Monitoring Threatened Species and Ecological Communities

232 Monitoring Threatened Species and Ecological Communities

B o x 17.1. Eastern bristlebird Dasyornis brachypterus

NSW (TSC Act) threat status: Endangered

Federal (EPBC Act) threat status: Endangered

SoS prioritisation parameters: Expected benefit (B) = 0.65; Likelihood of success (L)

= 0.32; Cost (C) = A$5.66 million over 50 years.

Species description: Medium-sized, long-tailed, insectivorous, brown and rufous

birds. Shy and cryptic, mostly occur in dense understorey vegetation.

Site description: Nadgee Nature Reserve, 3000 ha of coastal and upland heaths

north of the NSW–Victoria border.

Threats under management: (1) potential for too frequent or intense fire; (2)

predation by foxes and feral cats.

Monitoring method: Single permanent line transect (1900–2700 m), counts

performed by two observers within each of three distinct sub-sites walking at

2–4 km/h, mapping all detected calls and individuals sighted.

Model development and target-setting: A conceptual model was developed for

this system based on expert opinion because no quantitative models are available.

The critical drivers of bristlebird populations were identified as:

• too frequent, extensive or intense fire removes breeding and cover habitat, which
  negatively impacts populations


• predation by foxes and feral cats negatively impacts populations


• reduced cover following intense fire increases predation risk, which negatively
  impacts populations (fire and predator interactions).

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F i g. 17. 3. Eastern bristlebird Dasyornis brachypterus monitoring data for the Nadgee

management site 2001–2016 (solid triangles) and long-term population targets expressed

as a confidence interval or control limits (broken lines). Data provided by David Bain,

Lynn Evans, Melinda Norton and Damon Oliver (Office of Environment and Heritage).