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White-Throated Grasswren Amytornis Woodwardi

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White-Throated Grasswren Amytornis Woodwardi Threatened Species Strategy – Year 3 Priority Species Scorecard (2018) White-throated Grasswren Amytornis woodwardi Key Findings White-throated Grasswrens historically occurred across the Arnhem Land sandstone. However, due to its reliance on large unburnt spinifex patches and the fire history of the habitat, numbers are likely to have declined as the habitat has become fragmented. Intensive fire management in Arnhem Land over the last decade has reduced the total area affected by destructive late season fires, allowing more spinifex to mature to an age when it can support White‑ throated Grasswren. Photo: Peter Cooke Significant trajectory change from 2005-15 to 2015-18? Yes, was declining and now increasing. Priority future actions • Continue effective fire management across the range of the species, allowing recovery of old growth spinifex across the landscape. • Localised cat and rat control if a proven problem for the grasswrens Full assessment information Background information 2018 population trajectory assessment 1. Conservation status and taxonomy 8. Expert elicitation for population trends 2. Conservation history and prospects 9. Immediate priorities from 2019 3. Past and current trends 10. Contributors 4. Key threats 11. Legislative documents 5. Past and current management 12. References 6. Support from the Australian Government 13. Citation 7. Measuring progress towards conservation The primary purpose of this scorecard is to assess progress against achieving the year three targets outlined in the Australian Government’s Threatened Species Strategy, including estimating the change in population trajectory of 20 bird species. It has been prepared by experts from the National Environmental Science Program’s Threatened Species Recovery Hub, with input from a number of taxon experts, a range of stakeholders and staff from the Office of the Threatened Species Commissioner, for the information of the Australian Government and is non-statutory. It has been informed by statutory planning documents that guide recovery of the species, such as Recovery Plans and/or Conservation Advices (see Section 11). The descriptive information in this scorecard is drawn from Department of the Environment (2014), unless otherwise noted by additional citations. The background information aims to provide context for estimation of progress in research and management (Section 7) and estimation of population size and trajectories (Section 8). 1 Information current to December 2018 Threatened Species Strategy – Year 3 Priority Species Scorecard (2018) 1. Conservation status and taxonomy Conservation status 2018 Taxonomy: No infraspecific taxa described. Taxonomic IUCN Vulnerable distinctiveness medium: 5 genera/family, 11 species/genus, 0 subspecies/species. EPBC Vulnerable NT Vulnerable 2. Conservation history and prospects The White-throated Grasswren historically occurred across the Arnhem Land sandstone, including many parts of Kakadu National Park. Early estimates suggested that there could be as many as 50,000 birds, but given the reliance of the species on large unburnt spinifex (Triodia spp.) patches and the fire history of the habitat, numbers have almost certainly declined and been severely fragmented into small sub-populations. Recent success in reducing the frequency and extent of late dry season fires, however, may have allowed some recovery of the population but monitoring is inadequate to determine trends in numbers or distribution of the birds themselves. 3. Past and current trends Based on population density estimates at eight sites, Noske (1992) estimated the total population at c. 50,000 (14,000-182,000) individuals, but Woinarski (1992) suggested a total population of c. 5,000- 10,000 individuals. Given the fire history of the habitat, population was estimated as no more than 10,000 mature individuals in Garnett et al. (2010). Woinarski et al. (2012) reported a significant decline in Kakadu National Park, from a mean of 0.08 individuals/quadrat in 2001-2004 (recorded in 6/142 quadrats) to zero in 2010. In a survey in Warddeken in 2012, grasswrens were found nearly everywhere that they were expected based on fire history and habitat (A. Stevens pers.comm.) with 25 birds in 6 groups (55 hours, 95 kms walked, Stevens and Rangers of the Warddeken and Djelk Indigenous Protected Areas 2102). Several local people from Kabulwarnamyo knew the bird. A search in Djelk Indigenous Protected Area was unable to locate birds in the vicinity of a 1996 record, and only one old lady at Kolorbidadah outstation recognised the bird but had not seen it for at least 20 years, while no one spending time in the rock country camping, hunting and fishing recognised the bird at all. Most potential habitat in Djelk is regularly burnt in the early season and there is little spinifex. A survey in Kakadu NP in 2011 found 30 birds at 11 sites in four of 16 locations searched (93 hours, 139 kms, Mahney et al. 2011). A systematic survey in Kakadu NP in 2016 found birds at 4 of 14 sites surveyed (L. Einoder pers. comm.). 