Written By: Amanda Vandarakis
Recent proposal by Tasmanian Government to cull sugar glider species could result in a loss of biodiversity in surrounding areas.
With efforts to save endangered swift parrot species resulting in the deaths of the gliders, wildlife experts have begun to question the possible negative effects that a sudden drop in the sugar glider population could have on surrounding ecosystems.
Professor in Conservation Biology and wildlife expert Peter Banks said: “It comes down to whether they are now having novel positive effects on their ecosystem in Tasmania.”
"After 150 years it is possible that they have replaced the functional role of other species. They might be acting as pollinators . . . and are probably food for owls and perhaps quolls . . ."
Studies over the last 20 years have demonstrated that more biologically diverse ecosystems are more productive.
Science Daily said: "Our results suggest that the increasing loss of biodiversity . . . will likely have much more devastating effects on natural communities and result in a greater number of species extinctions than previously believed."
In a recent interview with ABC News, Animal Liberation Tasmania spokesperson Kristy Algar said killing the gliders was not the answer.
"It's one of those difficult situations, because the swift parrot needs all the help it can get . . . but at the same time it's just this disappointing cycle of government bodies and agencies viewing conservation efforts as purely 'kill kill kill'," Ms Algar said.
According to The National Science Foundation, loss of biodiversity appears to affect ecosystems and surrounding environments as much as climate change, pollution, and any other major forms of environmental stress.
"This analysis establishes that reduced biodiversity affects ecosystems at levels comparable to those of global warming and air pollution," said a program director in the National Science Foundation's Division of Environmental Biology.
“Are there alternatives to killing? Yes! We’ve protected birds from nest predators using olfactory camouflage and associative learning. We’ve proposed this to the swift parrot folk actually but I don’t think it went anywhere.” Professor Banks said.
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