Sep. 12, 2007 New research showing that dog-walking in bushland
significantly reduces bird diversity and abundance will lend
support to bans against the practice in sensitive bushland and
conservation areas. Until now, arguments and debate about the
ecological impacts of dog-walking have remained subjective and
unresolved because experimental evidence has been lacking. But
the first clear evidence that birds perceive dogs as predators
and avoid dog-walking areas was recently published in Biology
Letters, reporting research by UNSW biologist Peter Banks. "We
found in field studies that dog-walking in bushland causes a 35
percent reduction in bird diversity -- the number of species --
and a 41 percent reduction in abundance -- the number of
individual birds in an area," says Dr Banks. "The effect occurs
even in areas where dog-walking is common and where they are
prohibited, indicating that birds don't become accustomed to
continued disturbance by dogs. "This evidence clearly supports
the long term prohibition