New research has found how western ringtail possums are adapting to climate change in South West WA.Researchers say the Margaret River region will be a refuge for possums affected by climate change in the future.
A study by University of Western Australia masters student Grace Marsh and her supervisor Sean Buckley set out to understand how the possums had adapted and would respond to climate change. "So this is probably where a lot of the challenges are for the possums, that this is now pushing beyond their biological limits."It was not all doom and gloom for the species with the research finding possums were less vulnerable south of Perth, along the coastline between Margaret River and Walpole.
Ms Marsh took tissue samples and DNA that allowed her to study local adaptation to climate and predict how vulnerable the possums were to climate change.