THE STATUS AND CONSERVATION OF SHOREBIRD HABITAT IN SOUTH-EAST TASMANIA by Lisa Beth Parr, BA. Dip. Ed. - .... ,_ ' ~ -' \? l ' > I Being,a th,~sis submitted in part fulfilment_.of the requirements for the degree bf Maste"r of Environmental Studies - .. Centre for Environmental Studies University of Tasmania Hobart October 1988 STATEMENT This thesis contains no material which has been accepted for the award of a.r:y other degree or diploma in any university, and to the best of my knowledge containS no copy o·r paraphrc.se of material previously published or written by another person, except when due reference 1s made in the te.'Ct. Lisa Parr Uruversily of Tasmania October 1988. ; ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Many people contributed significantly to this project. I thank all of them for their interest, and for the time and energy they expended in providing the assistance. The members of the Shorebird Study Group of the Bird Observers' Association ofTasmania (BOAT) provided access to data and files, and made available to me more than 35 years of extensive personal knowledge on shorebirds and shorebird habitat in South-east Tasmania. Specifically, my thanks go to Ms Cathy Bulman, Mr Alan Fletcher, Dr Mike Newman, Mrs Priscilla Park, Mr Bob Patterson, Mr David Thomas, Dr Bill Wakefield, Mr Leonard Wall and Mr Eric Woehler. Mr Mark Barter, formerly of BOAT, and now Chairperson of the Australasian Wader Studies Group (AWSG), provided similar information. In particular, Mrs Priscilla Park went out of her way to spend time with me at the study sites and to answer endless queries. At the University of Tasmania, Dr John Todd, Dr Roger Croome and Dr Pierre Horwitz of the Centre for Environmental Studies lent support and supervision to the project. Dr Pierre Horwitz directly supervised the work, commenting on drafts, making suggestions and providing assistance with the statistics. Dr Alastair Richardson of the Zoology Department also provided help with the statistics, particularly concerning the use of the computer statistical package BIOSTAT. Ms Julie Woehler assisted with the typing, as did Ms Nita Saunders of the Centre for Environmental Studies. Ms Airlie Alam, also of the Centre, drew the majority of the graphic artwork. All photographs used in the thesis were taken by the author. The Tasmanian National Parks and Wildlife Service made available its library, and various wildlife officers of the Department assisted by answering queries. In particular, Mr David Rounsevell patiently made time to answer questions, explain, clarify, criticize and comment, particularly on early outlines and drafts. For his help I am most grateful. Representatives of the Municipalities of Clarence, Richmond and Sorell provided information on planning schemes for their areas, and in particular, Mr Jamie Douglas of the planning section for the Municipality of Clarence must be thanked for his interest and assistance. Mr Stuart Commin, of the Hobart Office of the Australian Bureau of Statistics, went out of his way to provide population data. Ii My first year of study at the Centre for Environmental Studies was made possible by a Rotary International Postgraduate Award, and the second year by a University of Tasmania Postgraduate Coursework Award. My gratitude is extended to all of these individuals and organisations. I would especially like to thank my parents and family for their encouragement and confidence in me. Most particularly, I wish to thank Mr Eric Woehler for his unflagging assistance, support and encouragement, from the earliest stages of this project through to the final preparation. iii Corrigenda The following minor corrections are to be incorporated into the text: page paragraph line correction 1 3 5 add: which were only monitored during the 1980s. 2 2 2 reference should read: (ANPWS 1987a). 3 1 3 insert the text: ... the maintenance of wetland, as well as non-wetland, areas for their capacity... 8 2 5 replace relationship with correlation 12 5 2 insert the text: (WWF), recently renamed World Wide Fund for Nature, and the ... 12 6 7 insert the text: addresses, among other issues, the conservation ... 32 1 15 insert the word: feeding rate is inversely dependent... 74 3 8 insert the text: similar level, and with a similar distribution, during... 79 6 4and5 homoschedastic should be spelled homoscedastic 81 8 hisert the heading Species Richness before the paragraph 140 1 3 insert the word: State Conservation Strategy... 184and 185 Replace the heading for Breeding Range with the following: Breeding Range indicates where the populations spending the non-breeding season in Australia originate. 