2 Information current to December 2018 Threatened Species Strategy – Year 3 Priority Species Scorecard (2018) Monitoring (existing programs): In Kakadu NP meander searches with intermittent use of call playback were undertaken in 2011, 2012 and 2014. In 2016 a new monitoring protocol involving timed area searches was instituted and undertaken by the Flora and Fauna Division of NT DENR. In Warddeken Indigenous Protected Area there is regular camera trapping for mammals that also detects grasswrens, but no grasswren specific monitoring program. Population trends: Tables 1 and 2 summarise the overall trend and status of the White-throated Grasswren. The information provided in these tables is derived from the Conservation Advice (2014), with some adjustments made by contributing experts based on new information. Table 1. Summary of the available information on White-throated Grasswren distribution and population size, and (where possible) trend estimates between 2015 and 2018 for each parameter. Confidence in Population parameters Published baseline 2015 Estimate 2018 Estimate estimates WILD* Extent of Occurrence 10,000km2 16,000km2 16,000km2 Low Area of Occupancy 1000km2 500km2 520km2 Low Dates of records and As per Bird Action Plan methods used No. mature individuals 10,000 1000 1100 Low Any other measure of Area not burnt in late fires relative abundance No. of subpopulations >10 >10 >10 Medium No. of locations >10 >10 >10 Medium High, based on global modelling by Generation time 3.2 n/a n/a BirdLife International 3 Information current to December 2018 Threatened Species Strategy – Year 3 Priority Species Scorecard (2018) Table 2. Estimated recent (2005-2015) and current (2015-2018) population trends for the White- throated Grasswren Confidence Confidence Est. % of 2005- 2015- Est. % of Sub- in in total pop’n 2015 2018 total pop’n Details population 2005-2015 2015-2018 (pre-2015) (2018) trend trend trend trend Intensive fire management has greatly Warddeken decreased the frequency Indigenous 90 Low Low 90 of large scale late dry Protected season burns but no Area information is available on bird trends Greater effort is being made to reduce the frequency of late dry Kakadu NP 5 Low Low 5 season fires, with benefits from neighbouring Warddekken Djelk Populations are assumed Indigenous to exist but there is little Protected knowledge of their Area and 5 Low Low 5 extent or the trends in other habitat Arnhemland populations Trends reflect those of Whole Warddeken where the 100 Low Low 100 population largest population is thought to persist KEY: Improving Stable Deteriorating Unknown Confidence Description High Trend documented Medium Trend considered likely based on documentation ? Low Trend suspected but evidence indirect or equivocal 4. Key threats The threats listed here are derived from the Department of the Environment (2014), with some amendments from contributing experts based on new information. Note that we do not consider all plausible threats, but a subset of the threats that are likely to have the largest impact on populations, though, in this case, there have been no detailed studies of the impacts of putative threats on this species, so the assessment of threats is largely inferential. 4 Information current to December 2018 Threatened Species Strategy – Year 3 Priority Species Scorecard (2018) Increasing fire frequency and/or extent An increase in extent and frequency of fire is likely to be a threat to the White-throated Grasswren. Fire regimes across western Arnhem Land have been characterised in recent decades by high annual frequencies of large late dry season fires that cover large areas. Despite the rocky habitat offering protection from fires, many are too hot and extensive to leave functional unburned refugia (Garnett et al. 2011). Weeds The progressive vegetational change, notably annual sorghum Sarga spp., may reduce habitat suitability as well as supporting further hot fires (Russell-Smith et al. 2002) but is unlikely to effect change at a landscape level relevant to the Grasswrens (J. Russell-Smith pers.comm.). Climate change White-throated Grasswrens have been identified as one of 39 Australian bird species occurring in terrestrial habitats and inland waters that are most exposed to either a loss of climate space or a reduction in climatic suitability. They are also one of 55 Australian bird taxa considered likely to be exposed to increases in the frequency and intensity of fires as a result of climate change (Garnett et al. 2013). Feral cats (Felis catus) Feral cats are considered a threat to several Grasswren species, particularly following fire (Garnett et al. 2011) but the threat has not been assessed for this species. Black rats (Rattus rattus) Black rats have recently been recorded within the range of the species but the extent to which they pose a threat is unknown. The impacts of the major threats are summarised in Table 3. Table 3. The major threats facing the White-throated Grasswren and their associated impact scores. CURRENT THREAT IMPACT Threat Timing Extent Severity 1.
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