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Western Australian ]Ournal of Conservation and Land

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Western Australian ]Ournal of Conservation and Land SC WESTERNAUSTRALIAN The avifauna of the forestsof south-westWestern Australia: changesin speciescomposition, distdbution, ]OURNAL OF CONSERVATION and abundancefollowing anthropogenicdisturbance AND LAND MANAGEMENT IAN ABBOTT PACE 1 Summary PAGE 2 Introduction Methods PACE 13 q^o.ia(.^nmonrrrw PAGE 52 Discovery and taxonomy of species PAGE 54 Biogeography PAGE 60 Habitats occupied PAGE 61 Abundance PAGE 62 Repncductivecapaciry nesting zone, and nesting substrate PAGE 65 Foraging niche PAGE 66 Population movements PACE 67 Disturbance ecology PAGE 85 Pressingunanswered questions PAGE 87 Acknowledgements References PAGE 104 Appendix PAGE 105 Tables PAGE 175 Notes on Author PACE 176 llstructionsto Authors 136 D.J. Cale et al. Corrigenda Abbott, I. (1999). The avifauna of the forests of southwest Western Australia: Changes in species composition, distribution and abundance following anthropogenic disturbance. CALMScience Supplement No. 55, 1-175. The following corrections should be noted: TEXT PAGE COLUMN LINE ACTION 2 2 4-5* Delete reference to Keartland collecting in forests in 1895 near King George Sound 6 1 31** Change ?1905 to 1907 6 1 32** Change ?1906 to 1907 31 1 18** Change Figure 3 to Figure 4 44 2 20* Change Storr 199 to Storr 1991 67 1 13* Change 1829 to 1830 97 2 5* Change Zoologishe to Zoologische * counting from bottom of page, ** from top TABLES PAGE ACTION 140 The rows Leipoa ocellata, Coturnix novaezelandiae and Coturnix ypsilophora are out of sequence. Place them after Dromaius novaehollandiae, as is the case elsewhere in Table 2. 148 (No. 41) Change 102 to 10 and 500 to 2 500 149 (No. 45) Change 201 to 20 and 750 to 1 750 152 (Meliphaga virescens) ‘Brown’ in column 1 belongs in column 3 156 The dots in rows Merops ornatus through to Smicrornis brevirostris should commence immediately from under the column headed W List of Referees The Science Publications Unit expresses grateful appreciation for the contributions made by the following reviewers (as well as a small number who preferred to remain anonymous) of manuscripts for publication in Conservation Science Western Australia Volume 4 2001-2002 Ray Bird, Tourism Consultant, Perth. Jonathan Brand, Forest Products Commission, Perth. Dr Penny Butcher, CSIRO, Forestry and Forest Products. Dr Stephen Davies, Consultant, Mount Helena WA. John Dell, Department of Environmental Protection, Perth. Mark Ellis, Primary Industries and Resources, South Australia. Dr Stephen Forbes, Botanic Gardens, Adelaide. Alex George, Botanist, Kardinya WA. Assoc. Prof. Emil Ghisalberti, University of Western Australia, Perth. EA Griffin, Department of Agriculture, Perth. Dr Chris Harwood, CSIRO, Forestry and Forest Products. Dr Manfred Jusaitis, Botanic Gardens, Adelaide. Dr Gaye Krebs, Curtin University of Technology, Perth. Dr Ted Lefroy, CSIRO, Sustainable Ecosystems. Prof. Jen McComb, Murdoch University, Perth. Maurice McDonald, CSIRO, Forestry and Forest Products. Graeme Olsen, Olsen & Vickery, Waroona WA. Dr Julie Plummer, University of Western Australia, Nedlands. Dr George Yen, Department of Agriculture, Perth. Dr Andrew Young, CSIRO, Plant Industry. CALMScienceSupplement 5: 1-176( 1999) The avifaunaof the forestsof south-west WesternAustralia: changes in speciescomposition, distribution.and abundancefollowine anthropogenicdisturbance IANABBOTT CALMScienceDivision, DcpartmentofConservation and Land landbirdspecies present is similar in all forestsin southem Managemcnt,Locked Bag 104,Bentley Deliv€ry Centre, mainlandAustralia (20-25 breedingspecies). Overall westem Australia6983. densityofbird populationsin jarrah and kani forestsis aboutone halfofthat in comparableforests in south-east Australia. SUMMARY Disturbancescaused by Europeansettlement have resultedin 4 speciespresent in the primal forests The avifauna(land and waterbirds)ofthe forestsofsouth- contractingin geographicalrange, 2 speciesbecoming westWestem Australia is circumscribedby referenceto extinct,and more than 90 speciesbenefiting from informationrecorded in the period 1840to 1998. A provisionof new habitats. Forestmanagement has had databasewas assembledfrom 272 publishedand limited impacton biodiversityand total abundanceof unpublishedbird lists, and this was suppl€mentedwith birds. Prescribedbuming undermoist soil conditionshas rccordsextracted from a systematicsearch ofthe primary no impacton bird speciesrichness in jarrah forest,but omithologicalliterature. ln excessof 7 000 recordswere increasesbird speciesrichness in karri forestfor 3-6 years. located. The original forestavifauna (just beforcthe Total abundanceofbirds increasesin both typesof forcst impactofEuropean settlers became pronounced) consisted afterprescribed