New metrics to track fauna community condition in Australia (2024-2027)
Abstract
This project aims to improve how biodiversity is measured by developing a system to describe the condition of animal communities, analogous to those used for plant communities. It develops and tests the system for Australia¿s birds, then extends the approach to other animal groups. The project expects to develop a data-driven typology of bird communities, accompanying community condition metrics that are scalable from site to national levels, and practical guidance for using these metrics in practice. These metrics will enable more holistic measures of the biodiversity value of sites, improve evaluation of restoration actions, and reveal trends in community condition, as well as providing tools for emerging biodiversity markets.
