In the middle of the semester, TEE Lab members, Dr Eleanor Slade and Ong Xin Rui, embarked on a knowledge exchange in Australia to gain insights on dung beetle breeding best practices and associated research on ecosystem functioning and benefits.
Onthophagus taurus and Onitis sp. at a cattle farm in Perth. Photos 2024 Ong Xin Rui.
Starting in Perth, we went in search for dung beetles at a local cattle farm with our hosts from the University of Western Australia (UWA) School of Biological Sciences, Dr Theo Evan and Dr Jacob Berson. We had our first encounter with the famously studied species, Onthophagus taurus - a focal species in multiple research areas such as dung beetle development, ecology, behaviour and evolution. In UWA, Jacob gave a tour of the breeding facilities and their range of set ups catering for various purposes such as behaviour observations and dung choice experiments. We also engaged in insightful conversations with Dr James Ridsdill-Smith on dung beetle ovary development and breeding patterns. As part of the school's seminar series, we gave a guest lecture on our lab's research areas and how they work towards addressing the taxonomic and capacity impediments in tropical regions like Southeast Asia.
Checking out the breeding set ups and presenting at UWA School of Biological Sciences.
Photos 2024 Eleanor Slade & Ong Xin Rui.
Next, we headed to Adelaide and were warmly welcomed by Dr Bernard Doube and Loene Doube of Dung Beetle Solutions International. Bernard gave a detailed sharing on the research and efforts towards introducing dung beetles in Australia and their benefits in agricultural systems. We were especially inspired by Bernard's dung beetle ecosystem functioning experiments that showed the incredible effect of dung beetle introductions on soil health, structure and chemistry. We also shared our lab's work and discussed how we could incorporate Bernard's experimental techniques (check out those soil corers!) in potential ecosystem functioning studies. Bernard and Loene made us feel much at home and kindly brought us around the beautiful Adelaide Hills.
Dung beetle loaded discussions and fun times with the Doube family in Adelaide. Photos 2024 Eleanor Slade & Xin Rui Ong.
Lastly, we went on to Canberra and met up with Dr Valerie Caron and Patrick Gleeson of CSIRO. They brought us around their breeding facilities and set ups and we were estatic to see live Gymnopleurus sturni beetles and brood balls. Patrick comprehensively shared on dung beetle breeding best practices and some tips and tricks to help in achieving a successful husbandry programme. We also presented on the versatility of dung beetles as ecosystem service providers, model taxons for assessing biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, and bioindicators. We then had a great dung beetling session with officers from the Ginninderry Conservation Trust and saw lots of dung beetle activity in the dung pads.
Checking out the CSIRO breeding facilities and dung beetling in Canberra. Photos 2024 Eleanor Slade & Ong Xin Rui.
All in all, this was a super inspiring trip and we are very thankful to our amazing hosts for generously sharing their research and being so welcoming to us. We are excited to see the future collaborations and research emerging from these new connections. Stay tuned!