Wildlife at the Watering Hole - May 2026 - Dr Thomas Mesaglio

Hidden Treasure: exploring the tremendous biodiversity value of an urban bush remnant

Dr Thomas Mesaglio

When asked to consider biodiverse regions and habitats, most people think of coral reefs and remote tropical rainforests. But not many bring to mind small bushland patches in urban Sydney! Urban bushland remnants are crucial microrefugia for many animal species ─ both vertebrates and invertebrates ─ in areas that are otherwise highly developed and cleared of native vegetation. But outside a few charismatic groups such as birds and butterflies, these remnants are rarely comprehensively surveyed to understand their fauna. In this talk, Dr Thomas Mesaglio will explore the species he observed during hundreds of hours of surveying of Wategora Reserve along Duck River, a tiny remnant of a critically endangered vegetation community in southwestern Sydney. The talk will cover the wide breadth of biodiversity that can be found in the reserve across all animal taxa, the importance of small urban bushland remnants in an increasingly disconnected landscape, the threats facing the area, and survey directions for the future.

Meet our speaker:

Dr Thomas Mesaglio is a botanist and naturalist at the University of New South Wales. Much of his current research focuses on biodiversity informatics and the Australian flora, but he has also published on bushfire recovery, marine forensics, and invertebrate taxonomy and natural history. He is an iNaturalist curator and a site administrator for iNaturalist Australia, and regularly organises and leads BioBlitzes around Australia. Thomas has published four scientific books, and received the 2022 Eureka Prize for Innovation in Citizen Science.