[imictiorume]

What is the importance of Koalas in the ecosystem??

I know the are a unique animal in there own right, but do they have a purpose?

I know they eat gum leaves and thats about it...

Do they have a relationship with their host trees, for pollination of flowers as they search for the leaves??

It seems to me that just about every other native animal serves some sort of purpose, distribution of seeds, pollination of certain flowers, cleaning up the dead carcasses from the forest floor, controlling insects etc,.

This post came about whilst listening to the ABC local radio, the news brief said they were putting Koalas on the endangered list in certain states...

Maybe they are a species that has come to the end of it's time, once an animal has come to the end of it's purpose in the ecosystem do they just naturally decline???


Your thoughts would be appreciated.

Cheers

[Quick$bux]

I can never quite get my head around an idea of 'purpose'. Perhaps its purpose is to provide a home for intestinal parasites?

[alenbarbaf]

Perhaps its purpose is to provide a home for intestinal parasites?

No, no. You're thinking of humans there




Just like other animals, including ourselves, they turn green leaves into protein, energy, and compost, and do their best to continue breeding more little DNA carriers, just like them.

Should have asked the purpose of a wombat... the answer to that one is better

He eats, roots and leaves.

[chechokancho]

Sometimes it is hard to specify exactly the "role" of a species in an environment.

Here in Perth we have the Graceful Sun Moth, a listed Threatened species which our own Premier, Colin Barnett, recently joked: ""It seems to me to be a particularly unfortunate creature. It is born blind, it doesn't have a mouth and it doesn't eat throughout its 12-day lifetime. Now this animal might actually want extinction. Doesn't seem to have a lot to live for. Nevertheless, we must protect biodiversity. But the effort that is going into the glorious (sic) sun-moth and the cost it is presenting is out of proportion."
http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-...-fighting-for/

I think a simple way to imagine a species place in an ecosystem is the old "food web" where lines connect plants and animals, predators/herbivores. We do not usually know the effect of taking one species out of that "web", but in the case of koalas and sun moths the plants they eat may become more dominant if they are not longer eaten. This might push other plant species out of the ecosystem (by shading, more vigorous or numerous seedlings for example), that might effect the groundwater system or bushfire susceptibility. Who knows? All I know is that most of our ecosystems have evolved over a long period of time and even though most have adapted to harsh environments they can be quite fragile.

I just remembered! Here is an awesome species that preys on koalas, the powerful owl:
http://search.informit.com.au/docume...676;res=IELHSS

[TughEmotteTug]

What is the importance of Koalas in the ecosystem??


Maybe they are a species that has come to the end of it's time, once an animal has come to the end of it's purpose in the ecosystem do they just naturally decline???

No.. wait.. what? The obvious ecological significance of keystone species is one thing, but to reduce the role of other species whose function may not be so obvious as 'having no purpose' is something else. Koalas are a diprotodontid relic from a past age of greater mammalian diversity. They are reliant on sizeable tracts of intact eucalypt forest and their current decline is a consequence of extreme over-hunting for the 20thC fur trade, forest degradation, fragmentation, roads, urbanisation and dogs. Similar threatening processes are taking out cassowaries - but we can appreciate their role as dispersers of large seeds. So - why pick on koalas?

Koalas are arboreal herbiviores - they've found themselves on a rather restricted and extreme diet but none the less - that's were they are and they have survived when other diprotodontids went extinct. They were doing fine until the hunting and clearing / logging - and have been shown to still do fine when put on predator free islands like Kangaroo Island (where they become overabundant ferals). They can even overbrowse patches of their native forest under some conditions. It would be interesting to know how their browsing affects tree productivity (foliage output), leaf quality and how they have shaped the evolution of eucalypt leaf chemistry.

Their roles can include - repositories for internal parasites and as an arboreal herbivores and a selective agent on eucalypt leaf metabolite evolution. How they detoxify terpenoids is an area of interest in toxicology. A good population of koalas in their native forest is used as a good indicator of overall forest health, biodiversity, forest intactness, their recovery from hunting, low koala disease levels and low levels of other threatening processes.

