Responses to fire of Slender-billed Thornbills,<i>Acanthiza iredalei hedleyi</i>, in Ngarkat Conservation Park, South Australia. II. Foraging behaviour

Ward, Matthew J.; Paton, David C.

doi:10.1071/mu02049

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…For example, in South Australian heath vegetation, Slender-billed Thornbills (Acanthiza iredalei) foraged more on living Leptospermum and Allocasuarina plants in regenerating and mature than in recently burnt sites, despite Leptospermum being dominant in the latter sites. However, the thornbills showed the opposite trend for many other plant species (Ward and Paton, 2004). In mixed coniferous forest in the United States, five passerine species all differed in their foraging locations (mainly particular tree species) between logged and unlogged sites, most being more generalised in their choices in the disturbed sites (Franzeb, 1983).…”

Section: Foraging Locationmentioning

confidence: 93%

“…Intraspecific disparities in birds' foraging substrate use and behaviour between anthropogenically-disturbed and relatively undisturbed vegetation have been documented in a few species, e.g. insectivorous Elepaio (Chasiempsis sandwichensis) in Hawaiian forests (VanderWerf, 1994), Slender-billed Thornbills in South Australian heath (Ward and Paton, 2004) and five passerine species in mixedconiferous forest in Arizona (Franzeb, 1983).…”

Section: Foraging Substrate and Modementioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, as several authors note, despite this quite good documentation of the changes in bird species community composition during forest secondary succession, we have only a very limited understanding of how bird species actually adjust to seral vegetation changes (e.g. VanderWerf, 1994;Ward and Paton, 2004). Disturbance of forests will continue and probably increase worldwide.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Plasticity and Stereotypy in Avian Foraging during Secondary Succession in Temperate Forests

Serong

Lill

2016

Avian Biology Research

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Some bird species cannot persist during early secondary succession after natural or anthropogenic disturbance of Australian Mountain Ash ( Eucalyptus regnans) forest, whilst others remain abundant throughout regeneration. To conserve bird species diversity optimally in such forests, we need to know, inter alia, exactly why the latter species can persist after disturbance. Using a chronosequence approach, we documented four facets of foraging in a suite of these persistent species effectively covering 100 years of succession in E. regnans forest disturbed by wildfire or timber harvesting, namely the foraging strata, locations, substrates and behaviours used. Most species showed plasticity in their use of foraging strata and locations during succession, but four exhibited some limited stereotypy in these facets. In contrast, use of foraging substrates and behaviours was largely invariant within species during secondary succession. We suggest that switching foraging strata and locations was probably critical to persistence of most of these bird species during secondary succession, given the marked variation in structural and floristic variables that characterises this regeneration process. Some plasticity in foraging behaviour repertoire and substrate use was probably possible, but not beneficial. Although some resident bird species’ populations were severely reduced by disturbance in these forests, a substantial subset of species was sufficiently flexible in choosing foraging microhabitats to persist throughout secondary succession at pre-disturbance abundances.

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Section: Foraging Locationmentioning

confidence: 93%

Section: Foraging Substrate and Modementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Plasticity and Stereotypy in Avian Foraging during Secondary Succession in Temperate Forests

Serong

Lill

2016

Avian Biology Research

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Responses to fire of Slender-billed Thornbills,Acanthiza iredalei hedleyi, in Ngarkat Conservation Park, South Australia. I. Densities, group sizes, distribution and management issues

Ward

Paton

2004

Emu - Austral Ornithology

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Abstract. The Slender-billed Thornbill, Acanthiza iredalei hedleyi , was studied in recently burnt, regenerating and mature heath (3, 10 and 22 years since fire respectively) in Ngarkat Conservation Park, South Australia. Data collected between 1991 and 2002 demonstrated that densities peaked seven years after fire at 0.26 birds ha -1 , while densities were lower and less variable in unburnt mature heath. Comprehensive searches in spring 2000 confirmed this trend, with densities varying from 0.02 birds ha -1 in mature heath, to 0.06 and 0.07 birds ha -1 in burnt and regenerating heath.Between spring 2000 and autumn 2001 group sizes increased in the recently burnt heath from 4.3 to 6.3 birds per group. However, group sizes did not increase over the same period in the regenerating and mature heaths. Between 1991 and 2002 group sizes did not differ significantly between heaths that had been burnt since 1990 (2.7 birds per group) and mature heath burnt in 1978 (2.7 birds per group).In the mature heath, Slender-billed Thornbills demonstrated strong fidelity for certain areas and were observed feeding juvenile birds on a number of occasions. This suggests that birds can persist in mature heath, albeit at low densities and in isolated areas of suitable habitat, and that frequent fires are not essential for population persistence. Furthermore, long-term records suggest that recolonisation of recently burnt heath is likely to occur from adjacent unburnt heath and is more successful after smaller fires. Therefore, in order to protect areas from which Slenderbilled Thornbills can disperse into recently burnt habitats in Ngarkat, a spatial mosaic of habitats at different stages of post-fire succession is required.

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The response of birds to the fire regimes of mulga woodlands in central Australia

Leavesley¹

2008

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Responses to fire of Slender-billed Thornbills,Acanthiza iredalei hedleyi, in Ngarkat Conservation Park, South Australia. II. Foraging behaviour

Cited by 3 publications

References 16 publications

Plasticity and Stereotypy in Avian Foraging during Secondary Succession in Temperate Forests

Plasticity and Stereotypy in Avian Foraging during Secondary Succession in Temperate Forests

Responses to fire of Slender-billed Thornbills,Acanthiza iredalei hedleyi, in Ngarkat Conservation Park, South Australia. I. Densities, group sizes, distribution and management issues

The response of birds to the fire regimes of mulga woodlands in central Australia

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