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Austral ArkThe State of Wildlife in Australiaand New Zealand

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Austral ArkThe State of Wildlife inAustraliaand New Zealand

Edited by

Adam StowMacquarie University, Ryde, Sydney, Australia

Norman MacleanUniversity of Southampton, U.K.

Gregory I. HolwellUniversity of Auckland, New Zealand

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University Printing House, Cambridge CB2 8BS, United Kingdom

Cambridge University Press is part of the University of Cambridge.

It furthers the University’s mission by disseminating knowledge in the pursuit ofeducation, learning and research at the highest international levels of excellence.

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© Cambridge University Press, 2014

This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exceptionand to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements,no reproduction of any part may take place withoutthe written permission of Cambridge University Press.

First published 2014

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Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication dataAustral ark : the state of wildlife in Australia and New Zealand / edited by AdamStow, Macquarie University, Ryde, Sydney, Australia, Norman Maclean, Universityof Southampton, U. K., Gregory I. Holwell, University of Auckland, New Zealand.pages cm

Includes index.ISBN 978-1-107-03354-21. Wildlife conservation – Australia. 2. Wildlife conservation – New Zealand.3. Biodiversity–Australia. 4. Biodiversity–NewZealand. 5. Endangeredspecies–Australia.6. Endangered species – New Zealand. I. Stow, Adam, 1971 – editor of compilation.II. Maclean, Norman, 1932- editor of compilation. III. Holwell, Gregory I., editor ofcompilation. IV. Title: State of wildlife in Australia and New Zealand.QL84.7.A1A86 2014333.95′40993–dc23

2014013701

ISBN 978-1-107-03354-2 Hardback

Additional resources for this publication at www.cambridge.org/9781107033542

Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy ofURLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication,and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain,accurate or appropriate.

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CONTENTSList of contributors vii

Foreword by Professor Tim Flannery xiii

Introduction xv

1. A separate creation: diversity, distinctiveness and conservation of Australianwildlife 1David A. Nipperess

2. New Zealand – a land apart 24William G. Lee and Daphne E. Lee

3. The ecological consequences of habitat loss and fragmentation in New Zealandand Australia 45Poppy Lakeman Fraser and Robert M. Ewers

4. The impacts of climate change on Australian and New Zealand flora and fauna 65A. Cabrelli, L. Beaumont and L. Hughes

5. Unwelcome and unpredictable: the sorry saga of cane toads in Australia 83Richard Shine and Benjamin L. Phillips

6. Invasive plants and invaded ecosystems in Australia: implications forbiodiversity 105Rachael V. Gallagher and Michelle R. Leishman

7. Environmental weeds in New Zealand: impacts and management 134Margaret C. Stanley, Kate G. McAlpine and Imogen E. Bassett

8. The insidious threat of invasive invertebrates 162Darren F. Ward

9. Pollution by antibiotics and resistance genes: dissemination into Australianwildlife 186Michael Gillings

10. Invasive vertebrates in Australia and New Zealand 197Cheryl R. Krull, Josie A. Galbraith, Al S. Glen and Helen W. Nathan

11. Freshwaters in New Zealand 227Mike Joy

12. A garden at the edge of the world; the diversity and conservation statusof the New Zealand flora 240C. A. Lehnebach

13. The evolutionary history of the Australian flora and its relevance to biodiversityconservation 259Maurizio Rossetto

14. Protecting the small majority: insect conservation in Australia and New Zealand 278Gregory I. Holwell and Nigel R. Andrew

15. Terrestrial mammal diversity, conservation and management in Australia 298Mark D. B. Eldridge and Catherine A. Herbert

16. Marine mammals, back from the brink? Contemporary conservation issues 322Robert Harcourt, Helene Marsh, David Slip, Louise Chilvers, Mike Noadand Rebecca Dunlop

17. Australian reptiles and their conservation 354J. K. Webb, P. S. Harlow and D. A. Pike

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18. New Zealand reptiles and their conservation 382N. J. Nelson, R. Hitchmough and J. M. Monks

19. Isolation, invasion and innovation: forces of change in the conservationof New Zealand birds 405Sarah Withers

20. Australian birds: current status and future prospects 422Stephen T. Garnett, Judit K. Szabo and Donald C. Franklin

21. Austral amphibians – Gondwanan relicts in peril 440Jean-Marc Hero, J. Dale Roberts, Conrad J. Hoskin, Katrin Lowe,Edward J. Narayan and Phil J. Bishop

