NEWS
The Australian Dung Beetle Project
Cattle were only introduced to Australia
in the 1880s. The country has
hundreds of species of native dung
beetles, but these have evolved to
use the dung of kangaroos and other
indigenous mammals, which have a
much more fibrous diet than cattle.
The native beetles, therefore, are unable
to break down the vast amounts
of dung produced by newly-introduced
livestock.
The problem of accumulating cow
dung became so severe in Australia
that the Commonwealth Scientific
and Industrial Research Organisation
initiated the ‘Australian Dung Beetle
Project’, which introduced dung beetle
species from South Africa and Europe
to Australian farms.
The project monitored the effects
of the dung beetles and found that
pasture quality and fertility improved
significantly. There was also a 90%
reduction in localised bushfires since
there was less flammable manure exposed
on the topsoil.
Figure 1: Dung beetles are one of the most helpful critters out there
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Grassroots Vol 20 No 3 September 2020