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Ecotones and Fire and the Conservation of the Endangered Eastern Bristlebird Jack Baker University of Wollongong

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Ecotones and Fire and the Conservation of the Endangered Eastern Bristlebird Jack Baker University of Wollongong University of Wollongong Research Online University of Wollongong Thesis Collection University of Wollongong Thesis Collections 1998 Ecotones and fire and the conservation of the endangered eastern bristlebird Jack Baker University of Wollongong Recommended Citation Baker, Jack, Ecotones and fire and the conservation of the endangered eastern bristlebird, Doctor of Philosophy thesis, , University of Wollongong, 1998. http://ro.uow.edu.au/theses/2090 Research Online is the open access institutional repository for the University of Wollongong. For further information contact the UOW Library: [email protected] Ecotones and fire and the conservation of the endangered eastern bristlebird A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Wollongong by Jack Baker B Sc, Grad Dip Ed, B App Sc (Environmental Analysis) Declaration This thesis is submitted in accordance with the regulations of the University of Wollongong in fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. The work in this thesis was carried out by me and has not been submitted to any other university or institution. 31 July 1998 John Richard (Jack) Baker Commonwealth of Australia Declaration under sl8.(l) of the Endangered Species Protection Act 1992 I, ROBERT MURRAY HILL, Minister for the Environment, in pursuance of sl8.(l) of the Endangered Species Protection Act 1992, hereby declare that Schedule 1 to that Act shall be deemed to be amended by adding AMPHIBIANS Sunset Frog Spkospinn ftammocaerulea BIRDS Eastern Bristlebird Dasyornis brachyptcrus MAMMALS Kangaroo Island Dunnart Sminthopsis aitkeni Karkarratul (Northern Marsupial-Mole) Notoryctes caurinus Yitjarrirjarri (Southern Marsupial-Mole) Notoryctes typhlops to 'Schedule 1 Part 1 - Species that are endangered' adding INVERTEBRATES Bathurst Copper Butterfly Pnmlncia spinifcra to 'Part 2 - Species that are vulnerable' deleting BIRDS Eastern Bristlebird Dasyornis•'brachyptcrus from 'Part 2 - Species that are vulnerable'. In accordance with sl9 of the Endangered Species Protection Act 1992 the reasons for the above amendments are available at reasonable cost from the Director of National Parks and Wildlife on receipt of a written request. Dated this 1st day of June 1998. h-U Robert Hill Minister for the Environment Acknowledgements There is a story other than my dissertation. Briefly, 'tis this. From my grandparents came stubborn determination, stories and fun. My father taught me by example that I could simply do anything. By guile, my mother infused in me a sense of what was worth doing. Together, my parents introduced me to the bush. May Clarke said "you're never too old to learn"; good advice from my 85 year-old mother-in-law. My children and their children stand to inherit a world of uncivil societies in messed-up ecosystems. In this, the latter part of my life, I am working for the conservation of the childrens' world. My re-introduction to university study was provoked by Bruce Gray and fostered by four excellent teachers at Charles Start University, Wagga Wagga, namely Tony Dare- Edwards, Ken Page, David Robertson and Helen Wood and some boisterous class­ mates, namely Danny Roberts and Geoff Russell. I was privileged to live and work at Barren Grounds where I met ground parrots, eastern bristlebirds, Kris French and Rob Whelan. Meeting Rob the biologist, not the other whiskey and whistle Rob, allowed my dream of post-graduate study to become a reality. Being a member of the Biology Department at Wollongong Uni was very exciting and a bit scary sometimes, the way it made my brain fuzz and buzz. I tried to learn from all of my peers: students, researchers and lecturers alike. Mostly, they go unnamed. A few are special to me: Fiona Beynon, Justine Cox, Carl Gosper, Simon Heemstra, Tanya Llorens, Matt O'Mullane, Sue Murray-Jones, Suzanne Oppenheimer, Louise Rodgerson and Alex Watson. Ken Russell, consultant statistician, University of Wollongong, assisted with the survey design and provided the analysis of proportions for the vegetation cover section of Chapter 5 and also gave advice about the ANOVA in Chapter 4 and the x2 analyses in Chapter 6. John Marthick, consultant geoscientist, University of Wollongong, drove the home range and GIS computer applications used for data manipulation in Chapter 6 and provided digitized base maps for Figures 2.1, 3.2 and 6.1. Belinda Pellow and Gary Leonard, Janet Cosh Herbarium, University of Wollongong, assisted with plant identification. Jean Clarke, unpaid worker, used witchcraft to catch the bristlebirds for the radio-tracking reported in Chapter 6. Another privilege for me during my studies, was to associate with many helpful people outside of the university. Most are variously acknowledged in previous reports and papers and, again, just a few are mentioned, those whose encouragement I especially valued: Ross Goldingay, Stephen Marchant, Les Mitchell and Ros Muston. i Acknowledgements My