22. Predators in danger: shark conservation and management in Australia,New Zealand and their neighbours 467Paolo Momigliano, Vanessa Flora Jaiteh and Conrad Speed

23. ‘Ragged mountain ranges, droughts and flooding rains’: the evolutionary history andconservation of Australian freshwater fishes 492Leanne Faulks, Dean Gilligan and Luciano B. Beheregaray

24. Down under Down Under: Austral groundwater life 512G. C. Hose, M. G. Asmyhr, S. J. B. Cooper and W. F. Humphreys

25. Fire and biodiversity in Australia 537J. C. Z. Woinarski, A. H. Burbidge, S. Comer, D. Harley, S. Legge, D. B. Lindenmayerand T. B. Partridge

26. Terrestrial protected areas of Australia 560I. Craigie, A. Grech, R. L. Pressey, V. M. Adams, M. Hockings, M. Taylor and M. Barnes

27. Australian marine protected areas 582A. Grech, G. Edgar, P. Fairweather, R. L. Pressey and T. Ward

28. Marine reserves in New Zealand: ecological responses to protection and networkdesign 600Nick Shears and Hannah Thomas

29. Conclusion: conservation onboard Austral Ark needs all hands on deck 624Adam Stow

Index 628

Colour plate section between pages 000 and 000.

vi Contents

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CONTRIBUTORSVanessa M. Adams Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods, CharlesDarwin University, Darwin, NT 0909, Australia and Australian Research Council Centreof Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4811,Australia

Nigel R. Andrew University of New England, School of Environmental and RuralSciences, Natural Resources Building, Armidale, NSW, 2351, Australia

Maria G. AsmyhrMacquarie University, Department of Biological Sciences, NSW 2109,Australia

Megan Barnes University of Queensland, Environmental Decisions Group, St Lucia,QLD 4072, Australia

Imogen E. Bassett Centre for Biodiversity and Biosecurity School of Biological Sciences,Tâmaki Campus, The University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland Mail Centre,Auckland 1142, New Zealand

Linda BeaumontMacquarie University, Department of Biological Sciences, North Ryde,NSW 2109, Australia

Luciano B. Beheregaray Flinders University, School of Biological Sciences, Adelaide SA5001, Australia

Phil J. BishopDepartment of Zoology, University of Otago, P.O. Box 56, Dunedin 9054,New Zealand

Allan. H Burbidge Wildlife Place, Woodvale WA 6026, Australia

A. CabrelliMacquarie University, Department of Biological Sciences, North Ryde, NSW2109, Australia

Louise Chilvers Department of Conservation, Aquatic and Threat Unit, Wellington,New Zealand

Sarah Comer Department of Parks and Wildlife, South Coast Region, 120 AlbanyHighway, Albany, WA 6330, Australia

Steve J. B. CooperAustralianCentre for Evolutionary Biology andBiodiversity, School ofEarth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005,Australia and Evolutionary Biology Unit, South Australian Museum, North Terrace,Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia

Ian D. Craigie Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies,James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4811, Australia

Rebecca Dunlop Cetacean Ecology and Acoustics Laboratory, School of VeterinaryScience, University of Queensland, Qld 4343, Australia

Graham Edgar University of Tasmania, Private Bag 49, HOBART TAS 7001, NubeenaCrescent, Taroona Sandy Bay, Australia

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Mark D.B. Eldridge Terrestrial Vertebrates, Australian Museum, 6 College Street,Sydney, New South Wales 2010, Australia

Robert M. Ewers Imperial College London, Silwood Park Campus, Ascot SL5 7PY, UK

Peter Fairweather Flinders University, Sturt Road, Bedford Park 5042, South Australia

Leanne Faulks Department of Ecology and Genetics, Evolutionary Biology Centre,Uppsala University, Norbyvägen 18 D, 752 36 Uppsala, Sweden

Donald C. Franklin Charles Darwin University, Ellengowan Drive, Casuarina, DarwinNT, Australia 0909

Poppy Lakeman Fraser Imperial College London, Silwood Park Campus, Ascot SL5 7PY,UK

Josie A. Galbraith Centre for Biodiversity and Biosecurity School of Biological Sciences,Tâmaki Campus, The University of Auckland Private Bag, 92019, Auckland Mail Centre,Auckland 1142, New Zealand

Rachael V. Gallagher Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, NorthRyde, NSW 2109, Australia

