Do bare-nosed wombat (Vombatus ursinus) mounds influence terrestrial macroinvertebrate assemblages in agricultural riparian zones?
Philip Borchard A C, Ian A. Wright B, Clare McArthur A A School of Biological Sciences A08, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia. B School of Natural Sciences, University of Western Sydney, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith South DC, NSW 1797, Australia. C Corresponding author. Email: pbor6081@usyd.edu.au Abstract Riparian ecosystems contain a complex mosaic of habitat structure types that can support distinct macroinvertebrate communities. Bare-nosed wombats (Vombatus ursinus) are often an integral component of agricultural riparian systems in south-eastern Australia. In these systems, wombats construct large burrow systems and mounds in the stream banks. Wombat mound structures vary markedly from the surrounding landscape and they may influence macroinvertebrate assemblages. We examined this ecosystem-engineering role of wombats as well as the ecological variability within our agricultural riparian study sites on the possible influence on macroinvertebrate assemblages. There were no dete
