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panel 9

Invertebrates

Although invertebrates, including insects, worms, spiders and other wriggly crawly flying things make up by far the greatest number of species on the Volcanic Plains, very little is known about them. Studies of invertebrates on the volcanic plains really didn’t get underway until the 1990s. Insects and other invertebrates that do attract attention generally do so because they are regarded as pests, an unfortunate way to put emphasis on this animal group, when in fact they have multiple roles in the grasslands ecosystem. Obvious roles include plant pollination by many varieties of bees, flies, beetles and wasps, while indigenous dung beetles take marsupial droppings deeper into their holes in the soil, bringing carbon and nitrogen taken up by the grass back into the earth, where even less noticeable invertebrates transform organic material into rich soil underground. A huge variety of ant species clear all kinds of debris, including animal carcasses, and take seeds into their nests which can germinate, while protected underground. Invertebrates have played a crucial role in the health and dynamics of the plains ecosystems and with the loss of habitat and degradation of the remaining fragments it is possible many types of invertebrates have disappeared before they were ever found. One species currently under threat is the Golden Sun Moth. The female is flightless so habitat loss and fragmentation has been highly threatening. Special programs have been developed to try and save the Moth.

Mount Rothwell

There are currently a number of attempts at recovery programs for animals on the edge of survival. Several programs are carried out at the Mount Rothwell Biodiversity Interpretation Centre, a 400 hectare property with a large area enclosed by an eleven kilometre electrified predator proof fence, 45 miles south west of Melbourne near the You Yangs. Here small ground marsupials graze and hop in numbers not seen since the first arrival of Europeans. Management and research is conducted in consultation with a number of government wildlife agencies and research organisations including the Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE), Zoos Victoria, the Eastern Barred Bandicoot Recovery Team, Monash University and the University of Melbourne. Programs include the conservation of some of Australia’s most threatened species, such as the Eastern Barred Bandicoot, Brush Tailed Rock Wallaby and Eastern Quoll.

 

 

 

 

 

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