[warrgazur]

Animals do not necessarily have a ‘purpose’ as they will exploit what they can and be exploited by those that can. Koalas have a niche position in the environment and could be described as being in an evolutionary cal de sac. However, as has already been pointed out, they have been highly successful for a very long time and probably would be around for much longer if their habitat is preserved and wildfires do not become commonplace.

Their success may have been influenced by aboriginal activities, which despite hunting the animal, meant they would probably not have been in large numbers anywhere, but with the aboriginal fire management and mosaic burning, would have been assisted by a reduced likelihood of wildfire. To me, this type of situation would seem to be an ideal model for population control and animal health.

[opelayday]

What is the importance of Koalas in the ecosystem??

You could also ask what is the importance of humans in the ecosystem. Oh that's right, we are the top predator and rapidly killing off everything through our out of control dominance ... We need a top predator of our own to control us ... sadly that won't be the Koala.

This post came about whilst listening to the ABC local radio, the news brief said they were putting Koalas on the endangered list in certain states...

They (in this case the feds) have put the animals on the threatened species list, classified as 'vulnerable' in NSW and Qld. The difference in threat level is significant and important to understand.

In practical terms this is likely to appease the Koala people and result in precisely no action by the feds because of the way the act is written. The EPCS looks for "significant harm" to an "important population".

The details is where things will get interesting. How an "important population" is defined and how that definition is interpreted.

Until a draft National Recovery Plan is written a lot of that stuff is likely to be up in the air.

Burke was rabbiting on about Developers having to watch out but realistically, the chance of any single development meeting the threshold for action is next to nothing unfortunately.

The Koala people need to go for listing in NSW because the criteria for action here under Threatened Species Conservation Act is extinction of a local population. That would be a lot easier to meet.

and so, she grumbles off ...

[KLhdfskja]

From Local ABC in my region (hot off the press looking at date and time).

30 April, 2012 7:51PM AEST

Koala listing offers no protection from logging

By Bill Brown



The newly announced listing by the Australian Government of koalas as a vulnerable species in NSW will not provide additional protections in areas logged by Forests NSW. The Federal listing will offer substantial protection otherwise but where logging operations are conducted under Regional Forest Agreements (RFAs) the Federal listing will have no effect.



The listing has been welcomed as a significant benefit in protecting koala populations from threats ranging from urban development to mining, predation, and habitat loss.


However logging operations by Forests NSW are prescribed by NSW state legislation and current Regional Forest Agreements and Integrated Forestry Operations Approvals (IFOAs).


This new listing by the Australian Government has no effect in areas of NSW where RFAs are in place. A lot more including plenty of links available here

http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/...30/3492033.htm

[imictiorume]

Sorry If I have offended anyone with my clumsy statement.

Neomyrtus said : So - why pick on koalas?

Jennajones said: You could also ask what is the importance of humans in the ecosystem. Oh that's right, we are the top predator and rapidly killing off everything through our out of control dominance ... We need a top predator of our own to control us ... sadly that won't be the Koala. The intention of my question was to ask all the learned people of this forum an informative answer as to the Koalas significance in the ecosystem, it was not meant to be derogatory towards the Koala, further more I respect every creatures existance .

My sincere apologies for upsetting anyone.

[opelayday]

Sorry If I have offended anyone with my clumsy statement.

The intention of my question was to ask all the learned people of this forum an informative answer as to the Koalas significance in the ecosystem, it was not meant to be derogatory towards the Koala, further more I respect every creatures existence .

My sincere apologies for upsetting anyone.

I'm not offended. I'm just generally cranky all the time.

But it's a reasonable thing to ask, why pick on Koalas?

We don't know much about the world around in the scheme of things. We don't know what impact of taking Koalas out of it will be. There might be no impact. There might be an increase in Brushies to eat the now available food. There might be a decrease in some species of eucs ... we don't know. The areas where Koalas have gone are largely under concrete now so there isn't a place where we can see *just* the impact of the absence of Koalas.

Once we work out what we have lost, every chance it will be too late.

Even for species that we _know_ are important like flying-foxes (environmental services are long distance pollination and seed dispersal), we aren't that fussed on looking after.

