Wildlife at the Watering Hole - August - Dr Patt Finnerty

Herbivore induced headaches - could the smell of avoided plants be a much-needed antidote?

Dr Patt Finnerty

Globally, mammalian herbivore browsing can have costly consequences, destroying plants of ecological and economical value. Current solutions to problematic herbivory traditionally use lethal control efforts or fencing. These approaches can be costly and increasingly limited by practicalities, concerns over animal welfare, and non-target ecological effects. Alternative management solutions are needed. We have only recently uncovered the importance of plant odour being key in mammalian herbivores deciding where to go, and what to eat. With this understanding, we developed a new approach to define and artificially replicate the informative odour emitted by plants undesirable to herbivores. Focusing on swamp wallabies in Australia, and African Elephants in Southern Africa, we showed that artificial odours, or ‘virtual’ neighbours mimicking avoided plant smell can successfully be deployed to nudge problematic animals (whether macropods, or megaherbivores) away from plants we are trying to protect.

About Patt:

I am a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Sydney. I recently completed my PhD in ecology and conservation. My research focused on integrating principles of animal behaviour and sensory ecology to develop alterative wildlife management solutions. Specifically, my fieldwork was split across two continents. exploring ways to mitigate browsing damages caused by swamp wallabies in national parks here in Sydney, and African elephants in Southern Africa. However, I am now investigating something completely different, and am part of a team developing an urban rewilding programme for native species re-introduction in Sydney.