buming. Plannedbuming underdry soil of I 12 breedingspecies (81 land,3l water). Salient conditionsincreases both bird speciesrichness and total characteristicsofthis avifaunainclude: only I speciesis abundanceofbirds. Wildfire reducesbird speciesrichness. confined(as a breedingspecies) to the primaevalforest All ofthese changesare temporary. ecosystem;53 speciesoccur throughout the forests;32 and Thinning ofjarrah forestdoes not changebird species 13 speciesare restricted to its eastemor southemportions richness,whereas cutting to gapsincreases bird species respectively;most speciesoccur extensively outside ofthe richness.Clearfelling ofkarri forestinitially reducesbird forests(66 speciesto the west,north, eastand south;33 speciesrichness; 12 yearslater about85 per centofthe speciesto the west,north and east);52 per centof landbird avifauna in mature standsis present in regrowth karri speciesare insectivores;about 20 per centofthe landbird forest. Thosespecies dependent on largehollows for faunamigrates from the forestin varying degreesin winter; nestingarc unlikely to nestin unthinnedregrowth forcst 67 per centof landbirdspecies nest in the oventoreyor youngerthan about 120years. understorcy;and landbirdsin streamsideforests occur at Open-cutmining for bauxitehas a severeinitial impact higherdensities than in uplandforests. on bird speciesrichness, but following rehabilitationthere - The distributionof5 speaies Leipoa ocellato is a rapid retum ofbird species,with 85 per cent ofspecies (Malleefowl),Cacatua pastinator (Westem long-billed presentbefore mining beingrecorded after 5 yean. corella),A*ichornis c/azosas(Noisy scrub-bird), Speciesrequiring large hollows for nestingcannot, Falcunculusfrontatus (Crestedshdkelit) ard Rallus however,nest in rehabilitatedsites for many decades.The - pectoralis(Lewin's rail) is discussedin detail,with new mostsevere, long term reductionin local bird species or neglectedinformation being provided. richnessand total abundanceis causedby diebackdisease The landbirdfauna ofthe primaevalforest is andby permanentremoval of forestas in agriculture, impoverishedrelative to elsewherein the SouthWest Land urbanization,damming ofrivers, and plantationsofpine. Division, particularlythe regionnow known asthe However,an additional75 species(51 land,24 water)have wheatbelt.The forestsof south-westWestern Australia beenrecorded within the forestsfollowing clearingfor haveonly abouthalfofthe numberofbird speciesprcsent farmingand towns. Of thesespecies, 23 ( 17 land,6 water) in a similar-sized,comparable area in south-eastAustralia. now brced, but only two of them (Aquila morphnoides The south-westforcst avifauna is more similarto that Little ea9le,.D acelo novaeguineaeLatghlng kookabuna) presentin the Mount Lofty Ranges(South Australia) than breedin forest. to the forestavifaunas ofNew SouthWales or Tasmania. The policiesand procedures in placeto mitigatethe At local scales(1-100 ha),however, the numberof impactofhumans on the forestbird faunaand to promote CALMScience CALMScienceSupplement 5 (1999) the conservationof bird speciesare summarized. These advanceknowledge particularly through unexpected includean extensivemosaic ofprotected arcas (national alignmentsof previouslyunassociated data, thus creating parks,nature reserves, forest along roads, rivers and novel insightsand freshperceptions ofthe familiar; and to streams),a structuralgoal of40 per centofthe forestbeing providea definitive list ofthe bird speciesoccurring in the maintainedat the matureor senescentstage, the retention primordialrforcsts of south-westWA at the time of their ofhabitat treesfor speciesdependent on hollows for discoveryby Europeans,i.e. the periodfrom 1826to the nesting,and spatiallyand temporallydiversified use offire. 1880s.In orderto documentthose species which have Much ofthe omithologicalliterature about forest changedin distribution,i.e. extinctionsin, and managementimpacts in the south-westforcsts was found colonizationsof, the forestas a singleentity during the past to be basedon misconceptionsabout, or lack ofawareness 150years, it is first necessaryto provide a definitive listing of, silviculturaland fire science,policies and prescriptions. ofthe bird speci€spresent in the forestswhen Europeans The enoneousimpressions thus createdare discussed. settledin WA. An attemptis alsomade in this reviewto Availableempirical data and otherinformation synthesized integmtesilvicultural knowledge and practicewith in this reviewpresent a strongchallenge to the proponents omithologicalinformation in a more systematicway than of fire and logging as causesoflong term detrimental hasbeen done in the past. changein the forestavifauna. Historicalinformation on the occunenceofcertain Severalbird speciesare proposed for considerationas conspicuousspecies, management of fire, and the gross suitableindicators
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