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Bringing Back the Bettong: Reintroducing Ecosystem Engineers for Restoration in Box-Gum Grassy Woodland

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Bringing Back the Bettong: Reintroducing Ecosystem Engineers for Restoration in Box-Gum Grassy Woodland Bringing Back the Bettong: Reintroducing ecosystem engineers for restoration in Box-Gum grassy woodland Catherine Elizabeth Ross Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of the Australian National University February 2020 © Copyright by Catherine Elizabeth Ross 2020 All Rights Reserved ii Cover image: ‘Bettong and Early Nancies’ by Emily Birks, Ink on Paper, 2018 Catherine Elizabeth Ross Bringing Back the Bettong 7/02/2020 iii Candidate's Declaration This thesis contains no material which has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma in any university. To the best of the author’s knowledge, it contains no material previously published or written by another person, except where due reference is made in the text. Catherine Elizabeth Ross Date: 7 Feb 2020 Photo by Jimmy Walsh, featuring Balbo the Bettong from the Woodlands and Wetlands Trust Catherine Elizabeth Ross Bringing Back the Bettong 7/02/2020 iv Preface This thesis is submitted as a ‘thesis by publication’, and consists of an extended context statement (Chapter 1) followed by five chapters (2-6) that are presented as papers which are either published, in review, or in preparation for publication in scientific journals. The chapters are designed to be independent and will therefore inevitably contain some repetition as well as slight differences in formatting to align with different journal styles. The publication details of each chapter are as follows: 2. Ross, C.E., Barton, P.S., McIntyre, S., Cunningham, S.A. & Manning, A.D., 2017. Fine-scale drivers of beetle diversity are affected by vegetation context and agricultural history. Austral Ecology, 42(7), 831–843. 3. Ross, C.E., Munro, N.T., Barton, P.S., Evans, M.J., Gillen, J., Macdonald, B.C.T., McIntyre, S., Cunningham, S.A. & Manning, A.D., 2019. Effects of digging by a native and introduced ecosystem engineer on soil physical and chemical properties in temperate grassy woodland. PeerJ, 7, p.e7506. 4. Ross, C.E., McIntyre, S., Barton, P.S., Evans, M.J., Cunningham, S.A. & Manning, A.D., 2020. A reintroduced ecosystem engineer provides a germination niche for native plant species. Biodiversity and Conservation, 29, 817-837 5. Ross, C.E., McIntyre, S., Barton, P.S., Evans, M.J., Cunningham, S.A. & Manning, A.D., in prep. Population demography of a native geophyte in response to a reintroduced ecosystem engineer. Plant Ecology (in prep) 6. Ross, C.E., Barton, P.S., Cunningham, S.A., Decker, O., Eldridge, D.J., Fleming, P.A., Gibb, H., Johnson, C.N., Jones, C.G., Maisey, A., Manning, A.D., McIntyre, S., Munro, N.T., Valentine, L.E., in prep. Soil-disturbing animals as ecosystem engineers - clarifying goals for conservation and restoration in Australia. Biological Conservation (in prep) While all the chapters have involved contributions from other collaborators, the majority of the work is my own. This includes most of the literature searches, experimental design, field data collection, analysis and interpretation, and writing. My supervisors Professor Adrian Manning, Dr Sue McIntyre, Dr Philip Barton and Professor Saul Cunningham provided valuable guidance and assistance throughout the process and provided feedback on each chapter. Prof. Manning instigated and designed the Mulligans Flat Goorooyarroo Woodland Experiment, which provides the framework for all my work. I used some existing data in Chapters 2 and 3 that were collected by Prof. Manning, Dr Barton, Dr McIntyre, and Dr Nicola Munro before my project started. Dr John Gillen and Dr Ben Macdonald assisted with the processing and analysis of soil samples for Chapter 3. Dr Barton, Dr Maldwyn J. Evans and the late Dr Jeff Wood provided statistical advice on various parts of the experimental design and data analysis. Dr Evans also conducted some of Catherine Elizabeth Ross Bringing Back the Bettong 7/02/2020 v the statistical analyses, particularly those in R. The ideas presented in Chapter 6. were developed at a workshop held at the ANU in November 2017. I organised and facilitated the workshop with the help of Dr Sue McIntyre and wrote the paper, but all the participants contributed to the ideas and provided feedback on the manuscript. Field work and seed collection were carried out under ACT Government licence number PL201569 under section 273 of the Nature Conservation ACT 2014. This research forms part of the Mulligans Flat–Goorooyarroo Woodland Experiment (Australian Research Council Linkage LP0561817, LP110100126, LP140100209), a partnership between The Australian National University, the Australian Capital Territory Government and James Cook University. During my candidature I was supported by an Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP) Scholarship, and an additional scholarship top-up from the ARC (LP140100209). I also received research grants from the Holsworth Foundation and