The objective of this report is to improve the scientific basis for the GSS by providing information on the role of pines on the ecology of Carnaby‘s Black-Cockatoos in GSS area. This report also addresses how this species might be affected by the removal of pine from the Gnangara, Pinjar, and Yanchep pine plantations. 



Part I provides background information on the ecology and conservation biology of Carnaby‘s Black-Cockatoos and their association with the Swan Coastal Plain and the pine plantations in the GSS. It also provides a brief statement of the key issues associated with the impact of pine removal on this species. 



Part II describes various aspects of the ecology of Carnaby‘s Black-Cockatoos in the GSS area based on field research in 2009 and previous studies. 



Part III examines how the removal of pine may affect Carnaby‘s Black-Cockatoos and potential responses, provides an initial risk assessment framework, evaluates pine removal as a possible controlled action under the Environmental and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, and addresses landscape management and restoration for Carnaby‘s Black-Cockatoos conservation

Finn, H.

Stock, W.

Valentine, L.E.

English

This study examined the behavioural ecology of Carnaby‘s Black-Cockatoo in the Gnangara Sustainability Strategy study area, with a focus on habitat use of pine plantations. The study confirms that the pine is the main food source for Carnaby‘s Black-Cockatoos within the GSS area during the non-breeding season (January-June). The value of the Gnangara-Pinjar-Yanchep pine plantations as a food source for Carnaby‘s Black-Cockatoo should not be underestimated. Large congregations of birds (~3000) utilised the pine plantations for an extended period, mainly January-March but with birds continuing to feeding within the plantations through June. The pine plantations have provided an important and dependable feeding habitat since the 1940s, a period that has seen the abundance of this species decline by at least 50% and its range contract by one-third. The impact of pine removal should also be considered within a suite of broader changes to the GSS landscape. These changes include the loss of feeding habitats off-plantation (e.g. thickets of Banksia sessilis around Neerabup and within the Northwest Corridor) and predictions of declining productivity within areas of Banksia woodland due to reduced rainfall and the spread of dieback, Phytophthora cinnamomi. There is uncertainty about whether the remnant native vegetation in the GSS area will provide an adequate food source following the removal of pine plantations, particularly from January to March when feeding within the plantations is most intensive. This topic requires further investigation. In April and May 2009 (‗dryandra period), at least 4000 birds were concentrated between Neerabup and Boongarra as large aggregations form to feed within thickets of Banksia sessilis. These aggregations probably draw together flocks that through February and March had been feeding: (a) in and around the GSS pine plantations; (b) in the suburban areas to the south and west of the plantations; and (c) in areas to the north of Boongarra. When the dryandra feeding period is completed, the aggregations most likely broke apart again, with birds either returning to feed on pine again or in Banksia woodland areas. This also roughly coincides with the period when breeding birds will begin transitioning back to breeding habitats inland, and from June through August birds may mass into large flocks of several thousand as they shift away from feeding habitats on the Swan Coastal Plain. Large flocks have been observed in July and August around the northern end of the Yanchep plantation, suggesting that birds migrating to breeding sites to the north and east of the GSS area may aggregate in areas of the pine plantations where some food remains and/or the large areas of Banksia woodland. Not all adult birds breed each year, and some birds remain on the Swan Coastal Plain, and between 600-1500 birds are likely to be present within the GSS area during the non-breeding season Food availability in Banksia woodland habitats probably peaks in the late winter-spring period (August-November), since this is the season when the majority of Banksia species on the Swan Coastal Plain are flowering and the fruits of B. attenuata mature. It is unknown how much food remains available in the Banksia woodlands throughout the year, and this topic requires further research. Given the lack of information on the seasonal availability of food for this species, a precautionary conservation step would be the retention of some form of pine. Lower stand densities and larger breaks between stands would encourage greater canopy growth and thus greater production of cones, thereby compensating for an overall decrease in the area covered by pine. If full pine removal is effected, feeding habitat can be restored quickly and at relatively low cost through the seeding and/or planting of native and non-native food species that are well-adapted to growth in a high-disturbance environment. These species include: Banksia sessilis and similar Dryandras, Hakea spp., marri, Erodium, and Pinus spp. However, given the potential negative impacts of introduced species (e.g. Erodium) on other elements of biodiversity, the use of such species as food sources for Carnaby‘s Black-Cockatoo should be avoided. The provision of roosting habitat is a potentially over-looked function of pine, particularly in landscapes where there are few large trees to roost. Thus, restoration objectives for Carnaby‘s cockatoos could possibly be integrated into current strategies to create ecological corridors or be developed as offset measures. The key issues are the need to find suitable roost tree species and to replace feeding habitat that provides food in the January to April period, to compensate for the removal of roost sites and food from pine plantations. Further research is required to identify the potential carrying capacity of the remnant Banksia woodland following the removal of pine plantations. In particular, this research should identify availability of food (and watering points) during January – March

