Page 3276 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 23 August 2017
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Protecting an area of land from being developed or further cleared is not enough to help the ecosystem fully regenerate. Part of this effort to return the environment to its natural condition includes removing the threats present in the nature itself. After beginning collaborations with the ANU and CSIRO in both reserves, it became clear in 2005 that Mulligans Flat reserve could include a sanctuary free from cats, foxes and rabbits and that this would help establish an environment hospitable to native species that were previously extinct in the region.
Having now been established, the sanctuary is protected not only by an 11.5 kilometre long fence but a cleared buffer zone between the fence and Gungahlin homes. The area was cleared of foxes and feral cats as well as rabbits and kangaroos, which have had a heavy effect on the landscape and vegetation.
Since the creation of the sanctuary, researchers have had a home to start reintroducing species that went extinct in the area 40 to 100 years ago. Thanks to Tasmanian ecologists’ effort to preserve and restore the wildlife populations, several small mammals have been re-established in the ACT from populations in our southernmost state. Our 36 eastern bettongs were released into the sanctuary in 2012. The critters are like rabbit-sized kangaroos and their population has since sprouted to 350. The eastern bettongs burrow for truffles and other food, aerating the soil and enabling new native plants to establish roots in the loosened soil. Quolls had also vanished from the ACT after 50 years but were reintroduced in 2016 from a Tasmanian population. As a native predator, quolls can now be included on the reserve to help complete the food chain that herbivores are now naturally replenishing. Bush stone-curlews and New Holland mice have also been reintroduced.
Other charismatic species like echidnas, red-necked wallabies, stumpy-tailed lizards and antechinus are now rebounding, relieved from the pressure of foxes on their population. The sanctuary intends to eventually include goannas and bandicoots. The ANU is working with the reserve to help monitor the animals’ condition and track their behaviour across the reserve.
While the animals make for a great poster child for the sanctuary, it is important not to forget the immense work the plant life does too. Several of the experiments have involved the scattering of 2,000 tonnes of large logs like fallen trees, known as course wooden debris. Researchers are now monitoring the ways in which flora and fauna are interacting with the dead material. This relationship and the important role it plays in maintaining the careful balance within an ecosystem had previously been largely prevented by farmers who had cleared the land to drive stock.
Jason Cummings, the general manager of the Woodlands and Wetlands Trust, highlights just exactly why Mulligans Flat is so unique. He says:
Importantly, Mulligans Flat is not a remote elitist locked-up space. Although the fox-proof fences look foreboding, this is a place borne of and for the community.
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