The distribution and frequency of detection of woodland birds after selective logging of a small woodland remnant in an agricultural landscape in inland southern Australia

2020 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 529-547
Author(s):  
Michael J. Murphy
Keyword(s):  
Agricultural Landscape ◽  
Landscape Connectivity ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Selective Logging ◽  
Woodland Birds ◽  
Bird Populations ◽  
Noisy Miner ◽  
Manorina Melanocephala ◽  
Eucalypt Woodland ◽  
Surrounding Landscape

The majority of studies into the response of birds to logging in Australian forests has been done in forest-dominated landscapes or relatively large forest blocks, where the surrounding landscape can ameliorate impacts. This is the first study to examine the response of birds to logging of a small, relatively isolated woodland remnant in a landscape dominated by agriculture, with a focus on declining woodland birds. Approximately two thirds of a 120 ha cypress-eucalypt woodland remnant was selectively logged. Eighty bird species in total were recorded 2–3½ years after logging, including 18 recognised as declining woodland birds. Sixty-four species were recorded in the unlogged area and 72 in the logged area. Of the 31 species recorded sufficiently frequently for analysis, 19 showed no statistical difference in occurrence between logged and unlogged areas at the power of the study, nine were more prevalent in unlogged areas and three more prevalent in logged areas. Declining woodland birds comprised 22½% of overall species and 33% of those more prevalent in unlogged areas. Mapping of records enabled the response of a subset of species to be examined in greater detail. Four species illustrate the range of responses by declining woodland birds: Eastern Yellow Robin Eopsaltria australis was confined to unlogged areas, White-browed Babbler Pomatostomus superciliosus favoured unlogged areas, Varied Sittella Daphoenositta chrysoptera favoured proximity to unlogged areas and Red-capped Robin Petroica goodenovii was widely distributed in both logged and unlogged areas. The likelihood of recovery of local woodland bird populations is discussed in the context of limited landscape connectivity and the recent colonisation of the remnant by the hyper-aggressive Noisy Miner Manorina melanocephala. White-browed Babbler and Eastern Yellow Robin are considered to be at high risk of local extinction in the remnant.

Influence of the Noisy Miner Manorina melanocephala on avian diversity and abundance in remnant Grey Box woodland

1998 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Merilyn J. Grey ◽  
Michael F. Clarke ◽  
Richard H. Loyn
Keyword(s):  
Bird Species ◽  
The Other ◽  
Avian Diversity ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Experimental Removal ◽  
Noisy Miner ◽  
Insect Infestations ◽  
Eucalypt Woodlands ◽  
Manorina Melanocephala ◽  
The One

The abundance of an aggressive Australian honeyeater, the Noisy Miner Manorina melanocephala, was reduced at four small (<8 ha) Grey Box Eucalyptus microcarpa woodland remnants by experimental removal. The diversity and abundance of small insectivorous and nectarivorous birds increased at three of the four sites (relative to matching control sites) over the twelve months following the removal of the Noisy Miners. The one exception occurred at a pair of sites where eucalypts began flowering at one site and finished at the other during the Noisy Miner removal period. These results, taken together with those from three earlier experiments where the abundance of Noisy Miners was reduced in Mugga Ironbark E. Sideroxylon woodland remnants, demonstrate that Noisy Miners affect avian diversity and abundance by aggressive exclusion of other species. In five out of seven experiments, Noisy Miners did not reinvade the small woodland remnants during the ensuing twelve months. When Noisy Miner abundance was reduced, increased populations of small insectivorous and nectarivorous birds used small degraded woodland remnants. Colonizing populations of small birds have the potential to reduce insect infestations and may assist in the recovery of dieback-affected woodland remnants. Research is continuing to test this hypothesis. Reducing the abundance of Noisy Miners in remnant eucalypt woodlands may also be a useful, short-term measure, which could assist in the recovery of threatened or endangered bird species.

The effect of Noisy Miners on small bush birds: an unofficial cull and its outcome

2008 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 185 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. J. S. Debus
Keyword(s):  
New South ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Bird Community ◽  
Major Contributor ◽  
Bird Species Richness ◽  
Woodland Birds ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Manorina Melanocephala ◽  
Time Periods

This paper documents the bird community in a small (~15 ha) patch of remnant woodland New South Wales sheep? wheat belt (i) before Noisy Miners Manorina melanocephala were abundant in the patch (1972-79), (ii) after a dense miner colony became established (1980-1990), (iii) after the miners were removed (1991?92) and, subsequently, (iv) while extensive, dense plantings of native trees became established (1992-2006). Bird species richness in the patch was, respectively, 64, 18, 45 and 83 species in each time period. Totals for small (<120 g) bush birds, mostly insectivorous passerines, were 26, 0, 22 and 46 species in the respective time periods. Although this was an unofficial, unreplicated and uncontrolled activity, the results support those of previous similar studies that indicate that Noisy Miners are a major contributor to the local decline of many woodland birds. The results also affirm the value of a shrub layer to small birds.

