Conserving waterbird populations of the CLMMM and broader landscape under climate change

Project type: Research

Theme alignment: Threatened species and biodiversity​

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Project Lead: Thomas Prowse (University of Adelaide)

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Sub-project leads and teams:

Movement ecology of waterbirds at multiple scales – Thomas Prowse, Ruth Cope, Steven Delean, Rebecca Boulton, Phill Cassey and Justin Brookes (University of Adelaide); David Paton and Fiona Paton (BioR); Heather McGuinness and Micha Jackson (CSIRO)

Quantifying demographic threats to beach-nesting shorebirds – Rebecca Boulton, Thomas Prowse, Ruth Cope, Phill Cassey and Justin Brookes (University of Adelaide); Ryan Baring and Diane Colombelli-Negrel (Flinders University); Keith Jones (SA Shorebirds Foundation); Sonia Sanchez Gomez (Birdlife Australia)

Conservation modelling for key waterbird species – Steven Delean, Thomas Prowse, Phill Cassey and Justin Brookes (University of Adelaide); David Paton and Fiona Paton (BioR); Ben Taylor (Nature Glenelg Trust); Sonia Sanchez Gomez (Birdlife Australia)

Waterbird body condition monitoring through community science – Phill Cassey, Thomas Prowse, Steven Delean, Ruth Cope and Justin Brookes (University of Adelaide); Sonia Sanchez Gomez (Birdlife Australia); Heather McGuinness and Micha Jackson (CSIRO); Keith Jones (SA Shorebirds Foundation)

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Project dates: July 2024 to March 2026

The diverse and abundant waterbird community of the CLLMM played a central role in the region’s listing as a Wetland of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention. The CLLMM is an important site for migratory shorebirds of the East Asian–Australasian Flyway. It provides foraging and breeding habitat for non-migratory waterbirds, and acts as a habitat refuge for many species during drought conditions. The threatening processes impacting waterbirds that use the CLLMM operate at a range of scales from local (e.g. extreme salinity and eutrophication of the Coorong South Lagoon, feral predators, vehicle access) to regional (e.g. upstream water extraction and drought, terrestrialisation of wetlands in the broader network) and global (e.g. loss of staging habitat along the migratory flyway).

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This project addresses four waterbird research priorities developed in collaboration with diverse stakeholders including First Nations and community groups, eNGOs, government agencies, and university-based scientists. The specific objectives are

• to study waterbird movement ecology at multiple scales to understand (a) how waterbirds select habitats for roosting, foraging and breeding as conditions change; (b) population connectivity across the broader wetland network; (c) triggers for long-distance movements; and (d) the impact of e-Water delivery on waterbird distributions.

• to quantify the impact of disturbance processes on the behaviour and reproductive success of beach-nesting shorebirds

• to develop species-specific conservation models for threatened and migratory species, and waterbirds with particular community significance

• to collaborate with community scientists to monitor waterbird body condition over space and time.

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The project comprises four components integrating field studies and modelling to inform management of waterbird populations.

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1. Waterbird movement studies will use GPS telemetry to assess habitat selection by waterbirds and the scale of and triggers for long-distance dispersal events. The project will focus on several waterbird species representative of different functional groups (e.g. fairy tern/Talamarari, sharp-tailed sandpiper/Nemineri, black swan/Kungari, pied oystercatcher/Prukal, colonial nesting species). Telemetry data will inform the species-specific modelling components.

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2. Quantifying threats to beach-nesting shorebirds will monitor shorebird nests using camera-trap technology to understand the demographic impact of disturbance processes including feral predators and vehicles. The impact of these disturbances on shorebird behaviour will simultaneously be studied using GPS telemetry.

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3. Conservation modelling for key waterbird species will use historical datasets, First Nations knowledge and telemetry data to predict changes in the extent of suitable habitat and the distributional and/or population-level responses of waterbirds resulting from different management strategies and climate change scenarios.

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4. Waterbird body condition monitoring will engage community to capture still images of target species over space and time. In combination with a machine-learning algorithm developed to score the physical condition of individual birds, this project will assess the CLLMM’s capacity to allow waterbirds to maintain or improve their body condition during key life history stages. This project will be a citizen science focused project. More information coming soon!

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The project builds on substantial stakeholder relationships developed through past research and a recent community consultation process. Key stakeholders with direct involvement in the research components include

• First Nations (e.g. traditional knowledge underpinning modelling of the black swan/Kungari harvest under climate change)

• government and university scientists (e.g. CSIRO and Flinders University researchers)

eNGOs with specific expertise in the CLLMM system and broader wetland network (e.g. BioR, Birdlife Australia, Nature Glenelg Trust, SA Shorebirds Foundation).