[Quick$bux]

Sorry If I have offended anyone with my clumsy statement.

I don't think you've really offended anyone. If you look at the rest of those posts by Neomyrtus and jennajones, you'll see they're chock-full of information relevant to different aspects of your OP.

[KLhdfskja]

Last few weeks since this story surfaced regarding Australian Government's listing of Koalas as vulnerable, I've been following a lot of the debate on a local level because it is in the region very near where I live that Koalas and logging have been a major environmental issue for past five or six years. A lot of protests and a lot of mis-information coming from both sides of the debate.

I found this story just now.


Environment Dept confident over koala move

Updated May 14, 2012 12:55:49

The State Office of Environment and Heritage says logging and koala protection can co-exist in the New South Wales south east.

The Federal Government will give nearly $2m over the next six years to establish logging exclusion zones in the Mumbulla, Murrah and Bermagui State Forests.

But Koala conservation groups and the Greens are worried that Forests New South Wales will oversee the initiative.

Biodiversity Conservation Manager, Mike Saxon, says additional measures will be put in place to ensure the endangered species are protected.

“The area that we've identified as most important to exclude from harvesting includes all of those areas, plus a buffer and then it links them through,” he said.

“The project also includes funding for us to do additional surveys in areas, outside of exclusion zones, in areas that maybe logged.”

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-05-1...w&section=news
I'm someone who has always believed there is a place for logging because timber is one building material we have is renewable (steel and concrete aren't, they're only recyclable). A lot of people in my region are opposed to logging in any form, and it is those folk who I tend to disagree with somewhat because they don't address issues like sustainability and renewables (do they think not chopping down trees won't see an increase in the need for steel and concrete?).

I'm by no means a fan of the forestry industry either as it currently operates. NSW taxpayers actually subsidise this industry because it can't even manage to fund itself, let alone turn a profit. This Koala issue is already re-igniting debate down here and the more I look at it, the more I'm becoming someone who thinks we need to halt logging here until a new RFA can be drawn up which includes the latest scientific data and information. The new RFA agreement isn't due until 2019 and given the delay in implementing the last one, it could be a decade until the new one passes into law. Meanwhile the remaining Koalas 'round here in State Forests may well disappear (only fifty animals thought to be living in the forests mentioned in the news item). The idea of protected corridors sounds good on face value, but then I read a summary of a really interesting study by a uni researcher as part of her PhD. Her focus was the nutritional requirements of koalas and how food trees can change their nutritional levels and toxicity. Basically means that there may be plenty of suitable food trees in an area, but at certain times the food is of crap quality, so the koalas move on to find better sources of food, often on trees of exactly the same species as those they just vacated. Corridors might not be large enough to allow for this movement.

Post getting too long, I'll put a link to that document along with some other interesting items in another one.

[KLhdfskja]

I mentioned in my last post that lately I've been following the koala vulnerability vs. logging issue locally a bit more closely than I have previously.

Came across an excellent series of articles on my local ABC website. This item is the latest one posted (yesterday). Gives voice to both sides and doesn't push an agenda itself. The links provided in each item are very useful too, I'm learning a lot that I'll be able to make use of in the future.

The koala survey links are most interesting, there's a video showing a NP officer as well as folk from Forests NSW conducting field surveys.

Koala survey - RGBSAT technique - NPWS and NSW OEH

Koala Survey - Forests NSW - Transect technique

Also recommend the related link to the Logging the South East Forests pages. Interesting to actually get behind the scenes and see things with my own eyes at the time they occur in a sense. Parties from both sides all make good sense with a lot of what they argue and say, which is why I have real trouble knowing exactly what to think. At least getting fact and not fiction may help me reach an informed stance one way or the other.

Sorry so much of the content is video, a real shame there aren't transcripts available as well.

[regfortruegoo]

the koalas here in sa are in serious trouble.
back in march i attended
"-Cleland Wildlife Park, Zoos SA and Adelaide University invite you to attend: Research, veterinary care and husbandry for South Australian koalas with renal disease (oxalate nephrosis)
'
it was very disheartening ...... early settlers turned sa koalas into slippers amongst other things and wiped them out. then they decided to repopulate with 5 or 6 animals. then 5 or 6 more 20 or 30 years later... all from the same gene pool. our sa and vic koalas are in serious trouble. so many inherent tendencies to disease... from studies done over 12? years at least half are suffering from renal issues and they overall have a very poor immune system from the interbreeding.