Stephen T. Garnett Charles Darwin University, Ellengowan Drive, Casuarina, DarwinNT, Australia 0909

Dean Gilligan Fisheries and Ecosystems Research, Industry & Investment NSW, Level 1Braysyth Building, Cnr Beach Rd & Orient St, P.O. Box 17, Batemans Bay NSW 2536,Australia

Michael Gillings Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney,NSW 2109, Australia

Al S. Glen Landcare Research P.O. Box 6904, Lincoln 7640, New Zealand

Alana Grech Department of Environment and Geography, Macquarie University,Building E7A Room 602 & 603, Herring Road, North Ryde, NSW 2109, Australia

Robert Harcourt Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, MacquarieUniversity, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia

D. Harley Threatened Species Biologist, Healesville Sanctuary, P.O. Box 248, Healesville,Victoria 3777, Australia

Peter. S. Harlow Herpetofauna Division, Taronga Conservation Society Australia,Mosman, NSW 2088, Australia

Catherine A. Herbert Faculty of Veterinary Science, The University of Sydney,Camperdown, New South Wales 2006, Australia

Jean-Marc Hero Environmental Futures Research Institute, School of Environment,Griffith University, Gold Coast Campus, QLD 4222, Australia

RodHitchmoughDepartment of Conservation – Te Papa Atawhai, National Office, P.O.Box 10 420, New Zealand

viii List of contributors

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Marc Hockings School of Geography Planning and Environmental Management,University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia

Gregory I. Holwell School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland, Private Bag92019, Auckland 1142, New Zealand

Grant C. Hose Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, NSW 2109,Australia

Conrad J. Hoskin School of Marine & Tropical Biology, James Cook University,Townsville, Queensland 4811, Australia

Lesley Hughes Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, North Ryde,NSW 2109, Australia

William F. Humphreys Western Australian Museum, Locked Bag 49, Welshpool DC,Western Australia 6986, Australia

Vanessa Flora Jaiteh Centre for Fish, Fisheries and Aquatic Ecosystems Research/AsiaResearch Centre, Murdoch University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia and LembagaIlmu Penelitian Indonesia (LIPI), Ambon, Indonesia

Mike Joy Institute of Agriculture & Environment, College of Sciences, MasseyUniversity, Private Bag 11 222, Palmerston North 4442, New Zealand

Cheryl R. Krull Centre for Biodiversity and Biosecurity School of Biological Sciences,Tâmaki Campus, The University of Auckland Private Bag, 92019, Auckland Mail Centre,Auckland 1142, New Zealand

Daphne E. LeeDepartment of Geology, University of Otago, P.O. Box 56, Dunedin, NewZealand

WilliamG. Lee Landcare Research, Private Bag 1930, Dunedin, New Zealand and Schoolof Biological Sciences, University of Auckland 1010, New Zealand

Sarah Legge Suite 5, 280 Hay St, Subiaco, Western Australia 6008

C.A. LehnebachMuseum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, 55 Cable Street, P.O. Box467, Wellington 6011, New Zealand

Michelle R. Leishman Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, NorthRyde, NSW 2109, Australia

David B. Lindenmayer The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200,Australia

Katrin Lowe Environmental Futures Research Institute, School of Environment, GriffithUniversity, Gold Coast Campus, QLD 4222, Australia

Helene Marsh School of Earth and Environmental Science, James Cook University,Townsville, Qld 4811, Australia

Kate G. McAlpine Department of Conservation – Te Papa Atawhai, 18–32 MannersStreet, P.O. Box 10–420, Wellington, New Zealand

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Paolo Momigliano Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney,New South Wales, Australia

Jo M. Monks Department of Conservation – Te Papa Atawhai, Private Bag 4715,Christchurch 8140, New Zealand

Edward J. Narayan Environmental Futures Research Institute, School of Environment,Griffith University, Gold Coast Campus, QLD 4222, Australia

HelenW. Nathan Centre for Biodiversity and Biosecurity School of Biological Sciences,Tâmaki Campus, The University of Auckland Private Bag, 92019, Auckland Mail Centre,Auckland 1142, New Zealand

Nicola J. Nelson Allan Wilson Centre for Molecular Ecology and Evolution, School ofBiological Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, P.O. Box 600, Wellington 6140,New Zealand

David A. Nipperess Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney,NSW 2109, Australia

Mike Noad Cetacean Ecology and Acoustics Laboratory, School of Veterinary Science,University of Queensland, Qld 4343, Australia

