Mount Lofty Ranges Southern Emu-wren Project
Mount Lofty Ranges Southern Emu-wren
This Project aims to estimate the current population in the Lower Finniss and Tookayerta catchments. Volunteers are needed to help with bird surveys during the breeding season.
Bird surveys: long walks employing point counts, area search and call playback. This is a great opportunity to see a rare endangered bird and othe nice bird species that visit wetlands.
The Fleurieu swamps can be densely vegetated and the ground may be damp/muddy. The vegetation can also be spiky in some areas. Volunteers need a reasonable/basic level of hiking fitness and will need to wear field gear. Long pants and long sleeved shirt, broad brim hat and gumboots or waders are required. We have some spare boots for you!
Where: Study site is located at Watchulanga nature reserve
(80km South of Adelaide).
When: From October to December.
How: You can join for the whole period or the days you are available (a week, 1 or 2 days or more days). Accommodation will be provided.
$: Transport to the field site will be cover as well as accommodation.
Driver’s licence and experience with bird surveys are desirable.
No previous experience is required just the will to endure long walks in the swamps and learn.
The Mount Lofty Ranges southern emu-wren (MLRS Emu-wren from here on) is one of the eight subspecies of southern emu wrens that belong to the Australian endemic genus of bird Stipiturus. This subspecies is restricted to swamp and dry-heath habitats of the Fleurieu Peninsula in South Australia. Isolation from other subspecies of emu wrens means that they represent representing a unique range of the genetic, morphological, and behavioural variation. The MLR Southern Emu-wren is considered as endangered under the EPBC Act 1999 of Australia and the South Australian National Parks and Wildlife Act of 1972. Despite all conservation efforts, MLR Southern Emu-wren population size has been estimated to have declined 63–65% from 1993 to 2015, with only 143-288 mature individuals estimated to be left in 2015.. It has been estimated that 46–78% of the population is present in swamps habitat, which makes it imperative to get a better understanding of the MLR Southern Emu-wren swamp habitat in order to secure its survival.
Habitat quality plays an important role in the distribution of populations. Habitat suitability models and maps developed through our research suggest that the preservation of natural swamp vegetation diversity (with special interest in lignum (Douma florulenta), the control over the expansion of common reed (Phragmites australis) and the reduction of grazing are management actions that could have a positive impact for the conservation of this subspecies in the close future. Based on these habitat suitability maps, workshopees co-designed 27 recommendations and 10 priority actions. Our findings suggest that combining habitat suitability mapping with co-designed decision-making can improve conservation management for threatened species, even where they are persisting in complex, patchily disturbed habitats.
