http://search.informit.com.au/browsePublication;py=2013;vol=19;res=IELHSS;issn=1038-2097;iss=3%2F4
Which includes a few interesting bird and general conservation articles,
including the two below and others...:
Pacific Conservation Biology
Volume 19 Issue 3/4 (Dec 2013)
Are we underestimating the threat to Australia's migratory land birds?
Ford, Hugh A1
Abstract: Few migratory
land birds in Australia are currently regarded as threatened or near
threatened. In contrast, many of Australia's migratory seabirds and
shorebirds are threatened or near threatened, with most of the latter
being added over the last two decades. Furthermore, many long-distance
migratory land birds that breed in North America and Europe have
experienced major declines, probably due to threats in their breeding or
wintering grounds or both. I suggest that knowledge of our migratory
land birds is limited, and almost non-existent outside their breeding
areas. Some are already declining and I predict that others will decline
in the near future. The priority now is to increase our knowledge of
the locations of major wintering areas in northern Australia of land
birds that breed in the south, and to study their ecology and behaviour
outside the breeding season. We also have limited knowledge of how
migrants in Australia prepare physiologically and behaviourally for
migration. If they migrate in large hops, then we need to find and
protect departure, refuelling and arrival sites.
Conservation of waterbirds in Australia
Kingsford, RT1
Abstract: There are 93
species of Australian waterbirds, predominantly dependent on freshwater,
inland saline or estuarine ecosystems. They include diverse species
predominantly from six major groups: grebes (Podicipediformes); ducks,
geese and swans (Anseriformes); pelicans and cormorants
(Pelecaniformes); egrets, ibises, spoonbills (Ciconniiformes); cranes,
rails and crakes (Gruiiformes) and shorebirds (Charadriiformes). I
analysed the content of 382 publications on Australian waterbirds in
relation to life history and threats. There were 4.08 publications per
species, with most publications biased towards the Anseriformes (6.95
publications per species). There were relatively few publications on
Gruiformes (1.13 per species) or Podicipediformes (0.33 per species).
There is reasonably good knowledge of distribution, abundance, diet and
foraging and habitat use, but there were generally few examples of
integration of these data into population modelling, a particularly
useful tool for conservation of species. Significant gaps exist in the
understanding of basic life history and movement patterns, critical for
conservation; these are particularly accentuated for cryptic species.
Opportunities exist to collection basic information, directed towards
modelling population dynamics. As with most of the world's organisms,
habitat loss and degradation remain the major threat to waterbirds in
Australia. The ongoing pressure on water resources and developments of
estuaries continue to cause decline of waterbirds, exacerbated by
secondary threats including climate change, disease, hunting, pollution
and disturbance. Hunting continues to have an impact, but it is
relatively poorly modelled, requiring more investment by governments
charged with its management. Effective conservation of Australian
waterbirds and their wetland habitats depends on mitigating habitat loss
and degradation, primarily dependent on political will not knowledge.
In
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