Metrics of progress in the understanding and management of threats to Australian birds

Although evidence-based approaches have become commonplace for determining the success of conservation measures for the management of threatened taxa, there are no standard metrics for assessing progress in research or management. We developed 5 metrics to meet this need for threatened taxa and to quantify the need for further action and effective alleviation of threats. These metrics (research need, research achievement, management need, management achievement, and percent threat reduction) can be aggregated to examine trends for an individual taxon or for threats across multiple taxa. We tested the utility of these metrics by applying them to Australian threatened birds, which appears to be the first time that progress in research and management of threats has been assessed for all threatened taxa in a faunal group at a continental scale. Some research has been conducted on nearly three-quarters of known threats to taxa, and there is a clear understanding of how to alleviate nearly half of the threats with the highest impact. Some management has been attempted on nearly half the threats. Management outcomes ranged from successful trials to complete mitigation of the threat, including for one-third of high-impact threats. Progress in both research and management tended to be greater for taxa that were monitored or occurred on oceanic islands. Predation by cats had the highest potential threat score. However, there has been some success reducing the impact of cat predation, so climate change (particularly drought), now poses the greatest threat to Australian threatened birds. Our results demonstrate the potential for the proposed metrics to encapsulate the major trends in research and management of both threats and threatened taxa and provide a basis for international comparisons of evidence-based conservation science.     

Effects of human footprint and biophysical factors on the body-size structure of fished marine species

Marine fisheries in coastal ecosystems in many areas of the world have historically removed large-bodied individuals, potentially impairing ecosystem functioning and the long-term sustainability of fish populations. Reporting on size-based indicators that link to food-web structure can contribute to ecosystem-based management, but the application of these indicators over large (cross-ecosystem) geographical scales has been limited to either fisheries-dependent catch data or diver-based methods restricted to shallow waters (<20 m) that can misrepresent the abundance of large-bodied fished species. We obtained data on the body-size structure of 82 recreationally or commercially targeted marine demersal teleosts from 2904 deployments of baited remote underwater stereo-video (stereo-BRUV). Sampling was at up to 50 m depth and covered approximately 10,000 km of the continental shelf of Australia. Seascape relief, water depth, and human gravity (i.e., a proxy of human impacts) were the strongest predictors of the probability of occurrence of large fishes and the abundance of fishes above the minimum legal size of capture. No-take marine reserves had a positive effect on the abundance of fishes above legal size, although the effect varied across species groups. In contrast, sublegal fishes were best predicted by gradients in sea surface temperature (mean and variance). In areas of low human impact, large fishes were about three times more likely to be encountered and fishes of legal size were approximately five times more abundant. For conspicuous species groups with contrasting habitat, environmental, and biogeographic affinities, abundance of legal-size fishes typically declined as human impact increased. Our large-scale quantitative analyses highlight the combined importance of seascape complexity, regions with low human footprint, and no-take marine reserves in protecting large-bodied fishes across a broad range of species and ecosystem configurations.     

Seasonal changes in habitat structure underpin shifts in macroalgae-associated tropical fish communities

Habitat shifts play an important role in structuring faunal assemblages; however, research has focused on the influence of random disturbance events and information on how regular seasonal changes to habitat affect marine fauna remains largely unexplored, especially in the tropics. We recorded seasonal changes in the structure of tropical macroalgae fields within the Ningaloo lagoon (Western Australia) and related this to the density, biomass and species richness of fishes that represent key processes: juveniles, predators of juveniles and herbivores. The extent and direction of seasonal changes in macroalgae were inconsistent among sites, creating a highly dynamic habitat matrix across time and space. Species richness and density of fishes were largely maintained where density of holdfasts from canopy-forming macroalgae and/or cover was high across seasons, but shifted markedly in areas of macroalgae habitat loss: suggesting stable habitat structure is critical for the persistence of macroalgae-associated fishes. Our results demonstrate that macroalgae fields that maintain high structural complexity across different seasons are more likely to preserve key ecological processes and therefore warrant greater conservation attention within a spatial management framework.     

Genes and song: genetic and social connections in fragmented habitat in a woodland bird with limited dispersal