Initial Changes in the Avian Communities of Remnant Eucalypt Woodlands following a Reduction in the Abundance of Noisy Miners, Manorina melanocephala

1997 ◽  
Vol 24 (6) ◽  
pp. 631 ◽  
Author(s):  
Merilyn J. Grey ◽  
Michael F. Clarke ◽  
Richard H. Loyn
Keyword(s):  
Bird Species ◽  
Avian Diversity ◽  
Insectivorous Birds ◽  
Noisy Miner ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
Eucalypt Woodlands ◽  
Paired Control ◽  
Manorina Melanocephala ◽  
Abundance And Diversity ◽  
A Site

It has been postulated that aggressive honeyeaters like the noisy miner, Manorina melanocephala, may contribute to rural tree decline by excluding small insectivorous birds from remnant patches of woodland, thereby reducing the level of predation upon defoliating insects. Previous studies provide correlational evidence that avian diversity and abundance is lower in remnant patches of woodland occupied by noisy miners than in those without noisy miners. Noisy miners were removed from three small remnant patches of woodland in north-eastern Victoria. The removal of the majority of noisy miners from a site, or even the removal of only part of a noisy miner colony from a site, resulted in a major influx of honeyeaters and other insectivorous birds to these sites in the following three months. Such major invasions were not observed on matching control sites. At two of the three removal sites, this led to an increase in both the abundance and diversity of birds on the site. At the third site, there was an increase in the diversity, but not the abundance of birds. These experiments are the first to demonstrate that noisy miners affect avian diversity and abundance by aggressive exclusion of small birds. They also showed that if domination by noisy miners is reduced, small, degraded woodland remnants can support significant populations of some small insectivorous birds and honeyeaters. Noisy miners did not reinvade the experimental sites during the following 16 months and avian diversity and abundance remained higher at the experimental sites than at the paired control sites. Long-term monitoring is needed to determine whether the small invading bird species have a lasting effect upon insect populations and tree health.

Penetration of remnant edges by noisy miners (Manorina melanocephala) and implications for habitat restoration

2007 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 253 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael F. Clarke ◽  
Joanne M. Oldland
Keyword(s):  
Penetration Depth ◽  
Habitat Restoration ◽  
Habitat Type ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Habitat Characteristics ◽  
Noisy Miner ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Manorina Melanocephala ◽  
A Site

The noisy miner (Manorina melanocephala) is a large, communally breeding colonial native honeyeater renowned for aggressively excluding virtually all other bird species from areas they occupy. In the woodlands of southern and eastern Australia, numerous studies have identified the domination of remnants by noisy miners as having a profound negative effect on woodland bird communities. Despite this, very little is known about the habitat characteristics that make domination of a site by noisy miners more likely. This study investigated the depth from edges that noisy miners penetrated into large woodland remnants (>48 ha) within Victoria and attempted to identify habitat characteristics that influenced the depth to which they penetrated. Penetration depth differed significantly across four broad habitat types but commonly ranged from 150 m to more than 300 m from the remnant edge. If noisy miners colonise a site, their capacity to penetrate in from a remnant edge has implications for the size that remnants need to be (>36 ha) to contain any core ‘noisy-miner-free’ habitat and the width that habitat corridors need to be to avoid domination by noisy miners (>600 m). Broad differences in habitat type and the abundance of noisy miners at a site were the most powerful predictors of penetration distance. The density of canopy trees on a site was the only other habitat variable contributing to the most parsimonious model of penetration depth. Decreasing density of trees was associated with increasing penetration depth by noisy miners.

scholarly journals Bird monitoring in a tropical savanna conservation reserve suggests Noisy Miners Manorina melanocephala and adaptive fire management should be a future management focus

2021 ◽  
Vol 38 ◽  
pp. 131-136
Author(s):  
A.S. Kutt ◽  
◽  
L. Hales ◽  
P. Hales ◽  
P. Young ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Fire Management ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Environmental Data ◽  
Survey Method ◽  
Bird Conservation ◽  
Tropical Savanna ◽  
Noisy Miner ◽  
Manorina Melanocephala ◽  
Over Time

Long-term monitoring of bird communities over time can provide important data for management, and the adaptation of that management over time. We examined data from bird surveys across 37 sites sampled in five different years from 2009 to 2017 in a 56,000-ha tropical savanna conservation reserve, in northern Queensland. Because of the limitations of the survey method and the lack of environmental data for sites, we examined broad patterns in the abundance of small- and large-bodied birds, abundance of Noisy Miners Manorina melanocephala, land type, survey year, and time since last fire. There was some variation in bird species richness and abundance across the land types, years sampled and Noisy Miner abundance; however, the clearest pattern was decreasing numbers of small-bodied birds and increasing Noisy Miner abundance, and an association between time since fire (i.e. <3 years, >5 years), Noisy Miner abundance and diversity in other birds. The apparent and potentially compounding interaction of Noisy Miners and fire could be an emerging problem. Future fire management needs to be embedded in a program of targeted question-driven monitoring and adaptive management, to provide more assured approaches to prescribed burning that enhances bird conservation.