the Lesslie Foundation. Artist Interludes Throughout my candidature, I collaborated with several artists who created artwork based on my research. I found this to be a very rewarding part of my PhD experience, so I wanted to showcase these artworks in my thesis. Between each chapter I have included an ‘artist interlude’, with a brief description of the piece and my experience working with the artist. Catherine Elizabeth Ross Bringing Back the Bettong 7/02/2020 vi Acknowledgements I acknowledge the Ngunnawal people, the traditional owners of the land where Mulligans Flat and Goorooyarroo Nature Reserves now exist, and pay my respects to their elders past, present and emerging. Thank you for allowing me to work on your beautiful country, and for sharing your knowledge and stories. Huge thanks to my fantastic supervisors, Adrian Manning, Sue McIntyre, Philip Barton, and Saul Cunningham. I could not have asked for better supervisors, and your support and guidance through this process has been amazing. I could not have done any of this without the ANU Mulligans Flat team – Jenny Newport, Helen Crisp, Nicki Munro, Will Batson, John Evans, and of course the other PhD and Honours students. When I started my PhD I was the only current student working at Mulligans Flat, but over the years the team has grown to include Belinda, Tim, Brittany, Kiarrah, Rachael, Shoshana and Yaana. You have all made the PhD experience (including the 2am starts!) so much more fun, and I truly feel like I have made friends and collaborators for life. Thanks to several other collaborators who worked with me on various parts of the project - Ben Macdonald, Mike Bunce, Jake Gillen, and the late Jeff Wood. Thanks to the participants of the ecosystem engineering workshop at ANU in November 2017 – Clive Jones, Chris Johnson, Trish Fleming, Leonie Valentine, David Eldridge, Heloise Gibb, Nicki Munro, Orsi Decker, Alex Maisey. Also, thanks to Iain Gordon for occasional but much needed advice. Thanks to the Fenner School administrative and field services staff. Also thanks to the Research Training team at ANU, for the opportunity to compete in the 3 Minute Thesis, one of the most rewarding experiences of my PhD, and for providing resources, workshops, and personal support that really helped me get through my thesis. Thank you to the Woodlands and Wetlands Trust, and to the ACT Government staff for supporting all our research, keeping everything running smoothly and safely, and providing opportunities to connect and communicate with the public. Thanks to Greening Australia for keeping me employed, and for answering all my random questions about seeds! I would also like to acknowledge financial support from the Australian Government Research Training Scholarship, the Australian Research Council, the Holsworth Foundation, and the Lesslie Foundation. During my PhD I had the opportunity to collaborate with several artists and art projects – James Houlcroft, Emily Birks, Ceilidh Dalton, Jimmy Walsh (ANU Science) and Rachael Robb. Thank you for giving me new perspectives and insights, it was truly a pleasure to work with such talented people and to see the beautiful work you created. I have included some of these artworks in this thesis, with the kind permission of the artists. Catherine Elizabeth Ross Bringing Back the Bettong 7/02/2020 vii The PhD experience can be very isolating, but I have been lucky to have amazing support and friendship from other PhD students and post-docs - Kat Ng, David Johnson, Steph Pulsford, Edwina Fingleton-Smith, Federico Davila, Nicole Hansen, Richard Beggs, Carl Tidemann, Monique Retamal, Katie Moon, Marwan El Hassan, Kelly Dixon, Pandora Holliday, Donna Belder, Shana Nerenburg, Claire Foster, Helen King, Ayako Kawai and many others. To my parents, thank you for giving me my love of learning and nature. You taught me the wonder of the world, and to never stop asking questions. Thank you to my sister Alex and my wonderful friends for listening to my endless complaining and blabbing about bettongs. Thanks to my dog Tonks for the joy and cuddles. And finally, the biggest thanks go to my husband Dougall. We have gone through a lot in the last five years, and you have been the most amazing support through it all. You’ve read drafts, come to presentations, shared my joy in the good times and been a shoulder to cry on when things got hard. I honestly could not have done it without you, and I’m so lucky to have you. Catherine Elizabeth Ross Bringing Back the Bettong 7/02/2020 viii Abstract The grassy woodlands of eastern Australia have declined in their range by more than 95% through clearing and fragmentation. This decline has coincided with the loss of many digging or soil-foraging species that are considered to be 'ecosystem engineers' because of their role in biopedturbation and effects on other species and processes. Ecosystem engineers are therefore a priority for reintroduction to restore biodiversity and ecosystem function. However, there are gaps in our knowledge of how digging animals affect their environment and potential impacts on recipient ecosystems.
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