National water resource assessment using waterbirds: Ecosystem health and conservation importance of water-dependent ecosystems and rivers
Project details
| Objective: |
To develop national methodologies, guidelines and assessment protocols to measure conservation value and success of environmental water delivery to water-dependent ecosystems using assessment and monitoring of waterbirds as an indicator of ecosystem health. |
| Funding: |
up to $951,578 plus applicable GST from the Australian Government towards costs associated with supporting the work program. Total value of the project is $1,131,578 with $180,000 being contributed by University of New South Wales. |
| Jurisdiction: |
National |
| Commenced: |
June 2007 |
| Project status: |
Finalised |
| Outputs: |
Waterlines 74: National Waterbird Assessment Fact sheet: National waterbird assessment National Waterbird Database |
About the project
This project will develop national methodologies, guidelines and assessment protocols to measure conservation value and success of environmental water delivery to water-dependent ecosystems using assessment and monitoring of waterbirds as an indicator of ecosystem health. A national assessment of high conservation value water-dependent ecosystems will be conducted across all jurisdictions using waterbirds as an indicator of value, enabling a relative assessment of the importance of different wetlands and floodplains across Australia.
All practitioners will be brought together under this project for a nationwide aerial survey for the first time and best practice methods for aerial surveys will be developed.
Project outcomes
The National Waterbird Assessment report was launched at the Commission’s Highs and lows of river and wetlands health seminar held in Canberra on Thursday 22 March 2012.
The research was undertaken by the University of New South Wales and delivers the following products to provide wetland managers, water planners and policy makers with knowledge that can inform conservation and sustainable natural resource management for wetlands and waterbirds:
- Waterlines report: The National Waterbird Assessment (RT Kingsford, JL Porter, SA Halse) report presents a summary of key findings, key messages, recommendations and science from the project work.
- National Waterbird Database: A relational database that contains the results of four large survey programs: National Waterbird Survey 2008; Eastern Australian Aerial Waterbird Survey database records 1983 – 2008; Northern Murray-Darling Surveys and Murray Icon Surveys 2007 – 2008. The database can be accessed by emailing awrc@unsw.edu.au
Wetlands of the Timor Sea division
in the Northern Territory are particularly
important for waterbird abundance.
(Photo: RT Kingsford)
This five year project has undertaken a continental-scale aerial waterbird survey to provide us with a snapshot of waterbird numbers across Australia. Conducted in 2008, it is the first time a continental-scale survey has been conducted anywhere in the world. The project also analysed 27 years of long term Eastern Australian Aerial Survey data to provide information on long-term trends for waterbirds as well as establishing a waterbird database to store and access waterbird survey data.
In addition, the project has classified the top 20 wetlands based on waterbird abundance and provides knowledge of waterbird composition across Australia’s drainage divisions and wetlands.
The project team determined that northern Australia is an important area for waterbirds. Four of the top five ranked wetlands are in north-western Australia – Eighty Mile Beach, lakes Gregory and Argyle and Roebuck Bay – and the tropical drainage divisions, especially the Timor Sea, were clearly more important to waterbirds in terms of abundance than other regions during the 2008 survey, although it should be noted that much of eastern Australia was experiencing drought during this period. During the 2008 national survey, a total of 4.55 million waterbirds were counted, 106 species were recorded and the top 20 ranked wetlands supported approximately 40% of all waterbirds counted.
Through analyses of the long-term Eastern Australian Aerial Waterbird Survey data, the research team found that there is a significant decline in waterbirds in eastern Australia over a 27 year period. With the exception of Lake Moondarra, regulated wetlands in the region showed a long-term decline in waterbird abundance and four of the seven unregulated wetlands also exhibited a decline.
The key messages arising from this project are:
- Data from the 2008 National Waterbird Survey identified many individual wetlands as being of high national (and international) importance to waterbird abundance including the top five ranked wetlands (Eighty Mile Beach, lakes Gregory and Argyle, Coorong/Lower Lakes and Roebuck Bay).
- The importance of northern Australia to waterbirds should be recognised at a national and international level.
- Ephemeral wetlands in inland Australia are especially significant to duck species and should be recognised at national and jurisdictional level.
- The 2008 National Waterbird Survey suggests a significant decline in the population of grey teal duck. The survey results should inform the development and prioritisation of management plans for species conservation.
- Valuable knowledge is to be gained from deeper analyses of the extensive survey dataset and from repeating the National Waterbird Survey over time. This is especially important for wetlands of national and regional importance and waterbird species of potential concern.
- The survey data should also contribute to national and jurisdictional assessments of existing listing of wetlands under Ramsar or as important wetlands; high conservation value aquatic ecosystem determinations under the NWI; existing reserve/protected area network to ensure their adequate protection and conservation; development proposals that can potentially impact these wetlands.
- Waterbirds could serve as a focus in addressing overallocation and flow regime alteration in regulated systems of the Murray-Darling Basin through the mechanism of the MDB planning processes, and could also serve as a baseline for protecting the mostly unregulated rivers and wetlands of the Lake Eyre Basin.
- Long-term waterbird datasets are valuable in measuring the success of water management plans, ecological recovery from drought and responses to climate change.
- The National Waterbird Database is a valuable asset that provides a baseline for comparing future data and as a platform that can support national waterbird data into the future.
- Recommendations for future research include:
Plumed-whistling duck flock on a wetland in the
Lake Eyre division (Photo: RT Kingsford)- exploration of the relative patterns of waterbird diversity and abundance at a national scale in relation to the same patters for other aquatic organisms
- the affects of river regulation on whole ecosystems and food webs for waterbirds
- the extent of effects of climate, changes to flow and other landscape factors on waterbird abundance
- assessment of the vulnerability of wetlands important to waterbirds in relation to climate change and water resource development in different regions of Australia.