Composition, Seasonal Occurrences and Habitat Use of Bird Assemblages in Wet Forests on the Central Plateau of Tasmania

Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania, Volume 134, 2000 35 COMPOSITION, SEASONAL OCCURRENCES AND HABITAT USE OF BIRD ASSEMBLAGES IN WET FORESTS ON THE CENTRAL PLATEAU OF TASMANIA by Raymond N. Brereton and Robert J . Taylor (with five tables and four text-figures) BRERETON, R.N. & TAYLOR, R.]., 2000 (31 :xii): Composition, seasonal occurrences and habitat use of bird assemblages in wet forests on the Central Plateau of Tasmania. Pap. Proc. R. Soc. Tasm. 134: 35·-43. ISSN 0080-4703. Nature Conservation Branch, Department of Primary Industries, Water and Environment, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia 7000 (RNM); and Forestry Tasmania, 79 Melville Street, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia 7000 (RJT). Bird communities in montane wet forest at three sites (altitudes 700,750 and 880 m) on the Central Plateau of Tasmania were surveyed over a 12-month period between December 1991 and November 1992. Monthly transect counts were carried out at each site. Snowf:,lls are common at all three sites during winter and snow can remain at the highest site for several weeks. Bird communities at the study sites showed significant differences in densities and seasonal patterns even though species composition was similar. These differences were influenced by the variation in habitats and the environments at the sites. Butlers Road, the lowest site with the mildest winters and greatest proportion of drier habitat, had the highest bird densities, while D'Arcys Bluff, at the highest altitude, had the lowest. The degree of seasonal changes of birds was similar to mainland montane wet forests, with over half the species moving either locally or to the mainland, However, there was variation in seasonal occurrences between the study sites, with proportionally more species moving from the highest site during the winter, Within the study sites, the wet forest habitats with a diverse shrub and/or fern understorey supported higher bird populations than did mixed forest and damp forest. Species richness is lower at these sites compared with equivalent montane forests on mainland southeastern Australia. Key Words: bird communities, montane wet forest, Tasmania, bird density, species diversity. iNTRODUCTION STUDY AREAS There have been a number of studies conducted in Three areas on the Central Plateau of Tasmania were southeastern Australia describing the composition, seasonal sampled. These were D'Arcys Bluff (AMG 4420 53291, changes and habitat use in bird communities in a range of elevation 880 m, northwestern aspect), Homes Dam (AMG fo rest types, including tern perate rainforest (Thomas 1980), 4475 53196, 750 m, southerly aspect) and Butlers Road wet forests (Lamm & Wilson 1966, Pattemore 1980, Smith (AMG 4473 53164, 700 m, southerly aspect). Jurassic 1984, Loyn 1985a, 1993, Robinson 1991); dry forests and dolerite underlies all three areas and forms a variably dense woodlands (Pattemore 1980, Recher et al. 1983, Recher & surface cover of Quaternary talus, Temperatures at the Holmes 1985, Dickinson eta!' 1986, Cale 1994, Mac Nally nearby settlement of Butlers Gorge (666 m) range from 1995,1996, Taylor & Haseler 1995). However, there has February mean daily minima and maxima of 6.2°C and been only one major study of the bird communities of wet 18. rc respectively, to July mean daily minima and maxima forest in Tasmania that collected information over all seasons, of-O.4°C and 6.9°C respectively. Snowfalls are common in that carried out by Pattemore (1980) in the Florentine winter, and at D'Arcys Bluff snow can lie on the ground for Valley. Of the studies of birds in southeastern Australia, few several weeks. Annual precipitation at Butlers Gorge, have been undertaken on the bird communities in montane including snow, averages c. 1684 mm, with a winter forests, where the winters are exceptionally harsh and snow maximum and summer minimum. can be continually present for weeks. Gall & Longmore Small areas of cool temperate rainforest dominated by (1978) and Osborne & Green (1992) reported on studies in Nothofogus cunninghamii are present at Butlers Road. the Snowy Mountains. However, these were centred on Rainforest also occurs at Homes Dam with Leptospermum alpine and subalpine communities, Lamm & Wilson (1966) lanigerum as a co-dominant. Vegetation at all three study carried out a survey of the bird communities in montane wet areas is dominated by tall, open sclerophyll forest with forest in the Brindabella Range in the Australian Capital c. 150-200 year old Eucalyptus delegatensis. The sclerophyll Territory and Thomas (1987) and Ratkowsky & Ratkowsky forest can be broadly subdivided on the basis of the affinities (1976,1978) reported on bird communities in montane wet of the understorey species. Mixed forest has an understorey forest on Mount Wellington in Tasmania. dominated by rainforest species. Wet sclerophyll forest has This paper documents bird communities at three sites in an understorey dominated by