The woylie and the sandalwood seed... what's the connection?
Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions website from Western Australia 2021 states: The woylie or brush-tailed bettong (Bettongia penicillata) is an extremely rare, small marsupial, belonging to the genusBettongia, that is endemic to Australia. The woylie was originally found in great abundance across southern Australia, north to about 30°S, in a wide distribution range from the coast in the west and east toward the Great Dividing Range.[13] The species was observed at all parts of the Swan River Colony when the field worker John Gilbert visited during its founding years. Gilbert noted woylies on the tidal flats of the Swan Coastal Plain and river itself, and their nests amongst clumps of grass and the hollows of trees, observing a preference for woodlands of Eucalyptus wandoo.[8] As late as 1910, the population was said to be well known in the Australian south-west, and interviews with older residents helped to establish the time and pattern of decline. The sudden demise of local populations near settlements across the state was noticed by the inhabitants, with most vanishing in the 1930s, while some persisted in a few regions until the 1950s. The last sighting of a woylie, at Bridgetown, Western Australia, was in 1912. In some areas, that was recalled as following the earlier disappearance of the boodie. The decline was probably caused by a number of factors, including the impact of introduced grazing animals, accompanied by land clearance for pastoralism and agriculture. Predation by introduced red foxes[14] and feral cats[15] has undoubtedly been crucial. The introduction of the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus), may have also placed the population under pressure, especially in arid and semi-arid regions, by direct competition or the dilapidation of the ecology.[16] By the 1920s, the woylie was extinct over much of its range. Changed fire regimes might also have played a part. The species suffered localised extinctions throughout its range, and was highly endangered by the 1970s
Woylies have been observed eating the large seeds of Australian sandalwood, Santalum spicatum, a nutritious food that the animal is known to place in a shallow cache for later consumption. The habit of caching the seeds is likely to have played an important role in the dispersal of the tree. However, Australian sandalwood was a commercially valuable tree, and was extensively cleared during colonisation. Populations of woylies introduced to an island off the coast of South Australia consume mainly plant material, tubers and roots, seeds and leaves, and beetles, a diet regarded as unusual for the species. Analysis of that colony's diet showed that it included fungal spores, as detected in their scats, although that is likely to have been an occupant of the guts of the beetle.
The inquiry process:
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Here is an example of narrative that a group of students wrote and then illustrated with images from their Woylie shadowbox.
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