Foraging Habitats for Colonial Nesting...
URL: https://www.mdba.gov.au/sites/default/files/publications/foraging-habitats-colonial-nesting-waterbirds-in-mdb.pdf
Authors: Heather McGinness, Shane Brooks and Jennifer Hale
Date of Publication: June 2023
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Waterbird populations across the Basin require appropriate management of not only breeding habitat, but also of foraging habitats to ensure that there are adequate food resources available for breeding and recruitment.
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This report describes a method for identifying and prioritising foraging habitats for potential management to support waterbirds throughout their lifecycle.
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Steps include defining foraging distances, preferred habitat characteristics, and manageable habitats, as well as mapping locations and assessing habitat availability and fluctuations.
Key findings / recommendations
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Obligate feeders travel much smaller distances to forage than generalist non-obligate feeders.
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There were clear inundated habitat preferences between obligate and non-obligate colonial waterbirds for foraging.
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The availability of foraging habitat varied significantly in space and time, with a decline in preferred shallow foraging habitat for obligate feeders at around half of all colony locations and increases at several lake system sites.
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There are several significant limitations with the method as applied in this development trial, however most can be addressed with improved data in the future.
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