Last updated September 3, 2019 at 11:33 am
Habitat loss is a major concern for hundreds of Australian bird species, and south-eastern Australia has been the worst affected.
Australian parrots were found to have lost the most habitat. Credit: Christian Krieglsteiner
More than half of all native bird species have each lost two-thirds of their natural habitat across Victoria, parts of South Australia and New South Wales.
That’s the finding by the Threatened Species Recovery Hub study, featuring University of Queensland scientists.
A team of researchers looked at how the amount of habitat available for each of Australia’s different land bird species had changed since 1750.
Lead researcher Jeremy Simmonds, from University of Queensland, says the research revealed that habitat loss was more prominent in south-east Australia than it was in Northern Australia.
“Habitat loss has been particularly devastating for birds from south-east Australia; more than half of the 262 native birds in this region only have a small fraction of their natural habitat remaining in this part of the country.”
“Northern Australia and Australia’s arid zone have had the least habitat loss, as there has been much less vegetation clearing across that region.”
This map shows the number of bird species affected by habitat loss in different regions. Credit: Conservation Biology.
More attention is paid to threatened species, but common species are just as crucial
Simmonds says the team looked at both threatened and non-threatened birds, including common species.
“While more attention is usually paid to threatened species, common species, like many of our familiar fairy-wrens, pigeons and honeyeaters, are crucially important,” Simmonds explains.
“Common species play a vital role in controlling insect pests and pollination and their decline through loss of habitat has implications for the health of ecosystems.”
“In places like Queensland’s south-east and the Wet Tropics, each hectare of forest cleared can affect up to 180 different native bird species.”
“We also looked at different bird groups and found that Australia’s parrot species are more impacted by habitat loss, compared with birds of prey, like eagles and owls.”
“Along with feral and invasive species, habitat destruction is among the greatest threats facing biodiversity in Australia, so it is important to understand how big the problem of habitat removal is: our research developed a method to do this, called the Loss Index.”
A tool for conservation moving forward
Simmonds says the index provided a tool for conservation managers and planners to better understand how habitat loss affects all birds, and not just the endangered ones.
“It helps to show that every hectare of native vegetation that is removed chips away at remaining habitat for dozens and sometimes hundreds of species, including common species which typically do not receive conservation attention.”
“The quality of the remaining habitat is often reduced, due to weeds, grazing and changed fire patterns, such as more and hotter fires, and this can further reduce the number and type of birds that an area can support,” he explains.
The Loss Index can also be applied to other species like mammals or plants.
The research is published in Conservation Biology.
