Livestock grazing affects habitat quality and persistence of the threatened Purple-crowned Fairy-wren Malurus coronatus in the Victoria River District, Northern Territory, Australia
A. van Doorn A B F , J. C. Z. Woinarski C D and P. A. Werner A EA Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, University of Florida, PO Box 110430, Gainesville, FL 32611-0430, USA.
B Present address: AECOM, PO Box 5424, Townsville, Qld 4810, Australia.
C Northern Territory Department of Land Resource Management, PO Box 496, Palmerston, NT 0831, Australia.
D Present address: Threatened Species Hub, National Environment Science Program, Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihood; Charles Darwin University, Casuarina, NT 0909, Australia.
E Present address: Fenner School of Environment and Society, Building 48, Linnaeus Way, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia.
F Corresponding author. Email: annemarie.vandoorn@aecom.com
Emu 115(4) 302-308 https://doi.org/10.1071/MU14073
Submitted: 6 August 2014 Accepted: 4 June 2015 Published: 26 August 2015
Abstract
The western subspecies of the Purple-crowned Fairy-wren (Malurus coronatus coronatus) is listed as vulnerable under Commonwealth and Northern Territory legislation. Declines in numbers are presumed to be due to loss and degradation of riparian habitats upon which it depends. In the Northern Territory portion of its range, the species nests, and mainly forages, in dense stands of tall River Grass (Chionachne cyathopoda). We examined the characteristics of River Grass-dominated habitats and wren group sizes, persistence and reproductive success at five sites in the Victoria River District (VRD), over a 3-year period (2000–2003). Sites spanned a range of cattle grazing intensity and history. River Grass height was greatest and frequency of bare ground the least at sites with the lowest grazing pressure. The persistence of adult fairy-wrens was greater in ungrazed than in grazed sites. In the second year of the study, high densities of cattle were (unexpectedly) introduced to one of the designated ungrazed sites (Coolibah), allowing for a before-after-control-impact study. After cattle introduction, at Coolibah mean group size of fairy-wrens declined (from 3.0 to 2.2) and year-to-year persistence of adults declined severely (from 89% to 24%), whereas on ungrazed sites, mean group size increased or remained constant and persistence of adults remained unchanged over the same period. This study demonstrates that grazing by cattle in the VRD riparian habitats detrimentally affects habitat quality and some population parameters for Purple-crowned Fairy-wrens. We suggest that these effects have potential long-term negative effects on the status of this vulnerable subspecies.
Additional keywords: breeding success, conservation, disturbance, Gregory/Judbarra National Park, habitat degradation, riparian.
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