mesophytic (soft-leafed montane Eucalyptus delegatensis wet forest on the Central shrubs) and damp sclerophyll forest has an understorey Plateau of Tasmania. The patterns of seasonal occurrences with a mixture of species characteristic of both wet and dry and use of habitats at the three sites are compared and forests. Shrub and ground cover varies within sites discussed in relation to other studies in forests in similar depending on canopy cover, dryness and surface rock environments. This study was undertaken as part of the abundance. The ground in wetter spots is bare under denser pre-logging data collection for a project investigating the tree canopies, while the tree-fern Dicksonia antarctica is value for fauna of retained strips in production forests. common in wetter, more open areas. On drier sites the shrub layer consists of a mixture of species including Cyathodes parvifolia, Pultenaea juniperina, Telopea truncata, 36 R.N Brereton and R.]. Taylor Phebalium squameum, regrowth N cunninghamii and of the four transects were only surveyed once; at D'Arcys Tasmannia lanceolata. On the more rocky sites dominant Bluff in December, one of the three transects was only species include Bedfordia salicina, Notelaea ligustrina, P. sampled once; none of the transects at D'Arcys Bluff could squameum, Acacia verniciflua and Pomaderris apetala. be surveyed in June as heavy snowfalls prevented access to A vegetation survey of the study areas (F. Duncan & M. the site. Transects were traversed during the morning, Brown, pers. comm.) utilised classification techniques generally during the first four hours after sunrise. Surveys (TWINSPAN, Hill 1979) on cover-abundance floristic sometimes extended beyond this time, when poor weather data to identify communities. Twelve communities were led to a delayed start. identified. Two of these are rainforest communities. The The transects were traversed at a steady walking pace. All remaining ten communities contained E. delegatensis as the birds seen were recorded regardless of distance from the dominant tree. The twelve communities were combined line. Birds that were heard and not located and birds flying into four habitat types by grouping communities with a overhead were noted but not included in the count. For similar structure and floristic affinities (table 1). each bird detected, a sighting distance and angle (between the line of travel and the line of sight to the object) were recorded. METHODS Observations of birds were assigned to one of four height classes based on the structure of the vegetation and were A line transect method was used to survey birds. Two decided prior to the commencement of the study. The transects were located at Butlers Road, four transects at height classes used were: canopy, 20+ m (E. delegatensis Homes Dam and three transects at D'Arcys Bluff. Length of crowns); mid layer, 5-20 m (tall shrubs, secondary trees); individual transects varied between 0.337 km and 0.484 km. lower layer, 1-5 m (shrubs); and ground layer, 0-1 m The transects were split into sections of different lengths (ground surface, fallen timber, low shrubs). (piece-wise linear design -- Burnham et al. 1980) to enable Species were assigned to classes based on the height class the sampling ofdifferent habitats in non-homogenous terrain. in which they were most frequently observed over all seasons. Transect length in each habitat is given in table 2. These are dwelling height classes as opposed to foraging Transects were surveyed (by RB) during a ten-day visit classes, because they are not based on observations of to the study area during the middle of each month from foraging activity. However, for most species they equate to December 1991 to November 1992. Transects at Butlers the height class in which most foraging is undertaken. The Road were surveyed once per monthly visit, apart from exceptions are species such as the robins and the fan-tailed June when they were surveyed twice. The Homes Dam cuckoo, which pounce on invertebrate prey on the ground and D'Arcys Bluff sites were surveyed twice per month from low perches, and the forest raven, which forages with the following exceptions: due to poor weather across a range of height classes. The substrate on which a conditions at Homes Dam in December and January, two bird was perched when first detected was also recorded. TABLE 1 The four habitats, their affiliation with current Tasmanian wet eucalypt forest classification and their occurrence in the study areas Habi tat types* Mixed forest Mixed/wet forest wi th Mixed/wet forest with Damp forest with a shrubby (MF) dense ground ferns a shrubby understorey understorey on rocky ground (WFf) (WFs) (DF) Description Cool temperate Intermediate between a An open to dosed tall Mixrure of dry and wet forest rainforest and mixed mixed and wet forest shrub I aye r is present. shrubs. Present on areas with a forest communities with N cunninghamii high cover of rocks. Shrub layer and is characterised usually sparse or absent varied from open to closed, by a dense secondary as a seco ndary tree.

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