greatest privilege was to be a student of Kris French and Rob Whelan. Their patience, enthusiasm, knowledge and scholarship have amazed and inspired me. And, they both have a great sense of fun. My studies were financed partly by related consultancies undertaken for Environment Australia and NSW NPWS, partly by the University of Wollongong and mostly by Jean Clarke. The studies reported in the thesis were conducted with Animal Ethics Approval No AE97/02 from the University of Wollongong; Australian Bird Banding Schemes Authorities A1863 and A1725; Booderee National Park Research Permit JR97/19; and NSW NPWS Scientific Investigation Licences A1320, C332 and C294. During the course of my study, I had the opportunity to be involved in writing publications and reports, collaboratively and alone. In the thesis, these works are cited only in reference to the parts which were separate to my own research. My interest in the eastern bristlebird was stimulated and maintained by involvement with reviews (Bramwell and Baker 1990; Baker and Clarke 1991; Baker 1995; Whelan and Baker in press). The collection of eastern bristlebird data at Jervis Bay and Nadgee and the formulation of management recommendations for various consultancies, partially facilitated a number of works (Baker and French 1994; Baker 1996a; Baker and Whelan 1996; Whelan and Baker 1996; Gosper and Baker 1997; Baker 1997a; Baker 1998). The status of the eastern bristlebird was assessed by Baker (1996b) and this report was instrumental in changing the legal status of the species in NSW and nationally. Chapters 2 and 3 were condensed in Baker (1997b). My study of ecotones was stimulated by involvement with a study of forest powerline easements (Baker et al. 1998). Throughout my studies my constant companions were the fine works of the descendants of Arm Guinness and the fine music from ABC Classic FM. My very best mate and mentor has been and will remain my wife, Jean Clarke. II Ecotones and fire and the conservation of the endangered eastern bristlebird Abstract Conserving Australia's rich biodiversity should begin with a concern for individual species. This thesis explores the issues of threatened species status, fire as a threatening process and the significance of bird habitat at ecotones, with a focus on the eastern bristlebird as a case study. The dominant issue of ecotones is explored in relation to bird populations and heath-wood edges. The biological status of the eastern bristlebird was clear by 1997. It was estimated that there were fewer than 2 000 individuals occupying less than 120 km2. Their range covered 1 400 km from Conondale Range, south-eastern Queensland, to Croajingolong in north-eastern Victoria. They were confined to three disjunct regions. The 6-9 northern populations were on the brink of regional extinction. There was one small widely spread southern population at Nadgee-Croajingolong. The central populations were contained in two main areas, Barren Grounds-Budderoo and Bherwerre Peninsula, Jervis Bay, with possibly a few small fragments at Morton-Red Rocks. The fragmentation and decline that were probably ongoing for millennia, have apparently been hastened by European settlement. The legal status of the eastern bristlebird is currently (1998) Endangered in Queensland (Nature Conservation (Wildlife) Regulation 1994 of the Nature Conservation Act 1992), Endangered in NSW (Final Determination under the NSW Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995, gazetted 31 January 1997 ), Endangered in Victoria (Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 as amended (CNR 1995)) and Endangered nationally (Endangered Species Protection Act 1992 as amended 1 June 1998). Fire has been a feature of eastern bristlebird habitat in the regions where the species currently occurs. This thesis documents evidence to suggest that fire has caused the loss of populations in prehistoric, historic and recent times. By contrast, at Barren Grounds, in the absence of fire during 1992-7, the population almost doubled. There was a short to medium-term trend of density increasing from zero or low density immediately after fire, recovering to a plateau of approximately 2 birds per 5 ha, 10 years after fire. There was some evidence that the extent of a fire and the availability of fire refugia are important factors in the recovery of populations after fire. Eastern bristlebirds can occur and breed in relatively long-unburnt habitat, for example, at Nadgee, in habitat with fire-age older than 24 years. in Abstract Two central theories have emerged from the concept of ecotones: "the edge effect" and "ecotonal species" (Odum 1958). Few studies have explored these concepts at natural edges between two contrasting vegetation communities. In the last decade, the eastern bristlebird has been called an ecotonal species, although Bramwell et al. (1992) have provided the only analytical test of this assertion. In the present thesis, bird populations across heath-wood edges were studied for evidence of edge effects and ecotonal species. When the ecotone was taken as a 50 m wide zone across the edge, there was no evidence for greater bird abundance or species richness at the ecotone.
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