Bird activity in oil mallee plantings in the wheatbelt of Western Australia

摘要

Oil mallee farming systems are a new rural enterprise producing biomass for energy, industrial oils and activated charcoal (Bell et al. 2001). About 10,000 Ha of oil mallees have been planted in Western Australia alone over the last decade and the potential for plantations within south-western Australia is thought to be in excess of one million hectares (Bartle et al. 2007) (around 5% of the area currently under annual crop and livestock systems). Although oil mallees are planted for mainly commercial reasons (Smith 2008) they do have some habitat values (Smith 2009) and could make a contribution to the conservation of some species in agricultural landscapes.rnThis work, part of a large project assessing the biodiversity benefits of oil mallee farming systems, investigated the dynamics of bird activity in oil mallees planted adjacent to remnant vegetation over the course of a year, examining which bird species visited the mallees and their activities within the plantations.