Returning burrowing mammals to reserves reshapes which insects survive underground
Johanson LG, Contos P, Rader R, Gibb H
Rewilding
The burrowing animals that once turned over soil across Australia did for insects what a garden fork does for your beds: their loss quietly erased conditions that certain wasps and predatory flies depend on, and we're only now tracing what vanished with them.
Researchers brought back small digging mammals to a fenced reserve in Australia and tracked what happened to insects that live and develop underground. Eight years later, areas where animals were digging had fewer of certain insects, especially parasitoid wasps and predatory flies that may have been disturbed or eaten. This tells us that losing burrowing animals from an ecosystem doesn't just affect the soil; it reshapes the entire community of creatures that depend on it.
Key Findings
After 8 years, plots with digging mammal activity had significantly reduced insect abundance compared to exclusion plots, though richness and biomass were not significantly affected.
Parasitoid wasps (Hymenoptera) and predatory robber flies (Diptera: Asilidae) were strongly associated with areas lacking digging activity, suggesting sensitivity to direct predation or nest disturbance.
No herbivorous beetle groups showed a statistically supported response to digging treatment, indicating the effect is taxon-specific rather than a broad trophic-level phenomenon.
chevron_right Technical Summary
When threatened digging mammals like bilbies and bettongs are reintroduced to fenced sanctuaries, they reshape the insect communities living in the soil. Parasitoid wasps and predatory robber flies declined in areas with digging activity, showing that restoring one group of animals can have ripple effects through the entire food web.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Digging into dirt: Rewilding with threatened mammals shapes soil-emerging insect assemblages.
Digging mammals function as ecosystem engineers by altering soil structure, influencing nutrient cycling and shaping vegetation communities. The widespread decline of these taxa globally, driven by...
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