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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 61(8)

Australian waterbirds – time and space travellers in dynamic desert landscapes

R. T. Kingsford A D , D. A. Roshier B C and J. L. Porter A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Australian Wetlands and Rivers Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of NSW, Kensington, NSW 2052, Australia.

B Ecology and Biodiversity Group, Institute for Land, Water & Society, Charles Sturt University, Albury, NSW 2640, Australia.

C Present address: School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Geelong, Vic. 3217, Australia.

D Corresponding author. Email: richard.kingsford@unsw.edu.au

Marine and Freshwater Research 61(8) 875-884 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF09088
Submitted: 15 April 2009  Accepted: 18 November 2009   Published: 13 August 2010

Abstract

Australia’s waterbirds are mostly nomadic, capitalising on highly variable aquatic resources in the arid interior (70% of the continent) for feeding and breeding. Waterbirds, unlike most aquatic organisms, can move between catchments, exploiting habitat wherever it occurs. In Australia, patterns of resource availability for waterbirds are mostly pulsed with peaks of productivity, coinciding with flooding and differing in time and space, affecting individuals, species and functional groups of waterbirds. Australian waterbirds are no different from waterbirds elsewhere, with their behaviour reflecting broad-scale resource availability. They respond to changing patterns of resource distribution, with rapid movements at spatial and temporal scales commensurate with the dynamics of the resource. The most serious conservation threat to waterbirds is a bottleneck in resource availability, leading to population declines, increasingly forced by anthropogenic impacts. River regulation and other threats (e.g. draining) reduce the availability of wetland habitat and decrease the probability of viable resource patches. It is axiomatic that waterbirds need water and such population bottlenecks may occur when the availability of water across the continent is limited. The rehabilitation of regulated rivers with environmental flows and protection of naturally flowing rivers in the arid region are essential for long-term sustainability of Australia’s waterbird populations.

Additional keywords: breeding, environmental flows, movements, river management, wetlands.


Acknowledgements

We are indebted to the late Jim Puckridge for his insights into the flows of arid-zone rivers and the implications for their ecology. We thank Stuart Halse and Julian Reid for their comments, which improved this manuscript. This work was supported by the University of NSW and Charles Sturt University. Satellite tagging of black swans (Approval Authority 990615/01) and straw-necked ibis (Approval Authority 000626/02) were approved by the NSW Animal Care and Ethics Committee of the National Parks and Wildlife Service.


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