2024-02-02 16:04:53
The swamp wallaby in the Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park experimental complex sniffs out the unpleasant Boronia and leaves the preferred eucalyptus seedlings alone. – UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY
MADRID, 2 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Researchers of the University of Sydney have shown that it is possible to protect plants from herbivorous mammals tricking them with the smell of a variety they normally avoid.
The findings of the study, published in Nature Ecology & Evolutionshow that tree seedlings planted next to the decoy odor solution They were 20 times less likely to be eaten by animals.
“This is equivalent to the seedlings being surrounded by real plants that are unpleasant to the herbivore. In most cases, it tricks the animals into leaving the plants alone,” said PhD student Patrick Finnerty, lead author of the study from the Conservation and Behavioral Ecology Laboratory in the Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences.
“Herbivores cause significant damage to valuable plants in ecologically and economically sensitive areas around the world, but Killing animals to protect plants may be unethical“, he claimed.
“So, we created artificial odors that mimicked the smell of plant species that they naturally avoid, and this gently moved problem herbivores away from areas we didn’t want them to be.. Since many herbivores use plant scent as their primary sense for foraging, this method provides a new approach that could be used to help protect globally valuable plants. whether in conservation work or protecting agricultural crops.
The experiment, conducted in Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park in Sydney, used the swamp wallaby as a model herbivore. The researchers selected an unpalatable shrub from the citrus family, Boronia pinnata, and an palatable canopy species, Eucalyptus punctata, to test the concept.
The study compared the use of the B. pinnata solution and the real plant and found that both were equally successful in protecting eucalyptus seedlings from being eaten by wallabies.
As part of his doctoral research, Mr. Finnerty also successfully tested the method on African elephants, but that field work is not part of this research paper.
Previous attempts to use repellent substances (such as chili oil or motor oil) to control the consumption of plants by animals have inherent limitations, Finnerty stated.
“Animals tend to habituate to these unnatural signals, so the deterrent effects are only temporary,” he said. it’s a statement. “In contrast, by mimicking the odor of plants that herbivores naturally encounter and avoid in the daily search for food, our approach works with the natural motivators of these animals, making herbivores less likely to habituate to these odors.”
The researchers took this idea and They used solutions that produce these unwanted aromas.
“As a management tool to protect tasty plants, our technique offers many advantages over real plants as a repellent,” Finnerty said. “Real plants compete for water and resources, which can overcome the protective effects in providing shelter for browsing.
“Our approach should be transferable to any mammalian herbivore, or potentially invertebrate, that relies primarily on plant odor information for feeding and that can protect globally valuable plants, such as threatened species.
Current solutions to herbivore-related problems often involve costly and environmentally impactful measures, such as lethal control or fences.
The new research presents a low-cost alternative human strategy based on understanding the signals, motivations and foraging decisions of herbivores.
“Plant browsing damage caused by herbivorous mammal populations such as deer, elephants and wallabies is a growing global concern,” said study lead author Professor Clare McArthur.
“This damage is one of the biggest limiting factors in post-fire recovery and revegetation areas, destroying more than half of the seedlings in these areas. It also threatens endangered plants and causes billions of dollars in damage to forestry and agriculture globally. Current methods of protecting plants are expensive and increasingly limited by animal welfare concerns.so alternative approaches are needed.”
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