UNSW researchers will survey thousands of wetlands and rivers across eastern Australia this spring, collecting one of the world’s longest-running datasets on waterbird populations – while also looking for signs of H5N1 avian influenza.
A team of Australian researchers – led by UNSW’s Centre for Ecosystem Science with the NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) and other state agencies – will begin Australia’s 44th annual waterbird survey tomorrow.
The team will cover up to 2000 wetlands and rivers across eastern Australia while monitoring for signs of the highly pathogenic avian influenza, H5N1.
During late September to early November, two observers will estimate the waterbird diversity and numbers across a third of the continent from a light plane around 50 metres above water. They will fly for 38,000km – a distance almost equivalent to a round-the-world trip.
“We count the numbers of waterbirds on about 2000 wetlands and rivers across eastern Australia, identifying more than 50 species,” says Scientia Professor Richard Kingsford, Director of the Centre for Ecosystem Science, who leads the survey program.
In addition to their usual long-term data collection, the team will this year also focus on concentrations of birds that might be affected by H5N1 avian influenza, making it one of the more extensive surveillance programs in Australia – and an important early-warning system as the virus spreads through Australian wildlife.
“We were looking out for it last year,” Prof. Kingsford says.
“But it has now arrived on the continent.
“We will record any mass mortalities we see during aerial surveys – although we will not be able to conclude whether they are natural or due to avian influenza.”
Instead, he says the team will report any incidents through the approved protocols and alert relevant state jurisdictions for follow-up.
Beyond the count
The annual surveys’ spatial and temporal vastness means it is not only one of the largest wildlife surveys in the world, but also crucial in demonstrating long-term trends in waterbird biodiversity, wetland area and health. This in turn has underpinned major management decisions, says Prof. Kingsford.
This year the team are also expecting to see the effects of El-Niño with below-average flooding and drying wetlands associated with current climate conditions across eastern Australia.
While extensive wetland areas in the Lake Eyre Basin – including Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre – remain, many individual wetlands are likely drying back.
“El-Niño effects are unlikely to be obvious this year, except for the lack of flooding,” Prof. Kingsford says.
“But we will probably just start to see big concentrations of waterbirds as they congregate on the shrinking wetland habitat.”
He says the survey provides another year of data that will not only bolster the trend analysis but, “continue to inform policy and future environmental management decision making, while also being a tool to monitor the long-term effects of avian influenza outbreaks”.
If you’d like to witness these spectacular wetlands, Prof. Kingsford and the team will update a daily blog that includes an interactive map with images and videos of their journey.
We will record any mass mortalities we see during aerial surveys.
The annual survey is run by UNSW’s Centre for Ecosystem Science, supported by resourcing and funding from DCCEEW, with additional funding provided by the South Australian Department for Environment and Water , the Queensland Government , the Victorian Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action , and the Victorian Game Management Authority .
