
38 - Re-bugging the Bush: Protecting the forest’s essential invertebrates through rewilding and Targeted Pest Suppression
Rewilding In ActionShow Notes
In this episode of Rewilding In Action, Maureen Howard is on the Otago Peninsula to talk to Shaun and Helen Murphy, a couple who are rewilding their property to help their very special populations of invertebrates thrive.
What invertebrate species are living there? And what do they do to protect the invertebrates? Keep listening. You may never squish a bug again!
Many thanks to RIBBONWOOD NURSERIES (www.ribbonwoodnurseries.co.nz) for kindly sponsoring this episode along with OAR FM for airing it.
This show was broadcast on OAR 105.4FM Dunedin - http://oar.org.nz
More from Rewilding In Action
The focus of today’s episode is how to register your naturally regenerating native forest through the NZ Emissions Trading Scheme or ETS.
Exotic pasture grasses are often a major barrier to native forest species getting established naturally. In this episode I’ve come to Te Whenua Ora on Banks Peninsula to find out how sheep grazing can help kanuka (Kunzea ericoides) get established through exotic grass to kickstart the forest succession process. Te Whenua Ora is a 536 ha conservation project near Little River comprising pasture, damp south-facing gullies, original forest remnants and drier north-facing slopes.
I’m often amazed by natures' ability to recover by itself when given a chance. However with less than 1% native vegetation, the Canterbury Plains is a good candidate for some planting to kickstart natural native forest regeneration.
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Most trees grow much better when they are able to associate with mycorrhizal fungi. Native beech in particular are unable to live without certain species of ectomycorrhizal fungi. Is it a job we are wise to leave to the processes of natural succession? In this episode of Rewilding in Action, my guests Professor David Orlovich, Associate Professor Matt Larcombe and Dr Andy Nilsen from Otago University’s botany department take me, Maureen Howard, on a mini-adventure in Bethunes Gully in Dunedin to find a small remnant of original tawhai silver beech, also known as Nothofagus menziesii.