Tag Archives: arid zone reseacrh

Water brings changes

water trough

You might think that providing water in arid areas would allow native species to flourish, as well as the stock it is intended to supply. However, sinking bores and providing tanks or troughs allows larger predators of native species access to areas that previously they found too dry to survive in. Small, native marsupials have become increasingly rare in the arid zones of Australia due to increased predation from both indigenous predators (wedge-tailed eagles, dingoes, dasyrids) and feral pests (foxes, feral cats, wild dogs). These predators have wide home ranges in desert areas and need to have access to water to survive. Smaller marsupials manage to survive in very dry areas due to a number of structural, functional and behavioural adaptations. These may include low SA:V ratio that reduces evaporation, nocturnal or crepuscular feeding habits, concentrated urine and dry faeces and the ability to obtain their water needs from the food they eat, without drinking.

Martin Westbrook is an environmental scientist working with the University of Ballarat at Nanya station, 140 km north of Mildura. He has been able to perform experiments at the 40,000 hectare former pastoral property, to determine the impact on biodiversity when removing water points. The Age has produced an article about his research here.