Koala Gardens Patrons’ Top 10 Reasons to Save Koalas – Reason 3
Koalas play an important role in their ecosystem
Koalas contribute to the ecosystem they belong to in many ways. This includes looking after their habitat by controlling plant growth which can become a fire hazard. They do this simply by eating leaves!
Eucalyptus leaves can really fuel wildfires, especially as the climate heats up. They also enrich the soil with their scat.
A single koala can eat more than half a kilo or about a pound every single day. These eucalyptus leaves contain high volumes of volatile oils.
Koalas have amazing livers that can processed these oils. The scat produced is not highly volatile. This means they are removing those volatile oils from the canopy of the forest. Thus, they help reduce the fuel load up in the treetops. This is important for reducing the chance of fires burning right up into the canopy.
If a cool fire comes through it will quickly burn up a lot of the excess fuel on the forest floor without actually hurting the trees.
The eucalypt forests of Australia are designed for fires to come through them. Koalas are a part of this natural design.
Climate change issues
One of the key things about climate change in Australia is how it is also changing fire. Since the European invasion of Australia, landscape management has declined. Our First Nations people understood the landscape intimately. They also understood the importance of maintaining the country in a holistic way. Their management techniques were a kind of farming that was truly sustainable.
Fire causes a change in the seeds of a lot of varieties of native Australian flora. These changes trigger germination. Australian First Nations people would do cultural burnings frequently.
When an ecosystem is in balance it supports a larger diversity of life and promotes resilience. This also means that more diversity will create resilience to fire. Fire resilience is connected to a dependency upon fire.
How koalas help their forests
Another service koalas provide to the forest as they feed is that they often break small branches that drop onto the forest floor. There are many insects and ground reptiles down there that rely on this hard mulch for their survival.
Of course, trees naturally drop dead branches and leaves but koalas can hasten this. Just stop a moment and imagine a time when there was tens of millions of koalas. Now, think about how much leaf each one of those were eating every single day. Add to this how much eucalyptus oil they were removing from the fuel load in the forest. If we also think about how much litter they were dropping down onto the forest floor, we can develop an impression of what custodians the koalas have been for the forest.
Koala scat, which does not contain high amounts of volatile eucalyptus oil, does provide nutrients for the soil. The scat breaks down fast when the weather is wet. Once again, when they were tens of millions of koalas, there was a lot of beautiful scat dropping down providing the most beautiful fertiliser to the forest floor
Deforestation issues
Koala numbers have been reduced to around 1 to 2% compared to a couple hundred years ago. Their habitat reduction is harder to quantify. One reason is that one thousand trees that are not part of a forest community are not the same as one thousand trees in a small patch of remnant forest.
Statistics on deforestation vary, but many reports talk about the total amount of forests cleared. However, koalas only live in a particular type of forest.
It is generally accepted that around 80% of koala habitat has now been destroyed. This brings us back to the importance of the state of what remains.
This is very important for the survival of koalas because it may seem like there is sufficient forest for the koalas numbers left. If the last 1% of koalas have 20% of the habitat they used to have it may seem like things are alright. This is where the numbers are misleading indeed.
Fragmented Habitats
The 20% that’s left is made up of fragmented remnants. Many of these fragments are in urban settings, which hold many dangers for koalas.
There are areas of National Park with large areas of good solid forest. However, these are being selectively logged and don’t necessarily provide safe haven.
Koalas need to move through the landscape to disperse. For this reason, pockets of fragmented forest are detrimental to the koalas doing their job properly. When we look at the role of the koala in their natural ecosystem it’s important to be aware that they have changed dramatically in many ways.
Whilst the mantra “ trees, trees and more trees” is true, it is not trees alone that need to be saved, but whole ecosystems. If koalas become extinct there will be an direct impact on the health of the eucalypt forests left.
In summary, koalas are arboreal. Protecting their habitat means protecting forests with high biodiversity. Every forest we protect is home to a host of flora and fauna. When we protect forests, we are combating climate change.
Koalas in turn play an important role in maintaining the health of the forests that we have protected. Ergo: protecting koalas means survival for everyone
Join the Colony and get involved
You can become part of the Koala Gardens Colony by adopting one of the resident wild koalas. You can also become a Patron, and one level has an adoption option.
Come and discuss Koala Gardens and all things koala on Discord where we hold lots of interesting and often in-depth discussions there. Lots of fun!
You will become part of the family and help provide much needed koala habitat.
You can also follow Katrina and the Koalas on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
Koala Gardens publishes a small number of delightful illustrated children’s books in the The Adventures of Mist series. Check out the beautifully engaging and educational design. Our mission is to help children to “Fall in love with Nature”.
You can even find some great Koala Gardens gifts over at Redbubble where there is huge range of designs on an even bigger range of items.
Alternatively, you can find quick access links to everything Koala Gardens via Link Tree.
