Ashmore Reef (Australia) - BirdLife IBA factsheet

Ashmore Reef

Current view: Data table and detailed info

IBA Justification

The site was identified as important in 2009 because it was regularly supporting significant populations of the species listed below, meeting ('triggering') IBA criteria.

Populations meeting IBA criteria ('trigger species') at the site:

Species	Red List¹	Season	Year(s)	Size	IBA criteria
Lesser Frigatebird Fregata ariel	LC	resident	2001-2006	2,300 individuals	A4ii
Brown Booby Sula leucogaster	LC	resident	2001-2006	4,800 individuals	A4ii
Grey-tailed Tattler Tringa brevipes	LC	non-breeding	1998-2006	85-1,706 individuals	A4i

1. The current IUCN Red List category. The category at the time of the IBA criteria assessment (2009) may differ.

IBA Conservation

Ideally the conservation status of the IBA will have been checked regularly since the site was first identified in 2009. The most recent assessment (2008) is shown below.

IBA conservation assessment
Year of assessment	State	Pressure	Response
2008	not assessed	high	not assessed
Whole site assessed?	State assessed by	Accuracy of information
yes	unset	good

Pressure (threats to the trigger species and/or their habitats)
Threat	Timing	Scope	Severity	Result
Invasive and other problematic species and genes	happening now	majority/most of area/population (50-90%)	slow but significant deterioration	high
Human intrusions and disturbance	happening now	majority/most of area/population (50-90%)	slow but significant deterioration	high
Climate change and severe weather	likely in long term (beyond 4 years)	whole area/population (>90%)	slow but significant deterioration	medium

Response (conservation actions taken for the trigger species and/or their habitats)
Protected areas	Management plan	Other action	Result
Not assessed	Not assessed	Not assessed	not assessed

IBA Protection

Year	Protected Area	Designation	% overlap with IBA
1983	Ashmore Reef	National Nature Reserve	100
2002	Ashmore Reef National Nature Reserve	Ramsar Site, Wetland of International Importance	100
2004	Ashmore Reef	Commonwealth Marine Reserve	94
2004	Ashmore Reef	Commonwealth Marine Reserve	6

Habitats

Habitat¹	Habitat detail	% of IBA
Marine Intertidal		major (>10)
Marine Neritic		major (>10)
Shrubland		minor (<10)

1. IUCN Habitat classification.

Land use

Land use	% of IBA
nature conservation and research	100

Land ownership

Federal Government - managed by Department of the Environment and Water Resources.

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Ashmore Reef (Australia). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/ashmore-reef-iba-australia on 23/11/2024.