[KLhdfskja]

Finally got around to finding a document I found very interesting regarding the nutritional requirements of koalas. From my take on this summary of the author's thesis, simply setting aside areas amongst logging coups as koala habitat may not work because the species of Eucalypts the koalas rely on may not have the right amount of nutritional requirements contained in them, yet trees of the same species growing nearby may meet those needs. If those trees are in areas set aside for logging, then the koalas would have their movements from low nutrition areas to high nutrition areas interfered with.

Nutritional ecology of the Mumbulla koala.

Spatial variation in habitat quality effects fine-scale resource use by a low-density koala population.

Honours thesis summary, June 2010
Eleanor Stalenberg,
Supervised by W. Foley and I. Wallis, Statistical advisor: R. Cunningham.

Research School of Biology: Division of Evolution, Ecology and Genetics. The Australian National University,
Canberra, ACT. Contact me on e.stalenberg@gmail.com for further details or for a full copy of the thesis.

Background

Koalas are arguably Australia‟s most iconic and enigmatic animals. They specialise in eating
Eucalyptus leaves and are renowned to have very discerning tastes when it comes to gum leaves.
Koalas will only eat leaves of certain Eucalyptus and will even shy away from individual trees
of a favoured species. Koala‟s feeding habits have been widely studied in captivity, but there is
still much to learn about dietary needs and motivations of koalas in the wild.

Koalas and other Eucalyptus leaf-eaters need a minimum amount of nutrients including protein
(or nitrogen), energy and water from leaves to stay healthy; but they also must avoid being
poisoned by a myriad of leaf toxins. A leaf‟s nutritional quality is determined by the balance of
nutrients and toxins – known in biology as „leaf chemistry‟. Leaf chemistry varies between the
different Eucalyptus subgenera, between species and can also be surprisingly variable between
neighbouring trees of the same species within a small area. Leaf chemistry is determined by
environmental influences like soil and climate and is also genetically programmed. These
environmental and genetic influences can result in „patches‟ of trees with distinct nutritional
quality across forested areas. Wild koalas must make constant decisions at different spatial
scales to maintain a balanced quality diet – first, by deciding which areas to feed in and second,
by choosing to feed from particular trees. Leaf chemistry is important for influencing which
trees koalas use and their movements across a landscape, and may ultimately determine if the
forest can sustain koalas in the long-term.

Other folk here may find the full summary makes interesting reading.

[Mumeseest]

Koalas are soccer balls for cows (or does that only happen in East Gipplsand?).

[GeraldCortis]

Koalas are soccer balls for cows (or does that only happen in East Gipplsand?).

as far north as Queensland.

[GeraldCortis]

Sorry If I have offended anyone with my clumsy statement.



The intention of my question was to ask all the learned people of this forum an informative answer as to the Koalas significance in the ecosystem, it was not meant to be derogatory towards the Koala, further more I respect every creatures existance .

My sincere apologies for upsetting anyone.

Well, I'm going to go out on a limb, if that is OK by the rest of you.

I do it all the time anyway.

Right.. I haven't read all of the info but I am a grower of trees. I'm pretty much right into trees and the part they play in all of life on this planet. Parrots and wind.. temperature changes and koalas, prune trees. Tree pruning regnerates trees. Not pruning tends to lead to an earlier old age. By selecting trees with better nutrition the koala is a gardener who cultivates the better trees. Diversity is one thing but selection is another.

[opelayday]

Koalas are soccer balls for cows (or does that only happen in East Gipplsand?).

I read that as Koalas are soccer balls for crows ... I thought they were a bit big for crows ... and I didn't know cows were up for football.

[GeraldCortis]

I read that as Koalas are soccer balls for crows ... I thought they were a bit big for crows ... and I didn't know cows were up for football.

well it was poorly chosen words as what actually occcurs is more like a scrum and you just don't see that in soccer.