A challenging future for Carnaby’s Cockatoo (Zanda latirostris) under a changing climate

Denis A. Saunders; Peter R. Mawson; Rick Dawson; Geoffrey Pickup

doi:10.1071/PC24065

RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)

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A challenging future for Carnaby’s Cockatoo (Zanda latirostris) under a changing climate

Denis A. Saunders

^A , Peter R. Mawson

^B ^* , Rick Dawson ^B and Geoffrey Pickup ^C

+ Author Affiliations

- Author Affiliations

^A Retired, Weetangera, ACT 2614, Australia.

^B Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, Kensington, WA 6151, Australia.

^C Retired, Nicholls, ACT 2913, Australia.

^* Correspondence to: petermawson1@hotmail.com

Handling Editor: Mike Calver

Pacific Conservation Biology 30, PC24065 https://doi.org/10.1071/PC24065

Submitted: 5 September 2024 Accepted: 18 November 2024 Published: 17 December 2024

© 2024 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)

Abstract

Context

With climate change causing unprecedented and rapid changes, conservation agencies need to establish the impacts on vulnerable and threatened species to prioritise actions to minimise threats associated with those impacts.

Aims

Carnaby’s Cockatoo (Zanda latirostris) is endemic to south-western Australia and this paper provides data to underpin future conservation management actions.

Methods

We used data on the commencement of egg laying, breeding success, nestling condition, fledgling survival over their first year, and annual survival from the first year to construct a life table to examine the impacts of decreasing annual rainfall and increasing temperature in south-western Australia on the future viability of Carnaby’s Cockatoos.

Key results

Long-term survival of Carnaby’s Cockatoos will be impacted by changes in rainfall, projected to be 16% drier in winter and up to 20% drier in spring, and by an increase in the number of days with maxima ≥35°C, conditions when the birds are unable to forage.

Conclusions

This drying and warming is likely to lead to a further contraction in the range of Carnaby’s Cockatoo.

Implications

Conservation management needs to address revegetation of foraging and breeding areas, repairs to derelict natural hollows and their maintenance, and provision of artificial hollows. Management should concentrate on areas with the best prospects for species survival and recovery including in the areas identified in this paper based on life table analysis and mapped across regions.

Keywords: Carnaby’s Cockatoos, fledgling survival, heatwaves, impacts of changes in annual rainfall, life history analyses, longevity, nestling condition and rainfall, nestling condition and temperature.

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