The Hidden Value of Our Urban Insects by Jessica Kurylo

The ESA Bulletin

VOLUME 50, ISSUE 3 SEPTEMBER 2020

CONTENTS

The hidden value of 1 urban insects. The hidden value of our urban insects By Jessica Kurylo.

Jessica Kurylo Most of us live in urbanised areas, thus it is Small animals, big 4 University of California, Los Angeles where most of us will have our first encounter (if consequences: the University of Melbourne not most encounters) with inchworms, spiders, impacts of bushfires beetles, flies, bees and—most everyone’s on Australia’s inverte- hether they represent the good, the favourite—butterflies. However, our recent study brate species. bad, the ugly, or the prettiest little failed to detect about 75% of southeast By .Jess Marsh, Payal winged gems you ever did see, urban W Melbourne’s regional butterfly fauna within its Bal & John Woinarski. insects surround and greatly outnumber us. This neighbourhoods. Expectedly, both butterfly isn’t a bad thing, though I concede big spiders on species richness and abundance decreased with your bedroom wall are not pleasant and we don’t increasing impervious surface cover. But while A recipe for building 6 want more mozzies living in our gardens. On the ecological niches in abundance made a noticeable decline, starting at plus side, many insects provide ecosystem services schools. about 25% impervious surface cover, richness that directly benefit us, so maybe we should be By Blake Alexander made a more linear decline. Butterflies are no better neighbours by giving a little more care and Simmons. different to other wildlife; their communities attention to understanding them. depend on the availability of different resources

Developing ecological 8 understanding through play. By Sam Crosby.

Communicating ecolo- 9 gy to children through books – the importance of tree hollows. By Sam Lloyd.

Butterflies found within urban areas, such as this Australian painted lady (Vanessa kershawi), provide a multitude of benefits to both the urban ecosystem and humans. Credit: Jessica Kurylo. P a g e 2

across the landscape. As adults, butterflies need food richness and overall abundances with just some easy resources such as floral nectar/pollen, sap, or rotting fruit. management and planting choices, such as installing To reproduce, they require larval host plants, with needs wildlife gardens. But if you build it, will they come? ranging from specific (only able to use 1 or 2 species), to generalist (able to use a range of plants from different While the literature indicates an overall benefit of wildlife families). In both larval and adult phases, butterflies also gardening to biodiversity, our study showed little effect on need places to rest and/or shelter. the local butterfly community. We found no difference in the butterfly community in wildlife gardens, compared to Similar to the butterflies, floral and larval host plant traditional gardens, though native floral abundance was resources decreased with increasing impervious surface higher in wildlife gardens. What is important to note here cover ( see Kurylo et al. 2020, and Kurylo 2018 for further though, is that this gardening program was in areas details). Across southeast consisting of between 30 and Melbourne’s neighbourhoods, “...we can make our urban areas 50% impervious cover. Thus, nectar providing floral more friendly to butterflies by the butterfly community they abundance (native and non- providing resources that can were serving was already native) had a small positive fairly filtered by the gardens’ effect on total butterfly increase both their species landscape context. Generalist abundance as did larval host richness and overall butterflies (in terms of larval plant species richness and abundances with just some easy host plants specialization) cover. However, exotic management and planting dominated the butterfly flowers had a negative effect choices” community above 20% on the abundance of the less impervious surface cover. common butterflies within the There is nothing wrong with community throughout the year. Meanwhile, butterfly this community, they are still pretty and a delight to watch species richness was positively affected by the availability in the garden. But they are not the butterflies most in need of remnant vegetation, tree cover, and larval host plant of our being better neighbours, nor the ones most often species richness (see Kurylo 2018, Kurylo et al. 2020 for used to engage the public in biodiversity-oriented further details). These results would seem to indicate that programs. we can make our urban areas more friendly to butterflies by providing resources that can increase both their species

Urban greenspaces are important habitat for urban insects, such as this Australian Painted Lady larva (Vanessa kershawi) at Burnley Gardens, The University of Melbourne. Credit: Jessica Kurylo.

