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Dung Beetles Ecosystem Engineers

Date:
By MFMG Admin

Project code: RnD4profit-16-03-016

Project manager: Claire Dennerly and Adrian Harvey

Project duration: October 2019 to April 2022

About the project

Dung beetles are nature’s resilience builders. Australian livestock produce some 80 million tonnes of dung a year and unburied dung can take months to break down, meaning the pasture surface will not be suitably grazed. By burying and shredding dung, dung beetles can:
 
  • Improve soil in grazing systems,
  • Reduce water runoff and nutrient run-off into waterways,
  • Reduce fly populations and livestock parasite burdens,
  • Sequester carbon and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and 
  • Improve pasture health, fertility and growth.
The Dung Beetle Ecosystem Engineers (DBEE) project is a five-year project supported by MLA through funding from the Australian Government’s Rural Research & Development for Profit program. 
 
In this project, a survey of dung beetles across southern Australia is being conducted to assess seasonal activity. MFMG have delivered a two-year survey, aiming to identify dung beetle species and their abundance, distribution and activity across the Limestone Coast. Data collected will be collated into a larger database which will be useful to identify distribution of dung beetles across Australia, identify gaps in activity and later facilitate their introduction into new regions.
 
Dung beetle populations differ with respect to their range and adaptation to climatic conditions. A key goal of this project is to have an effective network of dung beetles working across all seasons and regions to keep Australia’s pastures clean and well-fertilised.

Project activities

MFMG have been working in collaboration with PIRSA to deliver three new trials in the Upper South East as part of the Impacts Program.

  1.  A trial at Sherwood (near Keith) is located on a deep sandy rise that has previously had clay spread and incorporated in the top 10 cm; it was diagnosed to be compacted below 20 cm and deficient in potassium. The trial aims to treat the compaction by comparing soil mixing with a rotary spader with deep cultivation using a Yeomans Plow and assessing the crop yield responses, with and without potassium applied. The site was sown to wheat in 2019 and observations will continue in 2020 in beans. 
  2.  A trial at Malinong (near Meningie) is located on a sandy crest that is severely water repellent in the surface, and acidic and compacted in the sub-surface. The trial compares the impact of soil mixing with a rotary spader and Plozza Plow, versus deep cultivation at 30 cm and 40 cm with an Ausplow ripper. Barley was sown in 2019 and observations will continue in 2020 in canola.
  3.  A trial at Telopea Downs (Vic) traverses a shallow sand over clay, trending to very deep sand over the crest of a dune. The site had previously been clay spread at 200-250 t/ha in 2007, which was incorporated in the top 8-10 cm and has been in a long term lucerne pasture ever since. In 2020, a spader was used to re-incorporate the existing clay to 30 cm, to test if deeper incorporation is beneficial for crop growth. A second application of clay was also applied as a treatment (an additional 250 t/ha), which was also spaded in. The site has been sown to canola.  

The trials were monitored for plant establishment and harvest grain yield and quality; results for all trials are published in the MFMG annual results book. MFMG annual spring field walks visited the sites.

 

This project is funded by:

MLA logo, colour, jpg format Department of Agriculture Water and Environment

 

Project resources:

MFMG Summer 2021/2022 Newsletter Article

2020_Dung Beetle Ecosytem Engineers_Presentation

MFMG Winter 2020 Newsletter Article