CAIRNS BIRD TALK

'A future for the Fernwren – can this ancient species hang on in the face of changing landscape and climate?'

Presented by John Grant.

The Fernwren, endemic to the Wet Tropics of northeast Queensland, has recently been listed as endangered. This upgrade in conservation status was based on the steep decline in its population recorded by long-term monitoring studies, but little is known about the ecology of the Fernwren and why its continued existence is so threatened. Broader studies have indicated that the Fernwren is very vulnerable to habitat loss and fragmentation, yet no accounts of its basic biology have yet been published. Within its tiny global range the Fernwren is most typically found in upland and highland habitats and like other tropical montane species worldwide, considered at high risk from the impacts of climate change. As one of the celebrated ancient relict species of the Wet Tropics, its conservation is of high priority, but until we understand its needs better, our ability to manage for its benefit is very limited. 

My studies of the Fernwren have developed over the past twenty years, and I have been able to draw on my long-term fieldwork to gain some insights into its habitat use and population density as well as the roles of habitat fragmentation, isolation and reconnection in its persistence on the Atherton Tablelands.

For more information please contact the Cairns Area Coordinator Mikey Hidetoshi Kudo on 0402 343 610.