The ESA Bulletin P a g e 3

Common Grass Blues (Zizina labradus) mating in a recently mown lawn along Windella Quadrant, Doncaster. These are small butterflies, most people don't even notice them flitting around their yards. They readily use exoctic clovers as larval host plants, thus they are common in urban areas. Credit: Jessica Kurylo. What to do? Urban areas already have some of the resources our insect neighbours need; if they didn’t, insects wouldn’t be here. But with a better understanding of how the spatial and temporal availability of their resource needs “ ...we can make better affects their distribution, we can make better informed informed management choices management choices to not only help the ones present, but to not only help the ones perhaps start to improve resource availability for those less present, but perhaps start to common species with more specialized needs in a genuine improve resource availability or targeted manner—whichever is necessary. Allocating for those less common species limited financial resources for urban conservation-oriented with more specialized needs ” programs would also be helped by having more subtle information, like that presented here, for Melbourne’s butterflies.

Big and colourful, butterflies can be a gateway to what they do for us goes wholly unnoticed. Our blind appreciating insects. While they make some limited actions have led to general declines in insect richness and contributions to pollination, there are loads of other insects abundance in urban areas. They need us to be better such as ants, flies, beetles, bees, and even lawn shrimp neighbours. We can start by trying to understand their (yes, you read that right) doing far more for your veggie needs better, so we can improve our management choices. patch. They are pollinating the fruit and veg, recycling your organic manures (lawn clippings, fallen leaves, etc.) For more information, contact Jessica here, or follow her back into the soil to improve its health, and they are on Twitter (@SoilsFlutterBy). ¤ keeping other insects and pest species in check. Most of P a g e 4 Small animals, big consequences: the impacts of bushfires on Australia’s invertebrate species Jess Marsh¹,², Payal Bal³, John Woinarski¹ This unfortunately happened with the Kangaroo Island ¹ Charles Darwin University Assassin Spider, only known from one conservation ² South Australian Museum reserve on Kangaroo Island, and that reserve was burnt in ³ University of Melbourne 2020 in its entirety by high severity fire. uch attention has been given to the impacts of the recent bushfires on Australia’s iconic Specific ecological traits, for example living in litter or M vertebrates. Species such as the koala and the vegetation, can increase a species’ vulnerability to fire. mountain pygmy possum have become the public image However, to add to the challenges of understanding fire for the impacts of fire on Australia’s wildlife. However, impact on invertebrates, traits can vary with life stage. far less coverage has been given to the plight of Take for example the cicada, which as larvae may spend invertebrates, the little powerhouses of Australia’s years underground, protected from fire; but as adults, live biodiversity. Yet this group contains some of Australia’s on vegetation and are more vulnerable. Surviving the most threatened species and those that are at highest risk initial fire impact is also only one element in post-fire of extinction following fire. survival. Fire-induced changes to the ecosystem, such as incineration of the understorey, are likely to alter food Fire impacts on invertebrates supply, increase exposure to predation, to fluctuations in temperature and relative humidity, and therefore to Over 90% of the world’s animal species are invertebrates. desiccation (to which many They are highly diverse, invertebrates are highly abundant and perform vulnerable). crucial functional roles in the ecosystem—as “…pre-fire baseline data for The task of elucidating the detritivores, pollinators, many species is patchy and based impact of fires on herbivores, food for on limited, often historical invertebrates is large and vertebrates, and food for records.” complex. A key challenge is each other. Invertebrates the vast number of are essential for ecosystem undescribed species – for function, and it is these species we have no important to understand the impacts of the fires on them, robust way of knowing how many may have gone extinct, and which species are now at most risk of extinction. or are on the verge of extinction. Even for described species, the challenges are formidable. A shortage in Ecological or life history traits significantly impact a funding for invertebrate research, a paucity in surveys species’ susceptibility to fire. Species at particular risk of and a scant taxonomic workforce has resulted in a extinction are short range endemic taxa whose highly shortfall in scientific knowledge on what species we restricted distributions, reliance on specialist habitat and have, their diversity, distribution, ecological roles, or low dispersal abilities mean that a fire event could conservation risk. This coupled with the sheer number feasibly impact a species’ entire range and population. and diversity of species means that pre-fire baseline data A B C

