240 Monitoring Threatened Species and Ecological Communities
AWC properties protect 90 nationally threatened vertebrate species, of which
nearly 40 are subject to regular monitoring. By measuring populations at regular
intervals, AWC’s monitoring program aims to identify the ecological return on
investment (e.g. how many numbats are delivered for a particular level of
investment). This helps optimise resource allocation. Monitoring also identifies any
declines in populations, which may require a revision of management strategies. A
well-designed monitoring framework is critical to the on-ground success of AWC.
Introduction
In response to the significant documented decline in Australia’s biodiversity,
governments, indigenous landowners and non-profit organisations have
established a network of protected areas. Although the declaration of a protected
area can help stem the loss of biodiversity resulting from the conversion of natural
ecosystems, declaration alone does nothing to mitigate threats to wildlife that
operate within natural ecosystems, such as introduced species or changed fire
regimes. Where such pervasive threats are important, as they are in Australia,
conservation requires the active management of threats – for example, the control
of feral cats Felis catus (Legge et al. 2017).
To conserve biodiversity effectively in the face of pervasive threats, managers of
protected areas require robust information on the status of biodiversity and threats
to biodiversity. Unfortunately, credible information on the status of biodiversity is
often sparse or lacking, because routine monitoring of these matters is uncommon.
On most protected areas, it is not possible to respond with certainty to basic
questions such as ‘how are species doing?’ or ‘are management interventions (e.g.
fox baiting) delivering an ecological return?’ In many cases, managers of protected
areas must resort to anecdotes or expert opinion to evaluate performance (Legge
2015). There are obvious limitations to this approach.
The decline of small mammals in northern Australia highlights problems with
the lack of systematic biodiversity monitoring in Australia (see Chapter 20). This
decline was detected at Kakadu National Park by a program set up to track the
response of fauna to fire management (Woinarski et al. 2010). The decline appears
to be widespread and may well have been underway for decades (Ziembicki et al.
2015). However, because most protected areas in northern Australia are not subject
to routine monitoring, little is known of the onset or extent of the decline. This
lack of information has constrained identification of potential causes of the decline
and effective management responses to it.
Australian Wildlife Conservancy: conservation programs
AWC’s mission is the effective conservation of all native Australian animal
species and the habitats in which they live. AWC currently owns and manages 26
properties covering more than 3.8 million ha across Australia. The estate supports