- Title
- Favourable inland wetland conditions increase apparent survival of migratory shorebirds in Australia
- Creator
- Clemens, Robert; Rogers, Danny; Minton, Clive; Rogers, Ken; Hansen, Birgita
- Date
- 2021
- Type
- Text; Journal article
- Identifier
- http://researchonline.federation.edu.au/vital/access/HandleResolver/1959.17/178341
- Identifier
- vital:15396
- Identifier
-
https://doi.org/10.1080/01584197.2021.1901596
- Identifier
- ISBN:0158-4197 (ISSN)
- Abstract
- Many migratory shorebird species using the East Asian–Australasian Flyway are declining rapidly. While the loss of staging habitats in East Asia is considered the primary cause, stressors to fitness often occur throughout the geographic range of declining species, and threats in the non-breeding grounds have been comparatively poorly studied. Three species of migratory shorebird, Curlew Sandpiper (Calidris ferruginea), Sharp-tailed Sandpiper (C. acuminata) and Red-necked Stint (C. ruficollis), use Australia’s dynamic temporary wetland systems opportunistically, yet these large wetland systems have become increasingly degraded, with reduced frequency and extent of flooding. Here, we test whether variables related to wetland availability in Australia’s interior can explain annual variation in apparent survival, abundance or immature to adult ratios at three well-monitored coastal shorebird areas in southern Australia (total area > 1315 km2). We show that coastal annual bird abundance and ratios of immatures at the coast were higher when inland Australia was relatively hot and dry. Also, a small but significant amount of variation in annual apparent survival can be explained by annual variation in inland conditions, with higher survival rates in years when inland conditions were relatively wet and cool. For the endangered Curlew Sandpiper, the impacts of Australian environmental conditions may be exacerbating the impacts of conditions experienced in other parts of its range on fitness and survival. While the effects we document here are relatively weak, they do suggest that management of inland wetlands for these shorebirds may positively affect survival rates of these sharply declining species. © 2021 BirdLife Australia. **Please note that there are multiple authors for this article therefore only the name of the first 5 including Federation University Australia affiliate “Birgita Hansen" is provided in this record**
- Publisher
- Taylor and Francis
- Relation
- Emu Vol. 121, no. 3 (2021), p. 211-222
- Rights
- All metadata describing materials held in, or linked to, the repository is freely available under a CC0 licence
- Rights
- Copyright @ 2021 BirdLife Australia
- Rights
- Open Access
- Subject
- 0502 Environmental Science and Management; 0602 Ecology; 0608 Zoology; Apparent survival; Australian birds; Shorebirds; Temporary wetlands
- Full Text
- Reviewed
- Funder
- This work was funded by Linkage grant LP150101059, supported financially by the Burnett Mary Regional Group for Natural Resource Management, the Queensland Department of Environment and Heritage Protection, and the Queensland Wader Study Group. We also acknowledge the generous support given to Robert S. Clemens through the Stuart Leslie Bird Research Award and BirdLife Australia.
- Hits: 1320
- Visitors: 1418
- Downloads: 158
| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCE1 | Accepted version | 995 KB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |