The value of a good chat
Tue, 15 Nov 2016Until a few years ago hardly anyone had heard of the yellow chat on the Kakadu floodplains. National Park staff had so many other species to worry about
and none of the local birdwatchers took a special interest in it. At least this is what Gill Ainsworth found during her PhD on the social value of
Australia’s threatened birds.
When artist Chips Mackinolty heard Gill’s story, he wondered how he could help raise the bird’s profile. After discussions with Gill, Chips unveiled
his contribution to the chat’s conservation at the opening of an exhibition on birds and art at Charles Darwin University.
The metre-square print, based on a photo of a male chat by local birdwatcher Micha Jackson, will be sold to support Indigenous involvement in chat
research and to purchase tracking devices.
Chips was not the only person to listen to Gill’s appeals. Others were becoming aware of the scarcity of chats which, by 2014, were known reliably
from only one site supporting 27 birds. As a result, the chats were among the 20 highest priority birds listed in the National Threatened Species Strategy
and NESP funds are being deployed to support new PhD student Robin Leppitt.
“The Alligator Rivers Yellow Chat is critically understudied, despite the fact it was listed as endangered more than a decade ago,” says Robin.
“Through extensive survey and study, I plan to greatly increase the ecological knowledge of the subspecies to aid in its ongoing conservation.”
The park is also taking great interest in the birds and has been offering Robin assistance to begin his research.
A key component to the work will be Indigenous management of the floodplains. One theory is that a lack of traditional burning has reduced the patchiness
of the grasslands so big areas are now covered by only a few plant species. An early part of the work will be discussions with traditional owners of
how best to manage the chat’s habitat.
Other elements of the research will be surveys to find more birds and understand more fully their ecological requirements and studies to see how feral
pigs affect the chat’s habitat.
Photo: The endangered Yellow Chat print (on display in Palmero, Italy) by Chips Mackinolty
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A million species at risk of extinction
Wed, 05 Jun 2019One million species threatened with extinction worldwide. That was the attention-grabbing headline that recently (and, sadly, briefly) captured the world’s attention, when the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystems Services (IPBES) released its first global assessment of how the planet’s biodiversity is faring – and what that means for people.
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Kakadu collaboration for the yellow chat
Wed, 05 Jun 2019The Alligator Rivers yellow chat is a small, bright yellow insectivorous bird of the Kakadu floodplains. This Endangered species is imperilled by habitat changes caused by altered fire regimes, buffalo and feral pigs, rising sea levels and the spread of weeds like prickly mimosa and introduced grasses. What has been happening to degrade these floodplains has been equally of concern to Traditional Owners as to yellow chat researchers.
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Making research partnerships work
Wed, 05 Jun 2019The central purpose of the Threatened Species Recovery Hub is delivering research that is relevant for and useable by decision-makers, land managers and others responsible for recovering threatened species. Working with partners is vital if we’re to achieve this.
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Norfolk Island’s threatened flora
Wed, 05 Jun 2019The native forest on Norfolk Island provides vital habitat for the island’s threatened plant and bird species, many of which are found nowhere else on the planet (also called endemic). When the British colonised Norfolk Island in 1788, they cleared much of the original vegetation. Remaining forest is now protected in the national park and reserves, but plant recruitment is poor and invasive non-native plant species would likely overtake the forest without the on-going efforts of park managers. To preserve remaining forest, it is important to determine the main causes of declines and the most effective actions that managers can take to address these threats and restore native vegetation.
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Reasons to be cheerful - Conservation success stories from Booderee National Park
Wed, 05 Jun 2019The Threatened Species Recovery Hub is celebrating great conservation outcomes from projects taking place in Booderee National Park for two Endangered species: the eastern bristlebird and the southern brown bandicoot (eastern subspecies). The Australian National University’s David Lindenmayer and Chris MacGregor give us the scoop on the bristlebird and Natasha Robinson shares the good news about the southern brown bandicoot.
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