Colonisation of native tree and shrub plantings by woodland birds in an agricultural landscape

2008 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 19 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. W. Barrett ◽  
D. Freudenberger ◽  
A. Drew ◽  
J. Stol ◽  
A. O. Nicholls ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Natural Resource Management ◽  
Agricultural Landscape ◽  
New South ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Tree Planting ◽  
Woodland Birds ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Trees And Shrubs

Tree planting has become a cornerstone strategy for natural resource management in agricultural landscapes, yet its contribution as habitat for woodland birds has not been fully investigated. A case study from the Holbrook region in southern New South Wales was used to assess woodland birds in young plantings of native trees and shrubs. Ground-foraging insectivorous woodland birds were under-represented in the plantings, partly due to a lack of native forb diversity (wildflowers) and leaf litter. Of 69 woodland bird species recorded over a three-year period, 48 species (70%) occurred in planted sites, 59 species (86%) occurred in remnant woodland, and 34 species (49%) occurred in adjacent paddock sites. The greater diversity of birds in planted sites relative to paddock sites was mostly due to understorey birds. The proportion of mist-netted birds recaptured was similar in both planted (15%) and remnant woodland (16%) sites, suggesting that individual birds were staying in planted sites. The proportion of woodland birds showing breeding activity (as measured by the presence of a brood patch) was slightly lower in planted sites (24% of all woodland species) than in remnant woodland (29%). Birds such as the superb fairy-wren, red-browed finch and southern whiteface were more likely to occur in planted sites, suggesting that plantings provide unique, transitional-stage habitat within agricultural landscapes. Restoring native forbs, as part of a broader strategy of woodland management, will help to reverse the decline of ground-foraging insectivorous woodland birds in agricultural landscapes.

scholarly journals Using Bayesian Belief Networks to assess the influence of landscape connectivity on ecosystem service trade-offs and synergies in urban landscapes in the UK

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
James D. Karimi ◽  
Jim A. Harris ◽  
Ron Corstanje
Keyword(s):  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Ecosystem Service ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Landscape Connectivity ◽  
Structural Characteristics ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Bayesian Belief Networks ◽  
Belief Networks ◽  
Patch Area ◽  
Trade Offs

Abstract Context Landscape connectivity is assumed to influence ecosystem service (ES) trade-offs and synergies. However, empirical studies of the effect of landscape connectivity on ES trade-offs and synergies are limited, especially in urban areas where the interactions between patterns and processes are complex. Objectives The objectives of this study were to use a Bayesian Belief Network approach to (1) assess whether functional connectivity drives ES trade-offs and synergies in urban areas and (2) assess the influence of connectivity on the supply of ESs. Methods We used circuit theory to model urban bird flow of P. major and C. caeruleus at a 2 m spatial resolution in Bedford, Luton and Milton Keynes, UK, and Bayesian Belief Networks (BBNs) to assess the sensitivity of ES trade-offs and synergies model outputs to landscape and patch structural characteristics (patch area, connectivity and bird species abundance). Results We found that functional connectivity was the most influential variable in determining two of three ES trade-offs and synergies. Patch area and connectivity exerted a strong influence on ES trade-offs and synergies. Low patch area and low to moderately low connectivity were associated with high levels of ES trade-offs and synergies. Conclusions This study demonstrates that landscape connectivity is an influential determinant of ES trade-offs and synergies and supports the conviction that larger and better-connected habitat patches increase ES provision. A BBN approach is proposed as a feasible method of ES trade-off and synergy prediction in complex landscapes. Our findings can prove to be informative for urban ES management.

Tree Species Preferences of Foraging Birds in Jarrah Forest in Western Australia.

1985 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 461 ◽  
Author(s):  
I Abbott ◽  
PV Heurck
Keyword(s):  
Western Australia ◽  
Tree Species ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Selective Logging ◽  
Jarrah Forest ◽  
Eucalyptus Marginata ◽  
Silvicultural Treatments ◽  
Species Preferences

A study of foraging by 10 bird species suggests that selective logging of large Eucalyptus marginata will only have affected Melithreptus lunatus, but that proposed silvicultural treatments, including removal of Banksia grandis, may affect several other bird species.

The consequences of selective logging for Bornean lowland forest birds

1992 ◽  
Vol 335 (1275) ◽  
pp. 443-457 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Population Dynamics ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Selective Logging ◽  
Forest Birds ◽  
Primary Forest ◽  
Bird Conservation ◽  
Lowland Forest ◽  
Dipterocarp Forest ◽  
Logged Forest ◽  
Lowland Dipterocarp Forest

In lowland dipterocarp forest in Sabah, Malaysia, most primary forest bird species were present in areas selectively logged eight years previously. However, certain taxa, notably flycatchers, woodpeckers, trogons and wren-babblers, became comparatively rare. In contrast, nectarivorous and opportunistic frugivorous species were significantly more abundant. Few species appeared to change foraging height, but netting rates suggest that the activity of some species had increased, or that some birds ranged over larger areas after logging. Although there is still much to be learned about the survival of birds in logged forest, large areas of this habitat are important for bird conservation. However, the susceptibility of logged forest to fire, and our present incomplete understanding of bird behaviour and population dynamics in logged forests mean that they should not be considered by conservationists as alternatives to reserves of primary forest.

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