Understanding the processes leading to population declines in fragmented landscapes is essential for successful conservation management. However, isolating the influence of disparate processes, and dispersal in particular, is challenging. The Grey Shrike-thrush, Colluricincla harmonica, is a sedentary woodland-dependent songbird, with learned vocalizations whose incidence in suitable habitat patches falls disproportionally with decline in tree cover in the landscape. Although it has been suggested that gaps in tree cover might act as barriers to its dispersal, the species remains in many remnants of native vegetation in agricultural landscapes, suggesting that it may have responded to habitat removal and fragmentation by maintaining or even increasing dispersal distances. We quantified population connectivity of the Grey Shrike-thrush in a system fragmented over more than 120 years using genetic (microsatellites) and acoustic (song types) data. First, we tested for population genetic and acoustic structure at regional and local scales in search of barriers to dispersal or gene flow and signals of local spatial structuring indicative of restricted dispersal or localized acoustic similarity. Then we tested for effects of habitat loss and fragmentation on genetic and acoustic connectivity by fitting alternative models of mobility (isolation-by-distance [the null model] and reduced and increased movement models) across treeless vs. treed areas. Birds within -5 km of each other had more similar genotypes and song types than those farther away, suggesting that dispersal and song matching are limited in the region. Despite restricted dispersal detected for females (but not males), populations appeared to be connected by gene flow and displayed some cultural (acoustic) connectivity across the region. Fragmentation did not appear to impact greatly the dispersal of the Grey Shrike-thrush: none of the mobility models fit the genetic distances of males, whereas for females, an isolation-by-distance model could not be rejected in favor of the models of reduced or increased movement through treeless gaps. However, dissimilarities of the song types were more consistent with the model of reduced cultural connectivity through treeless areas, suggesting that fragmentation impedes song type sharing in the Grey Shrike-thrush. Our paper demonstrates that habitat fragmentation hinders important population processes in an Australian woodland bird even though its dispersal is not detectably impacted.     

Dual function of allopreening in the cooperatively breeding green woodhoopoe, Phoeniculus purpureus

Allopreening is a widespread but little-studied phenomenon in birds and is particularly prevalent in species where individuals are forced into close proximity. Such a situation facilitates the transfer of ectoparasites between individuals and allopreening has therefore been proposed to serve a hygienic function. In addition, allopreening might theoretically play a role in social communication. Green woodhoopoes (Phoeniculus purpureus) are cooperatively breeding birds that roost communally every night in a tree cavity and are thus susceptible to high ectoparasite loads. Our results suggest that allopreening of the head and neck (“head”), which cannot be efficiently self-preened, serves a primarily hygienic function: all individuals, irrespective of sex, dominance status, and group size, donated and received similar rates of head allopreening and terminated a similar proportion of bouts in which they were involved. Furthermore, there was a high occurrence of reciprocation and head allopreening occurred at a constant rate throughout the year. In contrast, allopreening of the rest of the body, which is accessible to the recipient itself, is likely to serve a primarily social function: body allopreening rates were higher in larger groups; dominant individuals received more body allopreening and terminated a significantly higher proportion of bouts than subordinates; and subordinates donated body allopreening at a higher rate than dominants. Moreover, bouts initiated by dominants were more likely to be reciprocated than those initiated by subordinates and body allopreening rates varied seasonally. Allopreening in the green woodhoopoe is therefore likely to serve a dual function, depending on the part of the body involved.     

Deaths in natural hazards in the solomon islands

Archival and library search techniques have been used to establish extensive databases on deaths and damage resulting from natural hazards in the Solomon Islands. Although the records of fatalities are certainly incomplete, volcanic eruptions, tropical cyclones, landslides, tsunami and earthquakes appear to have been the most important. Only 22 per cent of the recorded deaths have resulted from meteorological hazards but a single event could change this proportion significantly. Five events in the fatality database account for 88 per cent of the recorded deaths. Future death tolls are also likely to be dominated by a small number of events. While the expected number of deaths in a given period is dependent upon the length of record considered, it is clear that a disaster which kills one hundred or more people in the Solomons can be expected more frequently than once in a hundred years.     

Does breathing apparatus affect fish counts and observations? A comparison at three New Zealand fished and protected areas

Across three areas, open-circuit scuba (OC) and rebreather (RB) surveys produced similar results for the density and size distribution of fish species inside and outside marine reserves. At Tonga Island, more Notolabrus celidotus were counted with OC than with RB, independently of reserve status [log-scale response ratio of OC/RB (RR) = 0.7]. At Long Island, differences in abundance of Parapercis colias between sampling methods were small at reserve sites (RR = −0.1), but more were counted with scuba than with RBs at fished sites (RR = 0.5). RRs for Pagrus auratus were −1.0 in fished areas and 0.3 in the reserve at Leigh. We also sampled each site using a baited video system (BUV) to establish whether diver-transects sampled the full size range of target species. Most fish in BUV views were Parapercis colias at Long Island (97%), and Pagrus auratus at Leigh (77%). Size structures of Parapercis colias were similar among all three sampling methods within reserve and fished areas at Long Island (max. chi-squared distance = 0.11). BUV samples for Pagrus auratus at Leigh did not detect a prominent juvenile size class observed by divers, but size-frequency distributions of OC, RB, and BUV corresponded at sizes beyond 15 cm TL (max. chi-squared distance = 0.08). To investigate the effects of diver sound on fish behaviour at Long Island, we also compared fish activity when divers with RBs or scuba were present, when the sound of each breathing apparatus was replayed underwater, when no divers were present and no sound was replayed, and when bait was provided, within the reserve only. The lowest number of fish visits to the focal area (mean of 3.0 per 10 min) for Parapercis colias occurred with RB divers present. Maximum abundances of Parapercis colias in all speaker treatments averaged 4.1 per 10 min, whereas with scuba divers present maximum abundances were 5.7, and with baits the average was 38.0 per 10 min.