In a powerful example of science and technology driving conservation, the EcoCommons team at QCIF has partnered with BirdLife Australia and the NSW Saving our Species Program, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, to aid the acoustic monitoring and recovery of the Eastern Bristlebird (Dasyornis brachypterus) — one of Australia’s most threatened birds.
The Eastern Bristlebird is a shy, ground-dwelling songbird of Australia’s coastal heathlands.
Its range has contracted to three isolated regions in south-eastern Australia: the northern population in southern Queensland and northern New South Wales (the focus of this collaboration); the central population across reserves including Barren Grounds, Budderoo, Woronora Plateau, Jervis Bay, Booderee, and Beecroft Peninsula; and the southern population spanning Nadgee and Croajingalong near the NSW–Victoria border. Across these fragmented areas, fewer than 2,000 individuals remain, occupying only about 120 square kilometres of habitat.
The northern population has been slowly recovering following a dramatic crash in 2003, when only eight birds were known to be alive. Thanks to careful habitat management and reintroductions from captive breeding program, numbers have increased steadily to around 50 in 2025. Despite this progress, these elusive birds continue to face serious threats from habitat loss, inappropriate fire regimes, grazing, and predation, which have fragmented their range and limited their recovery.
Harnessing the power of EcoCommons
To support the protection of the Eastern Bristlebird, the team leveraged the EcoCommons platform to model potential suitable habitat across the landscape. Using advanced species distribution modelling (SDM) techniques and a diverse range of environmental data, including vegetation condition, disturbance history, fire regimes, and topography, they created detailed habitat maps.
“It is like looking for a needle in a haystack — the Species Distribution Model will point us in the right direction for finding new existing populations and good habitat sites for translocation.”
Working closely with BirdLife Australia and the NSW Saving our Species Program, the team identified priority areas for deploying acoustic monitoring devices, focusing on un-surveyed or under-surveyed regions near known sites. The Queensland Department of Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation have also supported the project by providing WildNET records and are helping to fund acoustic monitor deployments throughout South-east Queensland.
Callan Alexander, Threatened Species Technical Coordinator at BirdLife Australia highlighted the value of EcoCommons in guiding monitoring efforts:
“A big question mark hangs over whether this species still survives in some of South-east Queensland’s most remote areas. These sites are incredibly hard to reach, leaving us struggling to know where best to concentrate search efforts. Now, thanks to the EcoCommons team, we can pinpoint previously unknown suitable habitats, allowing us to focus our monitoring and protection efforts where they matter most.”
This data-driven approach enables conservation teams to target efforts more efficiently, reducing field time while increasing the likelihood of detecting birds in previously unknown locations. It represents a crucial step toward finding new individuals and protecting remaining habitat patches.
Field teams are now deploying acoustic recorders at shortlisted sites to detect bristlebird calls and refine future conservation planning.
Dr Jenna Wraith, Head of Sustainable Futures and Principal Data Scientist (Ecological Modelling) at QCIF, emphasised the broader impact:
“Developing potential habitat suitability maps for the Eastern Bristlebird through a co-design process highlights the real-world impact of EcoCommons. This work strengthens conservation efforts for a threatened species while allowing the platform to validate and improve ecological models at high resolution.”
This collaboration demonstrates the power of open data, modelling, and cross-sector collaboration in tackling urgent conservation challenges.
Abhimanyu Raj Singh, Data Ecologist at QCIF, explained the importance of combining ecological modelling with field expertise.
“The Eastern Bristlebird, with its specialised habitat needs, posed unique challenges that inspired a tailored model. Input from Callan and Lauren refined predictions and identified key hotspots, helping ensure our models support real-world conservation of vulnerable wildlife through strong collaboration.”
Xiang Zhao, Conservation Scientist and R Developer at QCIF, reflected on the practical impact of this approach:
“I was lucky enough to be involved both in building models and in the field, seeing how Callan used model output to select sites for installing acoustic devices. This connection between modelling and fieldwork makes the models more practical and useful.”
Stay tuned as the field data returns, and we learn whether new Eastern Bristlebird territories have been discovered.
About EcoCommons
EcoCommons is a free, national platform supporting researchers and conservation practitioners to build species distribution models and apply ecological insights at scale. We welcome the broader community to join our 1,200+ users in advancing evidence-based conservation through accessible data, intuitive modelling tools, and collaborative workflows.
EcoCommons is a co-investment partnership with the Australian Research Data Commons (ARDC) through the Planet Research Data Commons (DOI: 10.3565/chbg-mr75). The ARDC is enabled by the Australian Government’s National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS).
References
OEH. (2012). National recovery plan for Eastern Bristlebird Dasyornis brachypterus.
Stone, Z. L., Tasker, E., & Maron, M. (2018). Grassy patch size and structure are important for northern Eastern Bristlebird persistence in a dynamic ecosystem. Emu-Austral Ornithology, 118(3), 269-280.
Stone, Z. L., Maron, M., & Tasker, E. (2022). Reduced fire frequency over three decades hastens loss of the grassy forest habitat of an endangered songbird. Biological Conservation, 270, 109570.
Churchill, T. B., Buch, W., Burwell, C. J., Cooper, S. S., Finlayson, S., Gurra, A., ... & Zadkovich, J. (2023). Bushfire Recovery 2020-2022: Priority Actions for Threatened Species in the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia World Heritage Area, South East Queensland. Department of Environment and Science.