Why the Gilbert's potoroo in Australia and the Canberra orchid spider are being endangered?

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1.Threatening Processes

The most significant threats to the survival of Gilbert's Potoroo have been identified as:



Fire

The only known wild population of Gilbert's Potoroo exists in dense, long unburnt vegetation that is potentially highly vulnerable to wildfire. Fire exclusion is thus an extremely high priority in the protection of the wild population. The captive colony was established at least partly to provide insurance against the loss of the single known population through a catastrophic fire event.



Feral predators

Gilbert's Potoroo is within the Critical Weight Range (35g to 5kg) of mammals thought to be most susceptible to decline. It is in the prey size range of both Foxes and Cats, both of which are known to occur in the Two Peoples Bay area. Dietary analysis of the gut contents and faeces of a feral Cat trapped at Mt Gardner in 2001 revealed that it had consumed both Quenda (Bandicoot) and Noisy Scrub-bird. Control of feral Cats would thus also be beneficial to other threatened mammals and birds in the area.



Dieback disease Phytophthora cinnamomi

Potoroos are believed to be present only in areas of the Reserve that are free of Dieback infection which can cause considerable changes to the floristic structure of the habitat. Gilbert's Potoroo feeds primarily on hypogeal fungi, many of which are mycorrhizal. Plant dieback disease is considered to be a major threat to the continued survival of the potoroo by altering vegetation structure or eliminating species that are hosts to the mycorrhizal fungi on which they feed.



Clearing of vegetation adjacent to Two Peoples Bay

The population of Gilbert's Potoroo on the Mount Gardner headland has the potential to expand through the dispersal of young through adjacent bushland corridors into suitable habitat nearby (especially near Mount Manypeaks). Some of this linking bushland occurs on private land. Unless these corridors are protected from clearing, the chance of successful dispersal to new areas will be very small.



http://www.potoroo.org/conservation.html...



2.Key threats to the Canberra Spider-orchid include inappropriately timed fuel reduction burns, heavy vehicle damage from firebreak slashing, grazing by kangaroos, possible illegal collection and activities related to its proximity to urban areas such as trampling and bicycle damage, encroachment of weeds and new road building.



http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversi...