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Malleefowl
abundance
We
used a combination of active mound densities from Western Australia
(sourced largely through the WA Malleefowl Network), estimates of breeding
birds per active mound from eastern studies, and a regional habitat model
(Parsons et al., in press) to
identify interconnected ‘neighbourhoods’ for Malleefowl within the
wheatbelt.
We
identified 14 neighbourhoods, seven of which we considered viable (> 300
breeding birds), seven at-risk neighbourhoods (100-300 breeding birds), and
371 non-viable neighbourhoods (< 100).
The seven viable neighbourhoods contained an estimated 36,800
breeding birds, some 94% of the estimated wheatbelt population. The seven at-risk neighbourhoods together
contained some 930 breeding birds, and the 371 small and isolated
‘non-viable’ neighbourhoods collectively about 1,350 breeding birds.
The
largest neighbourhood (some four million hectares – shown as dark blue in
the map below) extended from Beacon in the north-eastern wheatbelt to the
south coast and east to Scaddan (north of Esperance), and included many of
the large nature reserves of the eastern and southern wheatbelt.
Our
population model, although crude, provides an estimate of the overall
population of Malleefowl in the wheatbelt, and an idea of where numbers are
concentrated. It also helps to
identify priority populations for management action, identifying apparently
secure, at-risk, and non-viable neighbourhoods. This model emphasises how the
conservation of Malleefowl and other species in a fragmented landscape
requires management to extend beyond the patch scale (or scale of the
individual nature reserve) to incorporate landscape context. A key result was that extensive farm bush
and major nature reserves of the eastern and southern wheatbelt complement
each other and form one major interconnected neighbourhood of c. 4 million hectares, with a number
of discrete satellite neighbourhoods of varying extent and viability.
Local
government and farmers have a key role to play in maintaining existing
connections across the landscape, farmers have a responsibility to maintain
their remaining remnants by excluding grazing and some degree of fox
control, and the Department of Environment and Conservation have a
continuing role in the promotion of a diverse fire regime dominated by
older fire ages within their large reserves and fox control in and around
their reserves. Ultimately the
long-term conservation of Malleefowl in the wheatbelt will require the
cooperation of all land managers, private and public.
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