SYDNEY, Dec. 15 (Xinhua) -- Australia's waterbird population made a partial return after last year's steep drop, but numbers remain well below historic levels, one of the world's longest-running wildlife surveys showed Monday.
Researchers in Australia conducting the annual waterbird survey counted 375,419 birds across a third of the continent this year, up from 287,231 in 2024 but far short of 579,641 in 2023, without major mortality events recorded, said a media release from Australia's University of New South Wales (UNSW).
This year ranks as the 12th highest for total bird numbers since the survey began in 1983, and the data show the broader picture remains troubling, even as occasional flood years bring temporary gains, according to the survey led by UNSW's Center for Ecosystem Science with the NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water and other state agencies.
"The total abundance of waterbirds, the number of species breeding and wetland habitat areas continue to show significant long-term decline," said Professor Richard Kingsford, director of UNSW's Center for Ecosystem Science, who led the survey program.
The survey, covering around 2,000 wetlands from northern Queensland to southern Victoria, found that just 10 wetlands supported 59 percent of all birds counted, while 44 percent of surveyed sites had none.
Breeding activity was still well below the long-term average and heavily concentrated at just a few sites in the state of Queensland's Channel Country, it said.
Wetland habitat area is a major driver of waterbird abundance, breeding and diversity, the survey said, adding climate change, river regulation and water extraction have resulted in ongoing long-term habitat declines.
The survey results capture a country experiencing more volatile and unpredictable weather as global temperatures climb, the release said. ■