Thalie B. Partridge Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Northern Territory 0909,Australia

Benjamin L. Phillips Centre for Tropical Biodiversity and Climate Change, School ofMarine and Tropical Biology, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4810, Australia

D.A. Pike School of Marine and Tropical Biology and Centre for TropicalEnvironmental & Sustainability Science, James Cook University, Queensland 4811,Australia

Robert L. Pressey Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral ReefStudies, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4811, Australia

J. Dale Roberts School of Animal Biology, Centre for Evolutionary Biology, and, Centreof Excellence in Natural Resource Management, University of Western Australia, P.O.Box 5771, Albany WA 6330, Australia

Maurizio Rossetto National Herbarium of NSW, Mrs Macquaries Road, Sydney, NSW2000, Australia

Nick Shears LeighMarine Laboratory, University of Auckland, PO Box 349,Warkworth,New Zealand

Richard Shine School of Biological Sciences A08, University of Sydney, NSW 2006,Australia

David Slip Taronga Conservation Society, Bradley’s Head Road, Mosman, NSW 2088,Australia

Conrad Speed ScienceDivision, Department of Environment andConservation,MarineScience Program, Kensington, Western Australia, Australia

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Margaret C. Stanley Centre for Biodiversity and Biosecurity School of BiologicalSciences, Tâmaki Campus, The University of Auckland Private Bag, 92019, AucklandMail Centre, Auckland 1142, New Zealand

AdamStowDepartment of Biology,Macquarie University, Ryde, Sydney, Australia 2109

Judit K. Szabo Charles Darwin University, Ellengowan Drive, Casuarina, Darwin NT,Australia 0909

Martin Taylor Protected Areas and Conservation Science Manager, WWF-Australia, 1/17 Burnett Lane, Brisbane 4000, Australia

Hannah Thomas Leigh Marine Laboratory, University of Auckland, PO Box 349,Warkworth, Auckland

Darren F. Ward New Zealand Arthropod Collection, Landcare Research, Private Bag92170, Auckland, New Zealand

Trevor Ward University of Tasmania, Private Bag 49, Hoabrt TAS 7001, NubeenaCrescent, Taroona Sandy Bay, Australia

Jonathan K. Webb School of the Environment, University of Technology Sydney, POBox 123, Broadway NSW 2007, Australia

SarahWithers School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019,Auckland 1142, New Zealand

John C.Z. Woinarski Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Northern Territory 0909,Australia

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FOREWORDAustralian and New Zealand can be thought of as arks. For tens of millions of years theyhave drifted, isolated, across the surface of the Earth, carrying unique plants and ani-mals. Indeed it is the isolation of their wildlife that gives these southern lands theiruniqueness, and as well as inherent vulnerability. Long isolated, many of their creaturesare naive to the defences, competitive techniques or hunting tactics of wildlife intro-duced from elsewhere. Sadly, it’s clear thatmuch of thewildlife of these southern lands isin crisis. As the new epoch dominated by human destruction, the anthropocene, contin-ues to bite, both solutions and action are needed to slow down the damage.The issues facing wildlife on the lands and surrounding waters of Australia and New

Zealand are immense, and while it’s impossible to cover all threats in a single book, theeditors have selected comment from leading researchers on key threats including intro-duced plants and animals, pollution, habitat fragmentation and climate change. Toevaluate these threats, and prioritise our response to them, we need up to date informa-tion on areas currently protected from human activity and the conservation status ofparticular groups.Austral Ark serves this purpose and one can hope that this informationwill raise awareness, inspire action and, perhaps with excessive optimism, that thesedescriptions on the state of the wildlife will provide a reference point in the future thatshows how bad things were in the early twentyfirst century.

Professor Tim Flannery

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INTRODUCTIONBoth Australia and New Zealand are countries blessed with an extraordinary diversity offascinating animals and plants, and the biodiversity of our region is a major source ofpleasure to residents and visiting tourists alike. However, all is not well with our wildlifeand conservation of our precious native species is proving to be an increasingly uphillstruggle. Although most people realise that past major extinction events have been acharacteristic of the history of life on planet Earth, such as those of the Permian era some250million years ago (MYA), and the end of the Cretaceous (65MYA), whichmarked thedemise of the dinosaurs. However, the notion that we are now living amidst a current‘great extinction’ may come as a surprise to many. There is one important respect inwhich the present great extinction differs from the preceding ones, namely that most ofthe available evidence suggests that it is anthropogenic in origin; it is ‘manmade’. Even ifwe already accept this picture of a current man made extinction event, there is atendency to assume that it is mainly happening elsewhere.This book is an attempt to take stock of the state of wildlife in Australia and New