185 right hand column Modify the text for Red-necked Stint entry: and some overwinter. Of those, many winter in Tasmania, as well as... TABLE OF CONTENTS Statement i Acknowledgements ii Abstract 1 Chapter 1: Introduction -The Context of the Study 2 1.1 Introduction 2 1.1.1 South-east Tasmania as Shorebird Habitat: The Study Area 3 1.2 The Shorebird Habitat Study in Context 5 1.3 The Study 6 1.3.1 Research Procedures and Hypothesis 6 1.3.2 Objectives 7 1.3.3 Scope and Limitations 8 1.3.4 Report Structure 8 Chapter 2: Overview of Wetland and Shorebird Conservation 9 2.1 International and Australian Perspectives 9 2.1.1 International Treaties 9 Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as "• Waterfowl Habitat 9 Migratory Bird Agreements 11 Implementation of the International Treaties 12 2.1.2 Organizations 12 ,,I-. " 2.1.3 Conservation Strategies 13 2.2 The Tasmanian Perspective 15 2.2.1 Agencies and Organizations 15 The Department of Lands, Parks and Wildlife 15 Councils 15 National Heritage Commission 15 Bird Observers' Association of Tasmania 16 Other 16 2.2.2 Reserves 16 2.2.3 The Conservation and Management of Shorebird Habitat in South-east Tasmania 17 State Action 17 Local Council Action 18 Richmond Municipality 18 1v Sorell Municipality 18 Clarence Municipality 20 Action by Other Organizations 20 2.2.4 ProposedReseives 21 Boundaries and Land Tenure 21 Proposed Pittwater Nature Reseive 22 Proposed South Arm Wildlife Sanctuary 25 Current Status of Reseive Proposals 25 Chapter 3: SJ:iorebird Habitat in South-east Tasmania 28 3.1 Habitat Requirements of Shorebirds 28 3.1.1 Feeding Habitat 28 3.1.2 Roosting Habitat 31 3.1.3 Breeding Habitat 31 3.2 The Effects of Habitat Shortage 31 3.3 Shorebird Sites in South-east Tasmania 32 3.3.1 Location 32 3.3.2 Shorebird Habitat Systems 32 3.3.3 Tidal Regime 34 3.3.4 Previous Studies 34 3.3.5 Demographic Information 35 3.3.6 Land Tenure 39 3.3.7 Site Descriptions 39 South Arm Peninsula 39 Lauderdale 39 Clear Lagoon 40 Pipeclay Lagoon 40 Calverts Lagoon 41 South Arm Neck 41 Mortimer Bay 41 Pittwater 42 Orielton Lagoon 42 Sorell 43 Barilla Bay 43 Seven and Five Mile Beaches 44 Marion Bay 45 v Chapter 4: Impacts upon Shorebird Habitat 46 4.1 Introduction 46 4.2 Factors Altering the Quality of Shorebird Habitat 47 4.2.1 Physical Changes 47 Reclamation 47 Changes in Water Level 48 Sedimentation 49 Eutrophication 51 4.2.2 Changes for Increased Residential Development 52 Recreational Pressures on Wetland Areas 52 Shooting 53 Off-road Vehicles 53 Domestic Animals 55 Pollution 55 Seaweed Collection 57 4.2.3 Changes from Increased Non-residential Development 58 Industrial 58 Airports 58 Shellfish Aquaculture 58 Sand Mining and Dredging 59 4.3 Factors Impacting upon Shorebird Habitat at the Study Sites 59 4.3.1 Lauderdale 59 4.3.2 Clear Lagoon 60 4.3.3 Pipeclay Lagoon 61 4.3.4 Calverts Lagoon 61 4.3.5 South Arm Neck 61 4.3.6 Mortimer Bay 62 4.3.7 Oriellon Lagoon 63 4.3.8 Sorell 65 4.3.9 Barilla Bay 66 4.3.10 Five and Seven Mile Beaches 67 4.3.11 Marion Bay 67 v1 Chapter 5: Shorebirds in South-east Tasmania 69 5.1 Three Categories of Shorebirds in South-east Tasmania 69 5.1.1 Palaearctic Breeding Species 69 5.1.2 New Zealand Breeding Species 70 5.1.3 Tasmanian Resident Species 70 5.2 Patterns in Site Utilization 71 5.2.1 Methods 71 Data Collection 71 Data Processing 74 Standardization of Data 75 The Indices 76 Data Analysis 78 5.2.2 Results 79 Results by Index 81 Results by Site 90 Summer and Winter Wader Count Results 112 Summary of Results 117 5.2.3 Discussion 123 5.2.4 Conclusions 131 Chapter 6: Australian Examples of Wetland Conseivatlon and Management 135 6.1 Introduction 135 6.2 Wetland Conseivatlon Actions in Australia 135 6.3 Management Priorities for Shorebird Habitat in South-east Tasmania 140 Chapter 7: Discussion 144 7.1 Introduction 144 7.2 Management Options 144 7.3 Management Constraints 145 7.4 Management Priorities 146 7.5 Discussion of the categories of management objectives and ~ite-specific recommendations 147 7.5.1 Reseives 147 7.5.2 Specific Management Actions 149 7.5.3 Education 152 7.5.4 Plans, Not Policies Alone 153 7.5.5 Further Ecological Research 154 vll Chapter 8: Conclusions and Recommendations 155 8.1 Conclusions 155 8.2 Recommendations 156 8.2.1 General 156 Lauderdale 157 Clear Lagoon 158 Pipeclay Lagoon 158 Calverts Lagoon 158 South Arm 159 Pittwater 160 Orielton Lagoon 160 Sorell 161 Barilla Bay 161 Mortimer Bay 162 Five and Seven Mile Beaches 162 Marion Bay 162 References 164 Appendix 1 177 Appendix 2 179 Appendix 3 181 Appendix 4 184 Appendix 5 187 Appendix 6 188 Appendix 7 189 Appendix 8 193 vm ABSTRACT Census data from 11 sites of shorebird habitat in South-east Tasmania from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s were examined qualitatively and by using analysis of variance techniques.