Bird communities in remnant woodland on the New England Tablelands, New South Wales (original) (raw)
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Bird communities in remnant woodland on the upper North-west Slopes of New South Wales
Australian Zoologist, 2006
Bird counts were conducted in woodland remnants of the upper North-west Slopes of New South Wales, an ornithologically little-documented area, in 1995 and 1997. A total of 120 woodland species, including 11 threatened species, was recorded in the area below 900 m elevation, from a point 100 km NNW of Armidale northwards 50 km to the Dumaresq River, thence 50 km north-west across Slopes woodland to the river at Texas (Queensland). Woodland patches >300 ha supported significantly more species than those <100 ha. Threatened and other declining species occurred mainly in large patches, although some also occurred commonly in small riverine or otherwise fertile patches; foraging guilds of small to mediumsized, ground and above-ground insectivores were under-represented in small remnants. The conservation values of woodland remnants on the upper North-west Slopes are similar to those on the tablelands and inland slopes farther south, and require appropriate management to maintain avian diversity.
Changes in woodland bird communities as replanted woodland matures
Pacific Conservation Biology
Small patches of woodland were progressively established on degraded agricultural land near Gunnedah, northern New South Wales, on the heavily cleared Liverpool Plains. Birds were resurveyed in the plantings, and in agricultural fields (cropping and pasture) and remnant woodland, in 2011–12, 10 years after initial surveys in 2000–01. The plantings in the later survey were 60, 18, 16 and 13 years old, with a shrub layer included in the three youngest cohorts. The survey sites (total 14 ha planted, all within 200 m of remnant woodland) were paired 1-ha plots in each vegetation category. Birds were surveyed by 30-min area searches of each plot eight times over all seasons, using the same plots, procedure and observer as before. In all, 73 species were recorded in the later survey (versus 72 in the earlier survey), for a total of 87 species over both survey periods, with 58 species in 2011–12 (versus 54 in 2000–01) in the plantings; eight of 15 new species visited or colonised the matur...
Pacific Conservation Biology, 2011
Extensive loss and degradation of native vegetation in the agricultural landscape of inland south-eastern Australia has resulted in significant losses in bird diversity and abundance. Native vegetation continues to be lost through the attrition of paddock trees, which constitute a large component of the remaining vegetation. The planting of native trees and shrubs is being undertaken as a means of halting the loss of biodiversity. However, the effectiveness of revegetation activities is still being assessed. A study in the Wagga Wagga area of New South Wales was undertaken to examine the relative value of remnant vegetation, farm plantings, paddock trees, and pasture for bird diversity. Species richness was highest in remnant vegetation, and was similar in planted vegetation and paddock trees. Relative abundance was similar across these three vegetation types. Species composition differed among all vegetation types, with planted and paddock tree sites having predominantly different ...
The clearance of woodlands and the simultaneous creation of alien environments have been identified as the primary reasons for the decline of many woodland birds in southeastern Australia. This study measured how the size of woodland remnants and habitat structural complexity affected bird composition and distribution in the northern Australian Capital Territory and bordering areas of New South Wales. Within this region only 8% of the original woodlands remain, embedded as patches in a matrix of pasture and suburbia.
2009
The loss, fragmentation and degradation of native vegetation are major causes of loss of biodiversity globally. Extinction debt is the term used to describe the ongoing loss of species from fragmented landscapes long after the original loss and fragmentation of habitat. However, losses may also result from habitat changes that are unrelated to fragmentation, which reduce breeding success and recruitment. Many woodland birds have declined in fragmented landscapes in Australia, probably due to loss of small, isolated populations, though the ecological processes are poorly understood. We record the progressive regional loss of two ground-foraging, woodland birds, the Brown Treecreeper Climacteris picumnus and Hooded Robin Melanodryas cucullata, in northern New South Wales, over 30 years. This has happened despite most habitat loss occurring over 100 years ago, suggesting the payment of an extinction debt. Our observations suggest that several ecological processes, caused by habitat los...
PLoS ONE, 2012
The value for biodiversity of large intact areas of native vegetation is well established. The biodiversity value of regrowth vegetation is also increasingly recognised worldwide. However, there can be different kinds of revegetation that have different origins. Are there differences in the richness and composition of biotic communities in different kinds of revegetation? The answer remains unknown or poorly known in many ecosystems. We examined the conservation value of different kinds of revegetation through a comparative study of birds in 193 sites surveyed over ten years in four growth types located in semi-cleared agricultural areas of south-eastern Australia. These growth types were resprout regrowth, seedling regrowth, plantings, and old growth. Our investigation produced several key findings: (1) Marked differences in the bird assemblages of plantings, resprout regrowth, seedling regrowth, and old growth.