Finn, Hugh

Stock, William

Valentine, Leonie

Research Online @ ECU

Pines and the ecology of Carnaby‘s Black-Cockatoos (Calyptorhynchus latirostris) in the Gnangara sustainability strategy area

Research Repository

Assessment of the declining groundwater levels in the Gnangara groundwater mound,

Black cockatoos and pine plantations.

Breeding behaviour and biology of the short-billed form of the White-tailed Blackcockatoo.

Breeding season, nesting success and nestling growth in Carnaby's Cockatoo, Calyptorynchus funereus latirostris, over 16 years at Coomallo Creek, and a method for assessing the viability of population in other areas.

Carnaby's Black-Cockatoo (Calptorhynchus latirostris) Recovery Plan

Conservation of Carnaby's Black-Cockatoo on the Swan Coastal Plain, Western Australia Project Report, Birds Australia

Conservation status of parrots and cockatoos in Western Australia.

Counts of Carnaby's Cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus latirostris) and records of flock composition at an overnight roosting site in metropolitan Perth.

Distribution patterns and habitat use of black cockatoos (Calyptorhynchus spp) in modified landscapes in the south-west of Western Australia.

Factors affecting survival of breeding populations of Carnaby‘s BlackCockatoo Calyptorhynchus funereus latirostris in remnants of native vegetation.

Feeding notes on the white tailed black cockatoo.

Food and movements of the short-billed form of the White-tailed Black Cockatoo.

Food resources of Carnaby‘s Black-Cockatoos in the Gnangara Sustainability Study Area.

Guide to preparing a Works Approval and Licence Application Document [DRAFT]. DEC Industry Regulation, Environmental Regulation Division.

Handbook of Western Australian Birds. Volume 1: Non-passerines (Emu to Dollarbird).

Metabolic ecology of cockatoos in the south-west of Western Australia.

Observations of nectar feeding by Carnaby‘s Cockatoo Calyptorhynchus latirostris.

Problems of survival in an extensively cultivated landscape: the case of Carnaby's Cockatoo Calyptorhynchus funereus latirostris.

Roe Highway Stage 7 Project: Fauna Management Plan. Unpublished report prepared for Roe 7

Seed developmental patterns in Banksia attenuata and Banksia laricina in relation to mechanical defence costs.

Selective predation by white-tailed black cockatoos on fruit of Banksia attenuata containing the seed-eating weevil Alphitopis nivea.

Sub-speciation in the White-tailed Black Cockatoo, Calyptorhynchus baudinii, in Western Australia.

The ecology of invasive alien pines (Pinus spp.) in the Jonkershoek Valley,

The effect of agricultural clearing on the breeding success of the White-tailed Black Cockatoo.

The effects of clearing for agriculture on the distribution of cockatoos in the southwest of Western Australia. In:

The occurrence of the white-tailed black cockatoo, Calyptorhynchus baudinii,

The Taxonomy and Species of Birds of Australia and its Territories. Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union Monograph 2. Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union,

Twenty-eight years of monitoring a breeding population of Carnaby‘s Cockatoo.

Variation in the white-tailed black cockatoo.

Vegetation complexes of the Darling System, Western Australia. In: Atlas of natural resources Darling System Western Australia. Department of Conservation and Environment,

Pines and the ecology of Carnaby’s Black-Cockatoos (Calyptorhynchus latirostris) in the Gnangara Sustainability Strategy study area

http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/8182/

Pines and the ecology of Carnaby’s Black-Cockatoos (Calyptorhynchus latirostris) in the Gnangara Sustainability Strategy study area

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Research Online @ ECU

Research Repository