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LOCAL ACTION PLAN for the COORONG FAIRY TERN Sternula

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LOCAL ACTION PLAN for the COORONG FAIRY TERN Sternula LOCAL ACTION PLAN FOR THE COORONG FAIRY TERN Sternula nereis SOUTH AUSTRALIA David Baker-Gabb and Clare Manning Cover Page: Adult Fairy Tern, Coorong National Park. P. Gower 2011 © Local Action Plan for the Coorong Fairy Tern Sternula nereis South Australia David Baker-Gabb1 and Clare Manning2 1 Elanus Pty Ltd, PO BOX 131, St. Andrews VICTORIA 3761, Australia 2 Department of Environment and Natural Resources, PO BOC 314, Goolwa, SOUTH AUSTRALIA 5214, Australia Final Local Action Plan for the Department of Environment and Natural Resources Recommended Citation: Baker-Gabb, D., and Manning, C., (2011) Local Action Plan the Coorong fairy tern Sternula nereis, South Australia. Final Plan for the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. Acknowledgements The authors express thanks to the people who shared their ideas and gave their time and comments. We are particularly grateful to Associate Professor David Paton of the University of Adelaide and to the following staff from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources; Daniel Rogers, Peter Copley, Erin Sautter, Kerri-Ann Bartley, Arkellah Hall, Ben Taylor, Glynn Ricketts and Hafiz Stewart for the care with which they reviewed the original draft. Through the assistance of Lachlan Sutherland, we thank members of the Ngarrindjeri Nation who shared ideas, experiences and observations. Community volunteer wardens have contributed significant time and support in the monitoring of the Coorong fairy tern and the data collected has informed the development of the Plan. The authors gratefully appreciate that your time volunteering must be valued but one can never put a value on that time. Executive Summary The Local Action Plan for the Coorong fairy tern (the Plan) has been written in a way that, with a minimum of revision, may inform a National and State fairy tern Recovery Plan. The fairy tern is currently listed as Vulnerable under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act). Implementation of the Plan is urgent. The Coorong forms part of the Coorong and Lake Alexandrina and Lake Albert Wetland of International Importance and is a stronghold for the species. The Coorong fairy tern population has declined markedly (Paton 2003; Paton and Rogers 2009a) with a current population 169 individuals (D Paton 2011 pers. comm.), an almost 89 % decline since 1984- 1985. Without urgent and effective management to ensure successful recruitment in the next three years, there is a real risk that this specie will become locally extinct. Fairy terns that successfully bred in the Coorong, nested on islands (Paton 2003). Paton (2003) concluded that fairy terns in the Coorong did not appear to be limited by food or predation because breeding success was moderately high in terms of numbers of nesting attempts that led to fledged chicks. Since 2006 however, island nesting sites secure from mammalian predators face a new threat of an inadequate supply of small fish, in particular the small-mouth hardyhead Atherinosoma microstoma (Paton and Rogers 2009b,c). The decline of freshwater fish is the result of a significant increase in salinity levels, which exceed their salinity tolerance. The increase in salinity levels is strongly linked to escalating demands for water and over-allocation of water resources in the Murray- Darling Basin, combined with severe drought. In recent years, fairy terns in the Coorong have shifted northwards to breed on the Younghusband Peninsula near the Murray River mouth (the Murray Mouth). While a reliable source of suitable-sized fish are available in close proximity to nesting sites at the Murray Mouth, the nesting sites are suboptimal with greater susceptibility to mammalian predators, human disturbance and water inundation (Paton and Rogers 2009b; DENR 2011). Consequently, fairy terns that have bred on the Younghusband Peninsula have successfully produced very few fledglings (Paton and Rogers 2009b; C Manning 2011, pers. comm.). For fairy terns and other waterbird populations to remain stable there must be adequate and suitably timed flows from the Murray-Darling Basin. To recover and maintain the Coorong s ecological and cultural character, appropriate integrated management of water resources at Basin level that recognises conservation values of downstream ecosystems is fundamental. In the event that adequate and suitably timed flows are not secured for downstream ecosystems, alternative actions such as intensive nesting site management, creating dredge spoil islands and/or creating nesting pontoons may provide some security for the fairy tern, but at a high financial cost. Such management tools have been successful in the recovery of other species of tern in Victoria (Reside 1996) and New South Wales (NSW NPWS 2003). Eight management options have been explored, of which intensive management of nesting sites is the minimum and essential management option. Table of Contents 1.0 Introduction..........................................................................................................................11 1.1 Current Conservation Status.........................................................................................11 1.2. Description.......................................................................................................................11 1.2.1 Taxonomic Description ..........................................................................................11 1.3. Characteristic Description .............................................................................................11 1.4. Distribution.......................................................................................................................11 1.5 Population Trends ..........................................................................................................14 1.6 Breeding...........................................................................................................................15 1.7. Longevity and Movements ............................................................................................15 1.8 Habitat Requirements ....................................................................................................18 1.9 Cultural Significance.......................................................................................................18 2.0 Threats and Reasons for Decline.....................................................................................20 2.1 Threats to Breeding Success in the Coorong ............................................................20 2.1.1 Murray Darling Basin Water Resource Management .......................................20 2.1.2 Climate Change ......................................................................................................21 2.1.3 Predation..................................................................................................................21 2.1.4 Human Disturbance................................................................................................22 2.1.5 Communication Tools ............................................................................................23 2.1.6 Research Gaps .......................................................................................................23 2.2 Threats to Breeding Success at International and National Level ..........................23 2.2.1 Climate Change ......................................................................................................23 2.2.2 Oil Spills ...................................................................................................................24 2.2.3 Predation..................................................................................................................24 2.2.4 Human Disturbance................................................................................................25 2.2.5 Habitat Modification................................................................................................25 2.2.6 Communication Tools ............................................................................................26 2.2.7 Research Gaps .......................................................................................................26 9 | P a g e 3.0 Management Issues of a Local Action Plan ...................................................................27 3.1 Biodiversity Benefits.......................................................................................................27 3.2 Strategic Alignment ........................................................................................................27 3.3 Monitoring and Evaluation.............................................................................................27 3.4 Social and Economic Consequences..........................................................................28 3.5 Assumptions and Constraints.......................................................................................29 3.6 Partners and Stakeholders............................................................................................30 3.6.1 Partners....................................................................................................................30 3.6.2 Stakeholders............................................................................................................30 4.0 Recovery Information.........................................................................................................30
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