Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2023L00858:body:0:p19
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2023L00858
Segment Type: other
Provision Reference: 
Character Range: 51085–54091

birds after direct human destruction and alteration of habitats (Olsen et al. 2005). Too frequent fire may contribute to Black-breasted Button-quail decline through: increased weed invasion following fire; loss of woody debris; reduction in leaf litter; and decline in invertebrate abundance (Spencer & Baxter 2006). By opening the understorey, fire can increase the risk of predation by cats and foxes (Hradsky 2020). Several fires in close succession can also prevent plants and animals from returning to an area (particularly in fragmented landscapes), and prevent soil seed set (Wilson & Bignall 2009).

Many of the dry rainforest type habitats of Black-breasted Button-quail do not have a capacity to regenerate after fire and only survive because of a lack of fire. This is not the same for the littoral habitats which are dominated by sclerophyll vegetation which experience regular fire such as in the Great Sandy region.

Fires in vegetation surrounding adjoining habitat could have significant impacts if not managed and wildfire incursions into preferred habitat could damage remnants irretrievably. Frequent fires, coupled with consistent heavy grazing, is also likely to further degrade grass and shrub understorey.

Black-breasted Button-quail within Palmgrove and Scenic Rim KBAs were impacted by the 2019/2020 fires. However, current information on AOO and population size are too inadequate to allow a robust analysis of the impacts of these fires (Todd & Maurer 2020). Similarly, 87,000 hectares (more than 50%) of K'gari (Fraser Island) was burnt in late 2020 (Queensland Government 2021). Black-breasted Button-quail is distributed along the east coast of K'gari inland to about 1 km. Observations by researchers in August 2021 confirmed that only a small portion of previously occupied habitat along the coast or in K'gari was burnt (P Webster pers. comm. October 2021).

Increased frequency and/or length of droughts

Drought exposes and dries out leaf litter and increases the likelihood of high-severity fire. Climate change models predict increasingly frequent and more severe drought events in South East Queensland (Evans et al. 2017). This may negatively affect small patches and strips of Black-breasted Button-quail habitat, which may disappear or decline in quality due to water stress and possible increased frequency and severity of fire events. A history of Black-breasted Button-quail in the Fitzroy basin indicates that long-lasting drought and cattle stocking led to the disappearance of the species from the region (Flower et al. 1995).

It is not fully known how these weather events, or their cumulative effects, will affect the Black-breasted Button-quail's survival and reproduction.

Ongoing impacts of historical habitat loss caused by clearing for agriculture

The main threats to bird survival in agricultural areas is habitat loss caused by clearing of native vegetation, and subsequent degradation of the remnants (Stevens 2001). Since European settlement,