The Kangaroo Island micro-trapdoor spider (Moggridgea rainbowi) is endemic to Kangaroo Island, the species known range was heavily impacted by fire. (a) adult female; (b) pre-fire, young spider in a burrow (which they share with the female); (c) burnt burrow. Credit: Jess Marsh.

The ESA Bulletin P a g e 5

The Kangaroo Island robust fan-winged katydid (Psacadonotus insulanus). IUCN listed and endemic to Kangaroo Island, most of its known range was impacted by fire. Credit: R. Glatz. for many species is patchy and based on limited, often Key outcomes of the project will be a justified and historical records. prioritised list of invertebrate species impacted by fire, the identification of post-fire threats to recovery, and the A way forward: prioritising species and assessing fire development of advice on threat management actions most susceptibility needed for priority species to achieve recovery. Mapping With funding from the Australian government, a new will be used to identify fire-impacted ecological National Environmental Science Program project was communities that are likely to be of importance for developed to tackle some of these challenges, elucidate the invertebrate endemism or diversity. In some cases, these impact of the 2019 / 2020 bushfires on Australia’s data will be used to inform listings of ecological invertebrate species, and help recover the affected species. communities as priorities for protection and thereby Our project is a continuation of a preliminary post-fire conserving the range of species within. The findings of the impact project, which developed a list of nearly 200 project will lead to a greater understanding of the impact of priority invertebrate species for bushfire recovery. Species fire and the subsequent conservation needs of Australia’s distribution data, drawn from a range of private and public fire-impacted invertebrates. data sources, will be compiled to identify invertebrate For more information, contact Jess here. ¤ species occurring in bioregions impacted by fire. Species that have not been formally described, but are classified to morphospecies and linked to a physical specimen will be included in analyses, increasing the range of species to be assessed. Distributions will be mapped and modelled (where possible) and overlaid with estimated fire extent and severity. The insights drawn will be further improved by incorporating ecological and life-history trait analyses and expert assessments.

