Bird distribution and extinction

Map 1:

Map 2:

Map 3:

Map 1 shows a reconstruction of the patterning of landbird species’ distributions in the south-west forests of WA as they were in 1829. Note that the drier northern and eastern forests (jarrah and wandoo) have the highest diversity of landbird species.

Map 2 shows a reconstruction of the patterning of waterbird species’ distributions in the south-west forests of WA as they were in 1829. Note that wetlands in the south-eastern forests (jarrah and wandoo) have the highest diversity of waterbird species.

Map 3 shows where populations of birds have become extinct in WA since its settlement by Europeans in the nineteenth century.

Further information

Abbott, I. 1997. Extinctions in Western Australia. Landscope 12 (3): 49-53. (PDF 567 KB)

Abbott, I. 1999. The avifauna of the forests of south-west Western Australia: Changes in species composition, distribution, and abundance following anthropogenic disturbance.  CALMScience Supplement No. 5: 1-175. Corrigenda. Conservation Science Western Australia 5: 136 (2004).