Climate‐change‐driven deterioration of the condition of floodplain forest and the future for the avifauna

Nally, Ralph Charles Mac; Lada, Hania; Cunningham, Shaun Cameron; Thomson, James Robertson; Fleishman, Erica

doi:10.1111/geb.12091

Cited by 20 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…Our findings suggest that vegetation greenness may identify drought‐resistant refuges for birds. Models that link remotely sensed vegetation data to ground measurements of vegetation are potentially useful for explaining animal responses to climate changes and for forecasting the effects of future climate scenarios (Lada, Thomson, Cunningham, & MacNally, ; MacNally et al., ). More detailed studies into the relationships between animal responses to drought, vegetation greenness (including its temporal variability) and other site characteristics are likely to be useful identifying locations that are critical for supporting resistant animal assemblages.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

High‐productivity vegetation is important for lessening bird declines during prolonged drought

Selwood

McGeoch

Clarke

et al. 2017

Journal of Applied Ecology

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Locations in which ecological assemblages show high resistance to climate pressures, such as drought, are likely to be important refuges for biota in changing climates. We asked whether environmental characteristics of locations were associated with the capacity of bird assemblages to withstand prolonged drought. We used a multispecies index to quantify trends in bird assemblages during a 13‐year drought at >500 locations (>18,000 surveys) in the Murray–Darling Basin, south‐eastern Australia, using data from the Atlas of Australian Birds. We investigated whether the resistance of bird assemblages was associated with (1) vegetation structure; (2) vegetation productivity (vegetation greenness); (3) landscape context (patch size, landscape vegetation cover); or (4) physical environment (elevation, terrain, topography, availability of surface water). Vegetation productivity, measured by vegetation greenness (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index), was the only potential predictor with strong evidence of an effect, and was positively associated with the index of drought resistance. There was little evidence that variables characterizing landscape context, vegetation structure or the physical environment of sites were associated with drought resistance of bird communities. Synthesis and applications. Bird assemblages in locations with high vegetation greenness are more resistant to severe drought. Prioritizing conservation investments in areas with locally high vegetation productivity is likely to be an effective strategy for increasing the resistance of bird assemblages to extreme drought, especially in areas where mean productivity is relatively low, such as arid and semi‐arid regions. Remotely sensed vegetation greenness may be a promising source of information for identifying drought refuges for birds and possibly other biota.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

High‐productivity vegetation is important for lessening bird declines during prolonged drought

Selwood

McGeoch

Clarke

et al. 2017

Journal of Applied Ecology

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“…; Mac Nally et al . ). In response to the dieback, management agencies have embarked on artificial inundations, or ‘managed flooding’.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Recruitment of a keystone tree species must concurrently manage flooding and browsing

Horner

Cunningham

Thomson³

et al. 2016

Journal of Applied Ecology

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Summary Multiple pressures (land‐use change, water extraction and climate change) interact to influence biodiversity and ecosystem processes, but direct evidence for interactions among multiple pressures is limited. Floodplain forests are an acute example of how interacting pressures (river regulation, water extraction, decreasing rainfall and mammal browsing) interact to degrade native ecosystems. We conducted a 2‐year field experiment to determine how flooding, browsing and sediment salinity interacted to determine in situ seedling survival and growth of the keystone floodplain tree species (Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehnh.). On semi‐arid floodplains of southern Australia, 1‐year‐old seedlings were planted on the banks of six ephemeral creeks, three of which were flooded with management flows before planting while the others remained dry. Four plots were established at each creek, two open to browsing and two fenced to exclude mammal herbivores. Flooding had a strong positive effect on seedling survival and height, but browsing had strong negative effects. Sediment salinity (a covariate rather than a designed effect) had a weak negative effect on seedling survival and height. The positive effects of flooding were largely offset by the negative interaction with browsing and, to a lesser extent, sediment salinity. Although flooding has been restored to some degraded floodplain forests subjected to river regulation and a drying climate, the long‐term success of such actions is likely to be undermined by persistent browsing. Synthesis and applications. Management actions that focus on single pressures (e.g. infrequent flooding) and processes (e.g. mature tree survival) while ignoring other pressures are unlikely to sustain populations of keystone species, suggesting that complementary strategies (managed flooding with herbivore control) are necessary to sustain recruitment and, therefore, ensure the future health of these essential ecosystems.

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“…The understorey consists of shrubs, sedges and grasses, and groundcover includes much fallen timber and litter (Mac Nally et al . ). The climate is temperate semi‐arid, with a mean annual rainfall (for period 1961–1990) of 409–433 mm (Kerang and Mathoura State Forest weather stations; accessed 12 January 2015), and high annual evaporation (c. 1600 mm) (BOM ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…The abundance, species richness, species occurrence and breeding activity in these forests are closely linked to forest stand condition of the dominant tree species, the river red gum Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehnh., whose life cycle depends on sufficient water from rainfall and flooding (Mac Nally et al . ). We conducted bird surveys at the beginning and end of the Big Dry, and after the Big Wet, from which we evaluated: (1) changes in species occurrence throughout the drought (resistance); (2) changes in species occurrence after the drought broke (resilience); and (3) changes in breeding activity between the end of the Big Dry and the Big Wet (breeding resilience).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

A bust but no boom: responses of floodplain bird assemblages during and after prolonged drought

Selwood

Clarke

Cunningham

et al. 2015

Journal of Animal Ecology

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Climate change alters the frequency and severity of extreme events, such as drought. Such events will be increasingly important in shaping communities as climate change intensifies. The ability of species to withstand extreme events (resistance) and to recover once adverse conditions abate (resilience) will determine their persistence. We estimated the resistance and resilience of bird species during and after a 13-year drought (the 'Big Dry') in floodplain forests in south-eastern Australia. We conducted bird surveys at the beginning and end of the Big Dry, and after the abrupt end to the drought (the 'Big Wet'), to evaluate species-specific changes in reporting rates among the three periods. We assessed changes in bird-breeding activity before and after the Big Wet to estimate demographic resilience based on breeding. Between the start and the end of the Big Dry (1998 vs. 2009), 37 of 67 species declined substantially. Of those, only two had increased reporting rates after the Big Wet (2009 vs. 2013) that were equal to or larger than their declines, while three partially recovered. All other declining species showed low resilience: 25 showed no change in reporting rates and seven declined further. The number of breeding species and total breeding activity of all species declined after the Big Wet, and there was no change in the number of young produced. The Big Dry caused widespread declines in the floodplain avifauna. Despite the drought being broken by 2 years of well-above-average rainfall and subsequent near-average rainfall, most species showed low resilience and there was little indication that overall breeding had increased. The effects of drought appeared to be pervasive for much of the floodplain avifauna, regardless of species traits (species body mass, fecundity, mobility or diet). Ecosystems such as these are likely to require active management and restoration, including reinstatement of natural flooding regimes, to improve ecological condition, to enhance resistance and resilience to extreme climate events.

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Climate‐change‐driven deterioration of the condition of floodplain forest and the future for the avifauna

Cited by 20 publications

References 40 publications

High‐productivity vegetation is important for lessening bird declines during prolonged drought

High‐productivity vegetation is important for lessening bird declines during prolonged drought

Recruitment of a keystone tree species must concurrently manage flooding and browsing

A bust but no boom: responses of floodplain bird assemblages during and after prolonged drought

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