Native critters bounce back after Black Summer bushfires

However, government-sanctioned research released exclusively to this column, shows some native animals have returned close to, and in some cases are exceeding, levels prior to the fires. Phew! Talk about a collective sigh of relief.

The findings are the result of a comprehensive 10-year collaborative study between NSW Department of Primary Industries, the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service and University of NSW Canberra.

The study to monitor threatened species using infra-red wildlife cameras at over 150 sites in Ben Boyd National Park and Nadgee Nature Reserve south of Eden was running for eight years when the devastating 2019-20 fires hit.

Thankfully the valuable cache of cameras, which recorded a literal insight into the abundance and behaviour of native animals, weren't destroyed in the fires, having been removed from the forest at the end of the 2019 winter monitoring season.

After the fires, as soon as it was safe to do so, the cameras were returned to their locations with the researchers keen to assess the impacts of the fires on several threatened ground-dwelling mammals.

Two of the species the team focused on were the southern brown bandicoot (Isoodon obesulus) and the long-nosed potoroo (Potorous tridactylus).

Described by celebrated naturalist Charles Darwin as "an animal, as big as a rabbit, but with the figure of a kangaroo", the long-nose potoroo is listed as vulnerable under both the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 and Australian Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. They are mainly nocturnal, hiding by day in dense vegetation - however, during the winter they are sometimes spotted foraging during daylight hours.

The southern brown bandicoot, which is much rarer than its equally cute cousin, the long-nosed bandicoot (Perameles nasuta), is listed as endangered in NSW. It has a stocky body with a short conical snout and short rounded ears. You might have seen signs of them in the bush - their searches for food often create distinctive conical holes in the soil.

While above-average rainfall and resulting vegetation regrowth has contributed to the bounce-back of both these critters, according to the study's head honcho Dr Andrew Claridge, that's not the only reason for their quicker than expected recovery.

"Proactive management of pest species, including foxes and feral cats, has provided an edge which has allowed native animals to better recover after bushfire," explains Dr Claridge.

In fact, according to the study, numbers of the southern brown bandicoot in Ben Boyd National Park, where effective fox control has been ongoing, were found to be at an all-time high in 2021. An incredible result less than two years after extreme bush fires.

"Southern brown bandicoots were detected at close to 50 per cent of monitoring sites and long-nosed bandicoots were recorded at more than 40 per cent of the sites, on par with numbers in the past decade," explains Dr Claridge, who along with his colleagues sifted through thousands of hours of footage, digitally tagging each occasion one of the threatened species appeared.

The long-nosed potoroo hasn't been quite as quick to recover, but is still heading in a positive direction, detected at about 25 per cent of monitoring sites - double the rate of the year immediately after the fire.

The recovery of both these ground dwellers is heartening news, as the presence of both is vital to the future health of our forests.

"The long-nosed potoroo and southern brown bandicoot are critical components of the forest, woodland and heathland ecosystems they inhabit, playing essential roles in soil and nutrient turnover and the dispersal of beneficial symbiotic fungi," says Dr Claridge.

"Woody trees and shrubs can't survive without their fungal associate - they die. When textbooks talk about plant roots taking nutrients and water from the soil for the plant, that's not quite true, it's actually the fungus in the soil attached to the roots that does that function."

By digging up and eating the fruiting bodies of fungi like native truffles, ingesting their spore masses, and passing them back out of their body in the form of droppings, the bandicoots and potoroos enable these fungi to germinate and continue to contribute to the growth of a healthy forest.

The role that intensive fox (yes, they have an appetite for our small native mammals) control before and after the fires played in the recovery of these species cannot be underestimated.

Prior to the fire, monitoring showed that fox activity was very low due to control activities. However, with the fire having burnt much of the understory vegetation like heath, ferns and sedges, the native ground dwellers had fewer places to hide from predators such as foxes. As a result, there were serious concerns for their ability to survive, let alone prosper.

"Despite these concerns, ongoing monitoring has demonstrated clearly that native fauna has been resilient to fires, particularly where the long-term fox control has been undertaken," explains Dr Claridge.

Dr Claridge and his team are about to return to the field for another season of monitoring. Let's hope these encouraging post-fire results indicating the increasing presence of these threatened native species continue to be observed.

Did You Know? The thousands of hours of footage also showed a passing parade of other critters including a lyrebird chasing a goanna. Who would you put your money on?

The origins of the curious collection of hexagonal blocks in the hidden courtyard near 221 London Circuit in Civic that recently featured in this column's photo quiz (May 21) remain shrouded in mystery.

This week, Margaret Rutherford of Kaleen threw a spanner in the works of Kevin Mulcahy's theory that they date from post-1981 as they don't appear in Works of Art in Canberra, which covered just about all the street works of art at that time.

"I used to have lunch in the hexagon courtyard when I worked in the then Commonwealth public service in the Civic Permanent building," reveals Margaret, "and I began work there in the second half of 1975, so it was established by that time."

Margaret remembers what people read in the courtyard just as vividly as the hexagonal structures. "The newbies to Canberra read The Sydney Morning Herald or The Age broadsheets in the sunshine while having lunch, while the old hands used to chide them and suggest it was time to adjust to the new setting and get local news from The Canberra Times." Well, hopefully they've converted by now and can help solve this urban mystery.

Meanwhile, it appears I'm not the only person with a gripe about how some of Canberra's transport corridors are named (Close Conundrum, April 5). Steve Leahy of Macquarie has sent me a list of what he claims are nomenclature no-nos, mainly of streets incongruously named as crescents, and vice versa.

"I've often wondered who messed up back in the 1960s when naming streets in Macquarie, and labelled Erskine 'Street' when it's obviously a 'crescent' (both ends of road join the same parent road) and Elizabeth 'Crescent' when it's most definitely not a crescent," grumbles Steve.

Who said this column doesn't tackle the big issues.

Rating: Hard

Clue: Outside an 1889 church, but which one?

How to enter: Email your guess along with your name and address to tym@iinet.net.au The first correct email sent after 10am, Saturday June 4, wins a double pass to Dendy, the Home of Quality Cinema.

Last week: Congratulations to Janette McRae of Gungahlin who was first to recognise last week's photo as one of several new sculptures along the new walk from The Link at Ginninderry to Shepherds Lookout near Holt. Janette beat a number of readers, including Mary Nelson of Spence, Jeanette Ruxton of Ainslie, and Louise Russell of Holt, to the prize. Robyn Saunders of Weston reports she has "taken a similar photo on a bushwalk with friends, and that it's a fantastic walk".

Regular readers will recall this column was lucky to step out on the new track just prior to its opening in spring last year and since then it has proved a very popular short walk for those seeking gulps of fresh air and mountain views in gentle terrain. Maureen and Andy Marshall recently enjoyed the walk with "it's splendid views over the Murrumbidgee corridor" but noted "the only problem with this track is that there is no signage once you are on the track. Thank goodness that we were able to download the map on our phone to know where we were."

Dr Claridge's hidden wildlife cameras captured footage of many other animals in the south-east forests of NSW, like these two swamp wallabies grazing on fresh regrowth.

CONTACT TIM: Email: tym@iinet.net.au or Twitter: @TimYowie or write c/- The Canberra Times, GPO Box 606, Civic, ACT, 2601