CRC REEF STUDENT FLIES TO INTERNATIONAL SEABIRD CONFERENCE

3 April 2003

CRC Reef postgraduate student Ms Anna Lashko from James Cook University will leave Townsville on Saturday to represent Australia at the 9th International Roseate Tern Workshop being held in Wexford, in Southern Ireland.

As part of CRC Reef Research Centre’s Conserving Biodiversity project, Ms Lashko is heading an investigation to understand the population dynamics of roseate terns within Australia.

Ms Lashko describes roseate terns as smaller then a common seagull and much more elegant. They live on offshore islands around the world, including cays on the Great Barrier Reef, and when breeding, have red legs and bill, a black cap, and a rosy coloured hue on their breast.

At the International workshop, Ms Lashko will discuss some of the results arising from her DNA research that she has been developing over the last three years that will help her to identify the origins of roseate terns residing in Australia. She is trying to determine the extent of roseate tern migration from East Asia to the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.

The process of identifying whether roseate terns populations in Australia are coming from one or multiple breeding places, such as Japan, involves taking blood samples from the birds, extracting DNA and using modern genetic methods to determine part of the DNA sequence of each bird.

The results of Ms Lashko’s research will help reveal the role that Australia, and the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area play in the global conservation of this species.

According to Ms Lashko, “Australia has an international obligation under the Japan-Australia Migratory Bird Agreement (JAMBA), to maintain habitat and minimise human impacts for the conservation of roseate terns.

“The genetic information I am obtaining will assist in the development of management strategies for the long-term sustainability of roseate terns populations within the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and help provide a viable refuge for migrating populations,” said Ms Lashko.

“This species of seabird is threatened in many parts of the world, and numbers are declining globally. Australia is believed to have the largest and most stable population of roseate terns in the world,” said Ms Lashko.

The 9th International Roseate Tern Workshop is organised by Birdwatch Ireland and Duchas. The workshop is held every two years in different countries around the world.

For more information contact:

Media Liaison at CRC Reef on 07 4729 8400 or 0408884521

Ms Anna Lasko, James Cook University, 07 4781 6939 or email Anna.Lashko@jcu.edu.au