In order to achieve the best conservation outcomes this project will be highly collaborative, seeking crucial input from experts and relevant ecological and entomological societies in Australia, working closely with state and federal bodies and data holders. To aid protection of the most vulnerable fire-affected species, support will be provided for the submission of nominations for eligible The Kangaroo Island Assassin Spider (Zephyrarchaea austini), 100% of its known range was burnt. The species species to be assessed for listing as threatened under the has not been found during preliminary surveys, but more EPBC act. research is needed. Credit: M. Rix. P a g e 6 A recipe for building ecological niches in schools Blake Alexander Simmons students about my research on deforestation in Queensland University of Technology Queensland, ran student workshops about science Boston University, USA communication and ‘sci-art’, and assisted them with a variety of challenge tasks, including experiments related t the 1968 IUCN General Assembly, Baba to sustainable living and the intersection of agriculture Dioum famously stated, “In the end, we will and biodiversity. I watched as students’ scientific A conserve only what we love; we will love only curiosity flourished in their investigations, and I listened what we understand, and we will understand only what to teachers’ stories of past struggles with student we are taught.” Amidst ongoing declines in Australian engagement and their gratitude for the program. students’ scientific literacy, growing concerns over STEM representation within the Australian Curriculum, The success of the Wonder of Science program and— and national strategies to increase gender equity in STEM most importantly—the participating students is the result professions, inspiring the next generation of conservation of a dedicated and strategic approach to tackling the scientists and practitioners remains a significant biggest challenges to STEM education in the classroom. challenge in the classroom. So, what are the ingredients for success? Schools—and particularly teachers—have a lot on their plates. Numeracy and literacy remain the top priority in First, every project or experiment brought to the Australian schools; and in many schools and regions classroom needs to be aligned to the existing Australian across Australia they may even be the only priority. An Curriculum. This eliminates competing demands on over-crowded, nationally mandated curriculum leads to students and teachers by providing innovative and competing demands on students and teachers. The desire engaging tasks that meet the existing targets and metrics to develop and maintain a successful ‘formula’ for of performance within the school. Importantly, you achieving high student performance reduces the potential should be able to show how the tasks deliver on the for teachers and principals to explore alternative learning numeracy and literacy goals of the curriculum. and engagement strategies. Given these challenges, how Conservation-related topics, such as ecology and do we find space for conservation sciences? sustainability, offer an exceptional opportunity to integrate science, technology, engineering and maths in a Armed with an arsenal of university and industry way that enhances numeracy and literacy in partnerships, in-school champions, PhD candidates, and interdisciplinary, real-world contexts. Interdisciplinary an inquiry-based approach to learning, the Wonder of teaching enhances critical thinking, and introducing Science program may have the recipe to unlock the conservation applications of STEM early in the potential of the next generation. This University of classroom may ultimately improve student performance Queensland-based program is working to promote a in all of their subjects. STEM culture in schools across Queensland by designing innovative and engaging challenge tasks for students Second, there needs to be STEM leaders within the (Years 5-9), and showcasing their projects and school to propel participation and maintain focus. experiments at regional and state conferences. At the Harnessing the power of local ‘champions’ is an integral heart of the program are the Young Science step in promoting the adoption of conservation education Ambassadors—Queensland PhD candidates that travel to in schools. Once an internal driving force is present, schools across the state to deliver the challenge tasks and opportunities grow rapidly to inspire other teachers and facilitate the students’ success. The program continues to neighbouring schools to participate. For example, expand, having attracted more than 100 Young Science Wonder of Science offers a professional learning program Ambassadors, reaching more than 5,500 students, and for upscaling teachers’ skills, giving them the capacity to facilitating more than 20,000 hours of face-to-face step up as STEM leaders within their schools. With the contact between students and scientists in 2018 alone. right champions in place, these outreach programs can be an annual staple of the science curriculum and a source of During my two years as a Young Science Ambassador school pride. with the program, I spent more than 70 hours interacting with students and teachers across the state. I taught Third, a focus on strategic partnerships between schools, universities and industry is crucial for enabling

