The avifauna of Koobabbie, a 7 173 ha wheat and sheep property in the northern wheatbelt of Western Australia
with 41.5% the property under remnant native vegetation, was monitored on a weekly basis from May 1987 to December
2011. Recorded during this period were 131 species, comprising 55 residents, seven regular visitors, 14 irregular visitors
and 55 vagrants. Fifteen species declined over the 25 years, with one species being extirpated and two species
increased. Two other species increased until early this century and then declined. The avifauna of Koobabbie was
compared with that of the Northern Agricultural Catchment Council region, in the middle of which region the property is
located. Koobabbie comprehensively represented the region’s avifauna and contributed significantly to conservation of
the region’s avifauna. This study demonstrates the importance of continuous long-term datasets from a single locality.
The need to set up a network of such monitoring sites over much of Australia in order to provide information for
management of natural resources is discussed.
"KOOBABBIE" is a 6 885 ha wheat and sheep farm in the Coorow District of the northern wheatbelt of Western Australia (see Fig. 1, Hobbs 2003). The land was taken up by my grandparents in 1906. As clearing for agriculture took place, original vegetation was preserved in timber belts, along waterways and on rocky rises, but these were not fenced. In 1966 my husband, John, and I took over management of the property and in 1970 commenced fencing the remnant vegetation to exclude livestock. In 1987 we purchased 1 864 ha of salt lake country and excluded livestock from the area. Our aim is to preserve a representative cross section of the original vegetation on our property.
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