A Four-Year Study of a Bird Community in a Woodland Remnant Near Moyston, Western Victoria
Corella, 2003
at a woodland remnant near Moyston in western Victoria. The migratory status of each species was assessed. Changes in abundance seasonally and over a longer period are reported. The results indicate that this remnant .is used by about thirty species of resident birds as well as supporting various migrants and partial migrants. The study site was occasionally visited by large numbers of several nectarivorous species. Two resident species (Hooded Robin Melanodryas cucullata and Buff-rumped Thornbill Acanthiza reguloides) disappeared during the survey, and another (Speckled Warbler Chthonico/a sagittatus) has since disappeared from the remnant. These species are all ground nesters and/or ground feeders. Such species are of conservation concern across the temperate woodlands of southeastern Australia, as they also have declined elsewhere in these habitats in recent decades. The White-browed Scrubwren Sericornis frontalis was a resident by the survey's completion, having been recorded only sporadically earlier in the study. The results give insight into the movements of birds at this site and presumably other woodland remnants in the area. The loss of resident species witnessed here is a tangible example of a loss of species occurring at a larger scale in temperate woodlands in Australia. S. J. Kennedy: Study of a bird community in a woodland remnant near Moyston, Western Victoria Corella 27(2) The area has a temperate climate with average monthly maximum temperatures ranging from 27.7°C in January to 11. I °C in July, and average monthly minimum temperatures ranging from I 2.6°C in February to l.7°C in June and July (temperature data are for Ararat, 16 km to the cast). Moyston receives an average of 573 millimetres of rain per year (LCC I 980), with most rain falling in winter and spring. Censusing A single, strip transect (approximately 1.5 km in length and I 00 m in width) was used to estimate bird species richness and abundance. The transect route extensively sampled all habitats of the remnant, and was completed in approximately four hours. Censuses commenced at sunrise or soon after on overcast mornings. Every bird sighted during the census was recorded and counted. Care was taken Lo avoid double counting. Birds heard calling from within the remnant were recorded when they were first heard, and if they were not ullimately sighted during the survey they were counted as 'one'. Birds using the aerial space over the study site for hunting (e.g. raptors) or feeding (e.g. martins or swallows) are included in the results. Data collected on other birds flying over the transect are not included in this paper. The census was made on the second or third weekend of each month between September 1989 and February I 994. There were five censuses in the spring and summer months and four in the autumn and winter months. Counts were averaged across the years. Classifirn1io11 of migrawry stmus At the completion of data collection the seasonal variation in abundance of each species was assessed and each species was classed as a resident, migrant, partial migrant, or visitor. The definitions of migratory status have been adapted from Er and Tidemann (1996).
Approximately 90% of the original woodlands of the Mount Lofty Ranges of South Australia has been cleared, modified or fragmented, most severely in the last 60 years, and affecting the avifauna dependent on native vegetation. This study identifies which woodland-dependent species are still declining in two different habitats, Pink Gum–Blue Gum woodland and Stringybark woodland. We analyse the Mount Lofty Ranges Woodland Bird Long-Term Monitoring Dataset for 1999–2007, to look for changes in abundance of 59 species.Weuse logistic regression of prevalence on lists in a Bayesian framework, and List Length Analysis to control for variation in detectability. Compared with Reporting Rate Analysis, a more traditional approach, List Length Analysis provides tighter confidence intervals by accounting for changing detectability. Several common species were declining significantly. Increasers were generally large-bodied generalists. Many birds have already disappeared from this modified and naturally isolated woodland island, and our results suggest that more specialist insectivores are likely to follow. The Mount Lofty Ranges can be regarded as a ‘canary landscape’ for temperate woodlands elsewhere in Australia – without immediate action their bird communities are likely to follow the trajectory of the Mount Lofty Ranges avifauna. Alternatively, with extensive habitat restoration and management, we could avoid paying the extinction debt.
Biological Conservation, 2009
The loss, fragmentation and degradation of native vegetation are major causes of loss of biodiversity globally. Extinction debt is the term used to describe the ongoing loss of species from fragmented landscapes long after the original loss and fragmentation of habitat. However, losses may also result from habitat changes that are unrelated to fragmentation, which reduce breeding success and recruitment. Many woodland birds have declined in fragmented landscapes in Australia, probably due to loss of small, isolated populations, though the ecological processes are poorly understood. We record the progressive regional loss of two ground-foraging, woodland birds, the Brown Treecreeper Climacteris picumnus and Hooded Robin Melanodryas cucullata, in northern New South Wales, over 30 years. This has happened despite most habitat loss occurring over 100 years ago, suggesting the payment of an extinction debt. Our observations suggest that several ecological processes, caused by habitat loss, fragmentation or degradation, and operating over different time scales, have led to both species' declines. Female Brown Treecreepers disperse poorly among vegetation remnants, leaving only males in isolated populations, which then go extinct. In contrast, Hooded Robins suffer high nest predation in fragmented landscapes, producing too few recruits to replace adult mortality. Foraging by both species may also be affected by regrowth of ground vegetation and shrubs. We found little support for a major role played by drought, climate change or aggressive Noisy Miners Manorina melanocephala. We propose that both extinction debt in the classical sense and ongoing habitat change frequently contribute to species' decline in modified landscapes. Management to arrest and reverse such declines needs to consider these multiple causes of decline. For instance, reconnecting isolated populations may be inadequate alone, and activities such as appropriate grazing, fires and the addition of woody debris may also be required.