Free Standard AU & NZ Shipping For All Book Orders Over $80!
Register      Login
Emu Emu Society
Journal of BirdLife Australia
Shopping Cart: ( empty )
You are here: Home > Journals > MU > MU08002
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 108(3)

Contraction in the range of Malleefowl (Leipoa ocellata) in Western Australia: a comparative assessment using presence-only and presence–absence datasets

Blair C. Parsons A B D , Jeff C. Short C and J. Dale Roberts B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems, Private Bag 5, Wembley, WA 6913, Australia.

B School of Animal Biology M092, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia.

C Wildlife Research and Management Pty Ltd, PO Box 1360, Kalamunda, WA 6926, Australia.

D Corresponding author. Email: blair.parsons@csiro.au

Emu 108(3) 221-231 https://doi.org/10.1071/MU08002
Submitted: 21 January 2008  Accepted: 30 April 2008   Published: 8 August 2008

Abstract

As human impacts on habitat increase in their intensity and scale it is increasingly important that we are able to characterise and monitor changes in the distribution of threatened species. The Malleefowl (Leipoa ocellata) is listed as vulnerable in Australia and the National Recovery Plan suggests that its range has contracted by 45% in Western Australia (WA). We quantified changes in the range of Malleefowl in WA and determined the relative influence that various threatening processes, such as land clearing and agricultural development, may have had on its range. We also investigated whether presence-only data (from existing survey and reporting) could reliably assess the status of Malleefowl by comparing presence-only data with presence–absence data. To obtain a presence–absence dataset we interviewed long-term residents within our study area of 64 000 km2 about the occurrence of Malleefowl. The range of Malleefowl has contracted in WA but this contraction is less substantial than previously claimed. The contraction in range within the agricultural landscapes of south-western WA is associated with the extent of land clearing, the number of years since commencement of agricultural activity, and the number of sheep within a landscape. To conserve Malleefowl, we believe landscapes developed for agriculture in recent decades must be protected to ensure they do not develop attributes found in landscapes that have been heavily cleared and occupied since the early 1900s.


Acknowledgements

We thank the Malleefowl Preservation Group, Western Australian Museum, WA Department of Conservation and Land Management, North Central Malleefowl Preservation Group and Friends of North Eastern Malleefowl for providing access to their data and for their support during this study. We thank the many landholders and agency staff who contributed to the survey and also Dr Joe Benshemesh for provision of data from the National Recovery Plan. Drs Tony Arthur and Jim Radford provided comments on an earlier draft of this manuscript. This project was undertaken while BP was the recipient of an Australian Postgraduate Award. Financial support was provided by the Avon Catchment Council (via the Natural Heritage Trust) and CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems.


References

Araújo, M. B. , and Guisan, A. (2006). Five (or so) challenges for species distribution modelling. Journal of Biogeography 33, 1677–1688.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Australian Bureau of Statistics (1998). Agricultural Census. (Australian Bureau of Statistics: Canberra). Available at http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/dossbytitle/AD7C6DD1D14FB809CA256BD000272737?OpenDocument [Verified 23 July 2008].

Australian Bureau of Statistics (2003). Regional Population Growth, Australia and New Zealand, 2001-02. (Australian Bureau of Statistics: Canberra). Available at http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/DetailsPage/3218.02001-02?OpenDocument [Verified 23 July 2008].

Australian State of the Environment Committee (2001). ‘Australia State of the Environment 2001.’ (CSIRO Publishing: Melbourne.)

Barrett G. W., Silcocks A., Barry S., Cunningham R., and Poulter R. (2003). ‘The New Atlas of Australian Birds.’ (Birds Australia: Melbourne.)

Benshemesh J. (1992). The conservation ecology of Malleefowl with particular regard to fire. Ph.D. Thesis, Monash University, Clayton, Vic.

Benshemesh J. (2000). ‘National Recovery Plan for Malleefowl.’ (South Australian Department for Environment and Heritage: Adelaide.) Available at http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/threatened/publications/recovery/malleefowl/index.html [Verified 23 July 2008].

Blakers M., Davies S. J. J. F., and Reilly P. (1984). ‘The Atlas of Australian Birds.’ (Melbourne University Press: Melbourne.)

Booth D. T. (1985). Ecological physiology of Malleefowl (Leipoa ocellata). Ph.D. Thesis, University of Adelaide, SA.

Bowman D. M. J. S. (2003). Australian landscape burning: a continental and evolutionary perspective. In ‘Fire in Ecosystems of South-west Western Australia: Impacts and Management’. (Eds I. Abbott and N. D. Burrows.) pp. 107–118. (Backhuys Publishers: Leiden, the Netherlands.)

Brickhill J. (1987). The conservation status of Malleefowl in New South Wales. M. Nat. Res. Sci. Thesis, University of New England, Armidale, NSW.