The ESA Bulletin P a g e 7

Providing students with extracurricular conservation educational opportunities, such as “Camp Koala” developed by Wonder of Science and the Queensland Trust for Nature, can enrich the Australian Curriculum by illustrating real-world applications of STEM concepts. Credit: Joanna Osborn, Queensland Trust for Nature. widespread success and support. These partnerships can be While these ingredients will help build more ecological useful for building capacity and garnering volunteers, niches within Australian schools, greater systemic change securing continual funding, minimising costs for is ultimately required. However, we can all have an participating schools and enhancing the quality of outreach impact. There is a growing wealth of resources available through add-on experiences outside of the classroom. For to educators looking for conservation-related teaching example, in partnership with the Queensland Trust for materials, such as those from the American Museum of Nature, Wonder of Science organises Camp Koala, an Natural History. Conservation scientists can participate in overnight camp where students collect biodiversity data, science outreach events and programs, like Soapbox plant trees, and learn about biodiversity conservation in Science or CSIRO’s STEM Professionals in Schools. agricultural landscapes. Research Higher Degree students in Queensland can join Wonder of Science as Young Science Ambassadors. Finally, demystifying the mainstream image of scientists is Parents can talk to their child’s science teacher to discuss of paramount importance to tackling equity issues in opportunities for visiting their classroom or giving a guest STEM. Providing students with the opportunity to learn presentation about their research and life as a scientist. from and interact with real scientists in the classroom can increase their excitement and engagement in the school By increasing our individual outreach efforts to schools, visits, allow for more personal connections with scientists we can contribute to an educational system that prepares and inspire interest in pursuing STEM careers. Targeting and inspires students to tackle the greatest conservation self-identity is also important here. More than 70% of challenges of the 21st century. We must remember that Young Science Ambassadors working for Wonder of science isn’t finished until it’s communicated. And at this Science are women, and 20% are international students. By rate, communicating to children might be more effective maximising the racial and gender diversity of scientists than communicating to adults. entering schools, students in underrepresented demographics can meet a scientist who looks like them, For more information, contact Blake here. ¤ which will help establish scientists as role models and encourage students to pursue STEM careers. P a g e 8 Developing ecological understanding through play Sam Crosby Botanic Gardens & Centennial Parklands, NSW undergo their own enquiries whilst being playful and supported by adults. six-year-old girl goes wandering under the Casuarina trees; she stops every now and then to Centennial Parklands, Sydney, is one place where nature A collect something from the ground, place it in play is at the forefront of its environmental education. her pocket and continue with her exploration. Around her The Ian Potter WILD PLAY garden, which opened in the wind whips up some whistles from the branchlets in 2018, has since had thousands of people. With over the trees and the birds sing. Once her pockets can’t seem 12,000 plants laid out in different habitats, and play to take any more treasures, she heads back to her friends affordances including water and sand, the garden is a man and the objects are laid out on the ground. Other parts are -made environment that aims to replicate lost nature play added from her friends’ explorations — sticks, seeds, spaces in an urban environment. leaves and stones. The loose parts are manipulated, sorted and arranged into patterns, shapes and as metaphorical An evaluation project found that children and families symbols. Pieces of nature could become a magic crystal responded with enthusiastic engagement to the nature- at one time and then a bird nest the next. The only rich playscapes and activities they encountered. limitation to this play is the edges of the children’s Responses to the survey questions posed as part of the collective minds, as they set the boundaries of where the evaluation showed that the WILD PLAY garden provides games and role play can go. opportunities and spaces for outdoor nature play that are widely appreciated by a cross section of the local The scenario described above is one that could be community. The garden provides an invitation to explore, considered “Nature Play”. Nature play is self-directed and children respond with curiosity and imagination. intrinsic ecological exploration, where children develop an understanding of their world through awe and wonder Although the WILD PLAY garden is a man-made nature alongside imaginary and sensory engagement. Nature play environment, its nature engagement was widely play is an embodied practice that engages the whole reported as a reason for visiting. Parents understood the body, mind and soul and is fundamental to developing benefits of nature connection for developing ecological environmental and ecological understanding. understanding in their children and made conscious choices to ensure their children can make these Nature play can include a wide range of activities, from connections by letting them play. It may be that in urban building cubby houses, climbing trees, mud play, hunting environments where most of the population live, man- for insects and playing imaginary games. The type of made nature playscapes can still provide a degree of play is influenced by the affordances that the ecological understanding where natural environments are environment around them evokes. This can include the no longer accessible. weather conditions, seasonal patterns and the flora and fauna in the habitats around them. Nature play has been around for as long as there have been children and nature. It has been a fundamental part The role of adults in nature play is to help children of ecological learning in most cultures throughout the develop a sense of curiosity, to enable them to take world. It doesn’t require equipment, technology or an calculated risks and to provide kids with the time and academic level of knowledge in ecology. Today the space to engage with the world around them. Educating importance of nature play to counteract a growing in this field is a fascinating experience, observing how disconnect to the natural world is crucial for its the landscape invites a variety of games and stewardship. It requires access to nature, time and a level conversations, and how with time the children slowly of trust and understanding that children will do what they start to widen their knowledge of animals and plants, and will always do when they get time to play amongst the develop their emotional connection to the natural world. trees and the birds: learn to love and care for each other and the world around them. Nature play is not a formal way of learning; the ecological understanding is not developed through taught For more information, contact Sam here. ¤ lessons or from the knowledge of the educator. It comes from when children have the freedom and time to

The ESA Bulletin P a g e 9 Communicating ecology to children through books – the importance of tree hollows

