Ash Wednesday; 40,000 ha). Prescribed fire is regularly applied to minimise this risk (Gazzard et al. 2020). Much of the area within our study site experienced 1–2 prescribed burns between 1988 and 2018 (DEECA 2020), and there were 110 prescribed fires (covering approximately 70,800 ha) planned for the region between 2021 to 2024 (ODBPC 2021).