Tracking ecological restoration : temporal and spatial patterns of bird communities on the Whangaparāoa Peninsula, New Zealand : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Conservation Biology at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand
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Date
2021
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Massey University
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Abstract
Humans have dramatically transformed New Zealand’s ecological communities, leading to declining populations or extinction of native fauna. Hunting, habitat loss, and introduced terrestrial mammals are key drivers of these losses. Forest and Bird began the Pest-Free Hibiscus Coast project in 2011 with the aim of eradicating rats, stoats and possums from the Whangaparāoa Peninsula. To evaluate the effectiveness of pest-management and monitor changes in the bird community, volunteers conducted annual November five-minute stationary bird counts across 32 locations between 2013 and 2020. I used fixed effects models to examine changes in the abundances of the 21 most common species recorded over 2,115 surveys. Using station as a random effect and controlling for the time of day, day of the month, weather, wind levels, survey methodology used and volunteer birding experience, I found 17 bird species remained stable or had significant increases in abundance between 2017 and 2020. The same can be said for 18 species between 2013 and 2020. Overall, abundance trends of common bird species throughout the survey period were comparable with community responses seen in other research from known healthy or predator-free environments. Using GIS (geospatial information systems), I also analysed species richness and the mean relative abundances of endemic, native, and introduced birds across 17 locations. The richness of endemic birds was more than double that of other comparable areas across Auckland. Principal component analysis revealed greater abundances of the four most common endemic species at locations with more natural features and less manmade features, and vice versa for the four most common introduced species. The four most common native species showed intermediate patterns. These patterns highlight the critical importance of natural habitats to support endemic and some native bird species, and reveal that sufficient natural habitat must be available to maximise the efficacy of pest-management. This thesis archives the first eight years of bird survey data collected for Hibiscus Coast Forest and Bird. My findings contribute to the growing body of scientific research focused on improving the conservation of native birds in urban environments and provides important insight into New Zealand’s predator-free 2050 goal.