Zealand, and to draw attention to the severity of the numerous species declines andextinctions. However, a wake-up call is all very well, but without careful documenta-tion of the present state of play, it is easy for us all to remain complacent. There is noway in which one or two people (in our case three) can assemble this kind of informa-tion on their own: the knowledge required is just too detailed. So we, the co-editors,have sought out those people who have the necessary expertise, and persuaded themtowrite the chapters of this book. It is ameasure of their concern for the biodiversity ofthe region that these authors have taken the time and trouble to do so.The choice to make two separate countries the target for this wildlife audit perhaps

needs some justification. The slow drift of tectonic plates has separated Australia andNew Zealand and surrounded each by large expanses of ocean, and consequently,through the process of evolution,wildlife has diverged to become exceptionally differentby world standards (see Chapters 1 and 2). Australia and New Zealand have manyhistorical and contemporary environmental differences, which over time have givenrise to each land mass possessing a strikingly different wildlife, and this allows forinteresting contrasts. Nonetheless, there are many commonalities in the wildlife, andfor fauna at least New Zealand and Australia can be grouped together into their ownexclusive zoogeographic region (Holt et al., 2013).There are alsomany conservation issues that are shared by Australia and New Zealand.

This is likely to reflect the similar timing of European colonisation in both countries. As aresult, both areas have been subject to recent and major environmental changes, andhigh rates of extinction, despite population sizes and densities of both countries beingamong the lowest anywhere. In Australia the average number of people per squarekilometre is 2 to 3, and 15 in New Zealand, compared with 243 in the UnitedKingdom. In some ways, the long-term isolation that shaped the unique assemblage oforganisms in the region has also rendered the wildlife naive, and more vulnerable toinvaders. In the arid interior of Australia, it can be especially haunting when, manyhundreds of kilometres from the nearest person, there are still tell tale signs of animalsrecently lost from this expansive and seemingly untouched environment. In essence it’sa case of ‘out of sight’ and ‘out of mind’. Being island nations there are extensive coast

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lines, and the central highlands of New Zealand, and arid interior of Australia, haveresulted in the highest concentrations of people being on the coasts. However, themarine environment by its very nature is subject to the same issue of being largely outof sight for the majority of people. Nevertheless, some relatively pristine examples oftemperate coastal ecosystems are preserved, especially in New Zealand on its many smallislands. In Australia, there is a very extensive coastline and approximately 5000 km is inthe tropics, which unlike many tropical regions elsewhere, has very few people andastounding diversity represented in features such as coral reefs. There is an impressivelyunique wildlife in the Australian and New Zealand region, a fact that for the most part iswidely appreciated. The extent to which this is in peril is generally less appreciated.There is also cause for optimism. This book highlights many examples of conservation

success, and the people actively engaged in researching our threatened species andhabitats, and informingmanagement decisions, are well-represented among the authorsof the following chapters. In this sense, Austral Ark represents a unique synthesis of thework and views of Australia andNew Zealand’s leading conservation biologists. Australiarepresents perhaps the most diverse landscape managed by a single government, span-ning the tropics and deserts through to sub-antarctic and Antarctic territories. NewZealand is also ecologically diverse and nearly 30% of the country is under some degreeof protection and under public ownership. Thus the potential for optimistic planning forthe future of the region’s remarkable species is great.By considering the causes of extinctions and declines such as climate change, overf-

ishing, pollution, invasive species and habitat loss, together with other chapters devotedto specific faunal and floral groups, we have endeavoured to make the book reasonablycomprehensive without letting it become too large or too expensive. The book thereforeendeavours to tell a story as well as to organise and detail the evidence and relevant casehistories. In addition to considering the history of our wildlife in the two countries anddiscussing the present state of play, we also try to indicate, where possible, what thefuture of our wildlife is likely to be over the next half century or so (that is within thelifetime of many of our readers) and what new measures could be introduced to helpremedy the situation.

REFERENCES

Holt, B.G., Lessard, J. P., Borregaard, M.K., et al. (2013). An update of Wallace’sZoogeographic Regions of the World, Science, 339 (6115), pp. 74–78. doi:10.1126/science.1228282.

xvi Introduction