Sam Lloyd dependent wildlife. Hollow-dependent wildlife are animals South East Queensland Fire and Biodiversity Consortium that depend on hollows in standing trees, both living and dead, to live in for shelter, nesting and protection (from hildren have an instinctive curiosity for the natural predators, amongst other things). Tree hollows provide world. It is important that we nurture this curiosity homes for more than 340 Australian species (about 15% of C and inquisitiveness, as it will encourage them to be Australian animals), including birds, frogs, bats, possums, aware of the ecological challenges facing the world, and gliders, rodents, snakes, small and large lizards, maybe even be more proactive in addressing them. invertebrates (but this book focusses on vertebrate animals) Children’s books can help achieve this by providing a and many others! A Hollow is a Home sets about to engage gateway to exploring biology and ecology from around the young readers in this intriguing and invaluable part of bush world and in a wide variety of ecosystems that children ecology—how it is that wildlife live in tree hollows, which may not otherwise be able to experience first-hand. Here I species use tree hollows, how tree hollows form and how review a recent children’s book on the importance of tree to spot and monitor hollows in your backyard or local area. hollows as habitat for fauna. The book is broken into a series of chapters, which takes Title: A hollow is a home the reader through some of the fundamental aspects of hollows, including why some animals need hollows and Illustrator/Author/Design: Abbie Mitchell and Astred what size they need, how long they take to form (about 200 Hicks years for one 11 – 15cm hollow!), competition between animals for hollows and key threats to tree hollows (e.g., Publisher: CSIRO Publishing (2019) land clearing). There is a great section on how to spot and A Hollow is a Home, written by Abbie Mitchell and monitor tree hollows and the use of artificial hollows. The illustrated by Astred Hicks, is Australia’s first book for authors have also included a chapter that looks at research young and adolescent readers dedicated to hollow- on tree hollows, featuring scientists and the sort of research they conduct. Of course, they profile a suite of fascinating species that use hollows. After spotlighting them a few times during my PhD, my favourite is the beautiful eastern pygmy possum, requiring a hollow with an entrance of less than 5cm. If you have a child who loves animals, this is definitely the book for them!

Whilst the book is technically pitched to Years 3-6, I would propose that other years (in particular, students in Years 7-10) can benefit from this text. The book is beautifully laid out, with ample photos and diagrams on each page to keep readers engaged (and excellent teacher notes). It is also very comprehensive, and I just can’t see how high school students studying biology or environmental studies could not find this an informative and relevant text. I also think it could be readily applied in Prep/Kindy to Year 2 to inspire and inform lessons and discussions around how animals live in the bush. Children (and adults alike) love photos of beautiful and intriguing animals and that is exactly what this book provides.

To see the original review of this book, see here. ¤

A Hollow is a Home discusses hollow dependent wildlife. Credit: CSIRO publishing. The Ecological Society of Australia Ltd (ESA) is the peak group of ecologists in Australia, with over 1500 members from all states and territories. The ESA has an impressive 50 year history supporting ecologists, promoting ecology and ecological research. We aim to create a community of knowledge and understanding amongst ecologists, and reach out to those working in Ecological Society of Australia Ltd related fields. We invite you to join us in our efforts to promote the scientific study of all organisms in relation ESA Office to their environment, and encourage the application of Gail Spina ecological principles in the development, use and PO Box 2187 conservation of Australia's natural resources. The ESA Windsor QLD 4030 is a Registered Environmental Organisation with the Phone: 07 3076 4064 Department of the Environment, and Registered Mob: 0409 279 068 Charity with the Australian Charities and Not-for- E-mail: [email protected] profits Commission. The ESA has Deductible Gift Recipient status.

Copyright Notice: Items printed in this Bulletin should not be reproduced without the permission of the ESA or the author of the material. Opinions expressed by contributors do no necessarily represent the views of the ESA, unless otherwise stated. Any mention of companies or products in the Bulletin are not endorsements.

I’ll just check before you leave by Cees Moen.