Landscape and habitat characteristics jointly drive the urban distribution of a nuisance species

Caitlin S. Willis; Dominique A. Potvin; Darian Cadwaladr; Erin K. Wills; Ben L. Gilby

doi:10.1007/s11252-024-01594-2

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Landscape and habitat characteristics jointly drive the urban distribution of a nuisance species

Journal article

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Landscape and habitat characteristics jointly drive the urban distribution of a nuisance species

Caitlin S. Willis, Dominique A. Potvin, Darian Cadwaladr, Erin K. Wills and Ben L. Gilby

Urban Ecosystems, Vol.27, pp.2283-2297

2024

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-024-01594-2

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Abstract

Australian white ibis

management

spatial ecology

urbanisation

waste management

wetlands

Identifying environmental variables that affect the distribution of pest and/or nuisance species promotes effective management strategies by improving urban planning and the targeted application of direct interventions like population control. Australian white ibis Threskiornis moluccus are considered a nuisance species throughout Australia, having increased significantly in abundance in coastal urban landscapes following declines in their native inland habitats over the past three decades. Few management interventions thus far have successfully reduced conflicts between ibis and humans, necessitating a better understanding of conditions driving ibis distribution and abundance. We surveyed 26 ibis colonies throughout the Moreton Bay region in central eastern Australia and quantified the effects of a range of spatial (e.g. connectivity with waste management facilities, urban land and wetlands) and habitat (e.g. nesting tree species, density and size) variables on ibis and nest abundance. Ibis and their nests were most abundant at sites within 10 km of waste management facilities, and < 60 m from residential or industrial estates. Ibis were also more abundant at sites with tree canopy height < 10 m and lower tree species richness. Nests were most abundant on water bound islands with tree density > 0.5 trees/m 2 . Urbanisation had contrasting effects, with nest numbers increasing with higher connectivity (i.e. closer proximity) to urban land, while ibis numbers decreased (relative to waste management facilities). Multifaceted approaches are required for controlling ibis populations, including restricting access to anthropogenic food resources, managing the condition of remnant habitats, and considering population control at sites with high connectivity to foraging grounds.

Details

Title: Landscape and habitat characteristics jointly drive the urban distribution of a nuisance species
Authors: Caitlin S. Willis - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Science, Technology and Engineering
Dominique A. Potvin - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Science, Technology and Engineering
Darian Cadwaladr - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Science, Technology and Engineering
Erin K. Wills - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Science, Technology and Engineering
Ben L. Gilby (Corresponding Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Science, Technology and Engineering
Publication details: Urban Ecosystems, Vol.27, pp.2283-2297
Publisher: Springer New York LLC
Date published: 2024
DOI: 10.1007/s11252-024-01594-2
ISSN: 1573-1642; 1083-8155
Copyright note: This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Data Availability: The datasets used and/or analysed and associated statistical code used during the current study are available in the supplementary materials and from the corresponding author(s) on reasonable request.
Grant note: This work was supported by Moreton Bay Regional Council.
Organisation Unit: School of Science, Technology and Engineering
Language: English
Record Identifier: 991054257602621
Output Type: Journal article