Gilbert's potoroos Year 9 science
Gilbert's potoroos is one of 4 species of potoroos. They are well known as rat kangaroo and they an extended family. These species weight approximately 1100g and are 270mm in length and they have a tail that is has approximately length of 210mm. These species are unfortunately endangered due to an incident that caused 20 Gilbert's potoroos to die. These species are distributed within South-west Australia near the Margaret river and are found now where else in the world.
These species have webbed feet which allow them to hop from place to place and escape from predators they also have a long hairless tail which keep them balanced when moving. These species have fur lined pouches inside their mouths which help them to retain any moister they also have huge eyes which allow them to see in the dark and sense any movement coming towards them. These species have large ears which allows them to have incredible ears and sense prey.
Gilbert's potoroos do not drink a lot of water but which means they get their water from seeds, fungi they eat, their body's are specialized to retain water. These species have adapted their life styles to be nocturnal which means they only active at night. These species are carnivorous which means they eat seeds and they have pouches on the sides of their mouths which helps them eat and store a lot more food, that they can take back to there barrels.
Gilbert's potoroos eat truffles and fungi found underground this transfers nutrients to these species. It has long webbed feet and front curved claws feet which it uses for digging food its body has a large amount of fur which helps it from insulation. These species have a long curved snout which helps it smell it's surroundings this is common in the potoroos community.
These species were thought to be extincted for thousands of years because their numbers decreased rapidly decreased today they are the one of rarest mammals in Australia. These species were once wild spread throughout south-west Australia but now are only found in Mount Gardner in the rain-forest areas.
distribution of this species was restricted to areas of high rainfall in south-west Australia due to many feral predators such as European red foxes and wild cats and a bush fire incident which cause over 20 Gilbert's potoroos to die by restricting these dry areas this will help the community of potoroos stay alive.
They eat truffles and fungi underground fungi transfer water and nutrients to the trees and the trees transfer nutrients to the truffles this transfer enables trees to retain precious water from the soil because the fungi covers the roofs and from a protective barrier to keep them moist. these species have a economical role in the environment to by persevering Australia’s forest by losing these species we lose the property and health of our ecosystem the potoroos, truffles and rain forest trees work together to greatly improve the function of our ecosystem
Many biotic factors affect this species such as predators: In the food web above it is clearly states that feral cats and foxes are a treat to gilberts potoroos. These species are one of the smallest species that live in the rain forest because of their size survival is an issue, hunting for food is a problem because they are amongst bigger and more viscous animals who need a large amount of food everyday. These species are viewed as bait that larger animals hunt for.
Not only do animals impact on the survival of gilberts potoroos but us individuals do to. Organization threaten to destroy the habitat that these species are restricted to liven in, without the rain forest area that these species live in they may not even exist because every else is a treat to these small species. Another issue is Die-back disease this is a disease that cause considerable changes to the floristic structure of the habitat causing little food for these species.
Females can produce when they are less than 12 months old, but males are proven to not mature until they reach around two years of age. They spend three to four months in the pouch before coming out for the first time at around 150g body weight. Female Gilbert's Potoroos can produce young at any time of year. They are major differences between Abiotic and Biotic impacts in a gilberts potoroos environment some of the differences are Abiotic: Food sources, reproduction, disease, Biotic: Plants , animals, bacteria, fungi, protection
"When we lose a animal species to extinction we lose part of our family" Gilbert's potoroo were first discovered in 1840 by naturalist John Gilbert These species were significantly decreasing in 1900 and was thought to be extinct and was soon re discovered in 1194 in two peoples bay western Australia. In order to protect these endangered species organization are forced to restrict areas to the protoroos to keep them safe and alive.
There are many endangered marsupial that are currently in our environment, but Potoroos are the most endangered marsupial in the Australia there are only less than 60 of these species distributed in restricted areas in western Australia. Ever since they were recorded as a endangered species our government has been trying to save these endangered marsupials without these species Australia rain-forest will be beautiful creatures. Potoroos have a egoistical and economical role in the ecosystem in preserving Australia rain forest by losing this animal we lose the prosperity and health of our ecosystem this is why people are striving to keep these species alive.
Organization are striving to find improvements to make in order to keep these species alive, they are a lot of remarkable changes that have increased the amount of potoroos alive today such as restricting areas for these species but this is not enough the numbers of potoroos alive today are still low and need to change overall the progress will get there in the end because the smallest changes can make a bigger difference.
During the time it was first discovered the number wore incredible low but change has happened. There has been dramatic change in numbers, health issue Gilbert potoroos are less endangered than in 1900 and are heather than every because they have been injected with medication that will stop them from getting diseases or sick overall organization have succeed in providence and increase the numbers of these species.