Understanding nest site selection is critical to developing effective conservation management actions. The Superb Lyrebird (Menura novaehollandiae) is one of many endemic species extensively impacted by Australia’s unprecedented 2019–2020 megafires. Over a period of 5 months, an estimated 43% of the entire range of this slow-breeding species was burnt, with the biggest impact on the central subspecies M. n. novaehollandiae (55%). Four months prior to these megafires, we conducted a field study of nest site habitat selection in the Superb Lyrebird within the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area (15,400 km 2): a key stronghold of the central subspecies of the Superb Lyrebird. We found that at the local scale, lyrebird nest sites were more likely to be found in habitats characterized by dense canopy trees and rich in rainforest elements such as vines and treeferns. At the landscape scale, lyrebird nests were most likely to be constructed in rainforest; this fire-sensitive habitat type made up only 1% of the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area. The probability of nest occurrence also increased with slope. We also found that >74% of all nesting habitat within the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area burned in the 2019–2020 megafires, including 80% of areas of high suitability for nesting. These results suggest that the impact of these megafires on Superb Lyrebirds may be greater than currently thought. Given the importance of rainforest as nesting habitat for the superb lyrebird, managers should prioritize its restoration and protect it from future fire events. More broadly, our results illustrate how large-scale catastrophic events—such as megafires—can disproportionately affect habitats critical to specific points within an organism’s life cycle.

中文翻译：

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缓慢繁殖的超级琴鸟的首选筑巢栖息地非常罕见，并且在世界遗产区内受到澳大利亚“黑夏”特大火灾（2019-2020）的严重影响

了解巢穴地点选择对于制定有效的保护管理行动至关重要。绝妙琴鸟 (Menura novaehollandiae) 是受到澳大利亚 2019-2020 年史无前例的特大火灾广泛影响的众多特有物种之一。在 5 个月的时间里，这种繁殖缓慢的物种的整个分布范围估计有 43% 被烧毁，其中对中心亚种 M. n. 影响最大。Novaehollandiae (55%)。在这些特大火灾发生前四个月，我们对大蓝山世界遗产区（15,400 km 2）内的超级琴鸟巢穴栖息地选择进行了实地研究：该地区是超级琴鸟中心亚种的重要据点。我们发现，在局部范围内，琴鸟的巢穴更有可能出现在树冠茂密且富含藤蔓和树蕨等雨林元素的栖息地。从景观尺度来看，琴鸟的巢最有可能建在雨林中；这种对火灾敏感的栖息地类型仅占大蓝山世界遗产区的 1%。巢穴出现的概率也随着坡度的增加而增加。我们还发现，大蓝山世界遗产区内超过 74% 的筑巢栖息地在 2019 年至 2020 年的特大火灾中被烧毁，其中包括 80% 非常适合筑巢的区域。这些结果表明，这些特大火灾对超级琴鸟的影响可能比目前想象的还要大。鉴于雨林作为优秀琴鸟筑巢栖息地的重要性，管理人员应优先考虑其修复并保护其免受未来火灾事件的影响。更广泛地说，我们的结果说明了大规模灾难性事件（例如特大火灾）如何对生物体生命周期中特定点至关重要的栖息地产生不成比例的影响。