It can sometimes be hard to resist the urge to clean up fallen branches or accumulated leaf litter in native bushland patches, but where possible leaving fallen logs, branches and leaf litter can have huge benefits for native wildlife and the functioning of ecosystems.
Ecologist Colleen O'Malley says threatened woodland birds like brown treecreepers, hooded robins and grey-crowned babblers love foraging for insects in leaf litter and fallen branches, and many frogs, skinks and dragons also use leaf litter or crevices in fallen timber to hide from predators and to hunt for prey.
“We know cleaning up fallen tree litter sometimes can’t be avoided in order to reduce wildfire risk or to prevent fences being damaged, but where possible it is beneficial to leave it alone,” she said.
“Nutrient cycling is another key benefit of leaving fallen branches and leaf litter. Fungi, bacteria and invertebrates break down woody material and accelerate the process of creating nutrient-rich humus as well as aerating the soil through the decomposition process.
“Leaf litter and fallen branches also protect soils against erosion, trap seeds and provide ideal growing conditions, and deter spread of weeds that prefer bare ground to colonise.”
Murray River region Senior Landholder Support Officer Kev Chaplin shared a recent example of the benefits of retaining dead trees and fallen litter in the landscape.
“A local landholder on the western edge of the Snowy Mountains found an Antechinus mum and her 10 hungry babies in a newly fallen dead tree,” he said.
“Luckily, they were able to move the family to an existing nearby tree hollow and mum was observed tucking into nine fat wood grubs before moving on to a different tree.
“If the landholder had removed dead trees from the landscape this native carnivorous marsupial group could have been lost.”
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