Protocols for the inventory and monitoring of populations of the endangered Australasian bittern

Colin DOC Technical Series Latest publication March 2015 38. (Botaurus poiciloptilus) in New Zealand. C. O’Donnell and E. Williams 2015. DOC Technical Series 38. 40 p. (PDF, 4,143K (opens in new window)) Summary: There is an urgent need for conservation managers to undertake inventory and monitoring programmes for the endangered Australasian bittern (Botaurus poiciloptilus; matuku) in New Zealand. Such programmes can be used to determine the distribution and relative abundance of Australasian bitterns nationally; identify significant habitats, sites and populations to enable their protection and implement conservation management; measure the response and effectiveness of management practices; and measure the health of wetlands. This report describes four protocols for the inventory and monitoring of Australasian bitterns, and also provides a guide to choosing the most appropriate method for a particular objective. The protocols build on previous methods that have been developed in other countries, testing and adapting them for New Zealand conditions, and extending them through the use of automatic recording approaches, which allow efficient sampling in remote and inaccessible locations. The protocols represent current ‘best practice’, but further refinements will likely be made in the future.