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Understanding habitat use of the Endangered Alligator Rivers Yellow Chat Epthianura crocea tunneyi to inform monitoring and management

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 February 2022

ROBIN LEPPITT Open the ORCID record for ROBIN LEPPITT [Opens in a new window] ,
LUKE EINODER Open the ORCID record for LUKE EINODER [Opens in a new window] ,
PETER M. KYNE Open the ORCID record for PETER M. KYNE [Opens in a new window] ,
JOHN C. Z. WOINARSKI Open the ORCID record for JOHN C. Z. WOINARSKI [Opens in a new window]  and
STEPHEN GARNETT Open the ORCID record for STEPHEN GARNETT [Opens in a new window]
ROBIN LEPPITT*
Affiliation:
Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, NT, 0909, Australia. Threatened Species Recovery Hub, National Environmental Science Program.
LUKE EINODER
Affiliation:
Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, NT, 0909, Australia. Threatened Species Recovery Hub, National Environmental Science Program. Kakadu National Park, Jabiru, NT, 0886, Australia.
PETER M. KYNE
Affiliation:
Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, NT, 0909, Australia.
JOHN C. Z. WOINARSKI
Affiliation:
Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, NT, 0909, Australia. Threatened Species Recovery Hub, National Environmental Science Program.
STEPHEN GARNETT
Affiliation:
Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, NT, 0909, Australia. Threatened Species Recovery Hub, National Environmental Science Program.
*
*Author for correspondence; email: robin.leppitt@cdu.edu.au
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Summary

Knowledge of where a threatened species occurs in a landscape is crucial for determining its habitat requirements and informing its conservation planning and management. We conducted the first broad-scale survey of the Endangered Alligator Rivers Yellow Chat Epthianura crocea tunneyi across much of its known range on drying coastal floodplains in northern Australia. Presence-absence records from 257 sites surveyed in the late dry season (August–December) of 2018 and 2019 were modelled using occupancy/detectability models. Occupancy was estimated to be 0.10 ± 0.04 with a high detection probability (0.89 ± 0.07). Modelling of 13 site-level environmental covariates found that chats were more likely to be detected at sites where the native shrub Sesbania sesban was present, were close to hydrogeological features such as depressions or channels, were long unburnt (5+ years) and/or with topsoil damage caused by feral pigs. Our estimates of chat occupancy, detectability, and the covariates that influence their occupancy, have improved our understanding of the role that fire and feral animals have on chat distribution and habitat selection, and can be used as a baseline for future monitoring. We also provide recommendations on how to design and implement future monitoring of this subspecies.

Keywords

FloodplainsKakadu National ParkNorthern Australiaoccupancy modellingbird conservationwet/dry tropicsthreatened species
Type
Research Article
Information
Bird Conservation International , Volume 32 , Issue 3 , September 2022 , pp. 423 - 438
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of BirdLife International

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