The Impact of Ski Resort Disturbance on Bird Species Distribution in Kosciuszko National Park

Abstract

As alpine tourism expands, the disturbance of natural habitat creates substantial changes in the composition of vegetation communities and their dependent bird populations. This investigation was conducted to determine if ski resorts are negatively impacting bird species abundance and distribution within Kosciuszko National Park. Species presence was measured along six 2km transects from highly disturbed ski resorts out to less disturbed habitat. Birds were categorized by known species weight, feeding preferences and habitat choice simplified to Boolean classes (large > 100g < small) and generalist category; combined sum of suitable food and habitat types (generalist > 4 < specialist). The conclusions of the study found that total bird abundance and species richness was higher in close proximity to ski resorts and that both generalist and larger bird species were favoured in high disturbance locations. This could imply that small specialist species are the most susceptible to the effects of environmental disturbance caused by ski resorts. Future studies may consider the negative impact that ski resort disturbance has on small specialist bird species and may include the impacts of indirect disturbances such as dieback events and global warming induced habitat fragmentation.