Burbidge, A. A. , and McKenzie, N. L. (1989). Patterns in modern decline of Western Australia’s vertebrate fauna: causes and conservation implications. Biological Conservation 50, 143–198.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Burbidge A. H. (2003). Birds and fire in the Mediterranean climate of south-west Western Australia. In ‘Fire in Ecosystems of South-west Western Australia: Impacts and Management’. (Eds I. Abbott and N. D. Burrows.) pp. 321–347. (Backhuys Publishers: Leiden, the Netherlands.)

Bureau of Meteorology (2007). Average annual and monthly rainfall. (Bureau of Meteorology: Canberra). Available at http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/map/rainfall/IDCJCM0004_rainfall.shtml [Verified 23 July 2008].

Bureau of Rural Sciences (2006). Land use mapping for Australia. (Bureau of Rural Science: Canberra). Available at http://adl.brs.gov.au/mapserv/landuse/ [Verified 23 July 2008].

Burnham K. P., and Anderson D. R. (2002). ‘Model Selection and Multimodel Inference: A Practical Information-theoretic Approach.’ (Springer: New York.)

Burvill G. H. (1979). ‘Agriculture in Western Australia 1829–1979.’ (UWA Press: Nedlands, WA).

Carnaby, J. C. (1933). The birds of the Lake Grace district. Emu 33, 103–109.
Garnett S., and Crowley G. (2000). ‘The Action Plan for Australian Birds 2000.’ (Environment Australia: Canberra.)

Graham, C. H. , Ferrier, S. , Huettman, F. , Moritz, C. , and Peterson, A. T. (2004). New developments in museum-based informatics and applications in biodiversity analysis. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 19, 497–503.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Hastie T. J., and Tibshirani R. J. (1990). ‘Generalized Additive Models.’ (Chapman and Hall: London.)

Hobbs, R. J. , and Hopkins, A. J. M. (1990). From frontier to fragments: European impact on Australia’s vegetation. Proceedings of the Ecological Society of Australia 16, 93–114.
Hobbs R. J., Saunders D. A., Lobry de Bruyn L. A., and Main A. R. (1993). Changes in biota. In ‘Reintegrating Fragmented Landscapes: Towards Sustainable Production and Nature Conservation’. (Eds R. J. Hobbs and D. A. Saunders.) pp. 65–106. (Springer-Verlag: New York.)

Hone, J. , Caughley, G. , and Grice, D. (2005). An experimental study of declining populations. Wildlife Research 32, 481–488.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Jarvis N. (1986). ‘Western Australia: An Atlas of Human Endeavour.’ (Department of Lands and Surveys: Perth.)

Landmonitor (2004). Landmonitor products: vegetation extent and change. (Landmonitor: Perth.) Available at http://www.landmonitor.wa.gov.au/default.aspx?id=5#veg_change [Verified 23 July 2008].

Lehmann, A. , Overton, J. M. , and Leathwick, J. R. (2002). GRASP: generalized regression analysis and spatial prediction. Ecological Modelling 157, 189–207.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | McKenzie N. L., and May J. E. (2003). ‘A Biodiversity Audit of Western Australia’s Biogeographical Subregions in 2002.’ (Department of Conservation and Land Management: Kensington, WA.)

Milligan, A. W. (1904). Notes on a trip to the Wongan Hills, Western Australia, with a description of a new Ptilotis. Emu 3(4), 217–226.
National Land and Water Resources Audit (2001). Australian Native Vegetation Assessment 2001. National Land and Water Resources Audit. Land and Water Australia, Canberra, ACT.

Ogilvie-Grant, W. R. (1910). On a collection of birds from Western Australia with field notes by Mr G.C. Shortridge – Part II. Ibis 52, 156–191.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Saunders D. A., and Ingram J. A. (1995). ‘Birds of Southwestern Australia: An Atlas of Changes in the Distribution and Abundance of Wheatbelt Avifauna.’ (Surrey Beatty: Sydney.)

Saunders, D. A. , Smith, G. T. , Ingram, J. A. , and Forrester, R. I. (2003). Changes in a remnant of salmon gum Eucalyptus salmonophloia and York gum E. loxophleba woodland, 1978 to 1997. Implications for woodland conservation in the wheat-sheep regions of Australia. Biological Conservation 110, 245–256.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Serventy D. L., and Whittell H. M. (1976). ‘Birds of Western Australia.’ (University of Western Australia Press: Perth.)

Shaffer, H. B. , Fisher, R. N. , and Davidson, C. (1998). The role of natural history collections in documenting species declines. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 13, 27–30.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Storr G. M. (1991). Birds of the South-western Division of Western Australia. In ‘Records of the Western Australian Museum Supplement 35’. (Western Australian Museum: Perth.)

Woinarski, J. C. Z. , and Recher, H. F. (1997). Impact and response: a review of the effects of fire on the Australian avifauna. Pacific Conservation Biology 3, 183–205.


Yates, C. J. , Norton, D. A. , and Hobbs, R. J. (2000). Grazing effects on plant cover, soil and microclimate in fragmented woodlands in south-western Australia: implications for restoration. Austral Ecology 25, 36–47.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |