Pacific Rim Conservation

News and Opportunities in Conservation

2 Kauai birds listed as endangered

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Akikiki. Photo by Eric VanderWerf

Two bird species endemic to Kauai, the `Akikiki or Kaua`i Creeper and the `Akeke`e or Kaua`i `Akepa were recently listed as endangered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.  To see a press release and the final listing rule, go to http://www.fws.gov/pacificislands/kauai48species.html.

Eric petitioned the Service to list these species in October 2007, and he enlisted aid of the American Bird Conservancy to help promote the petition and the plight of these imperiled birds.  A copy of the petition can be found on the Pacific Rim Conservation website, under Publications and Reports, number 53.

Akekee male. Photo by Eric VanderWerf

The `Akikiki and `Akeke`e were listed as part of a package that included 48 species on Kaua`i.  The Service took a while to finalize the listing, longer than legally allowed, but it is good to finally see them get appropriate legal protection.

However, simply listing these species as endangered will not lead to their recovery.  Conserving these species will require long-term commitments to protecting their habitat from invasive alien plants and animals, and further investigating the causes of their decline.

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Insects, soil and the marine intertidal habitat surveyed at Kaena Point

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As part of the ongoing monitoring to measure what the effects will be of predator removal on the ecosystem at Kaena Point Natural Area Reserve, Pacific Rim Conservation in collaboration with the Hawaii Department of

Yellow faced bee on an Ohai flower. Photo by Pat Aldrich

Land and Natural Resources and the US Fish and Wildlife Service Coastal Program, conducted an intensive three day long biological survey in March as part of the Kaena Point Ecosystem Restoration Project. Insects were collected and identified from points throughout the reserve to document whether the removal of rats will cause changes in proportions of native insects, such as yellow faced bees, and non-native insects, such as ants. Small soil samples were also collected to determine whether increases in seabird numbers will impact the nutrients in the soils and the marine intertidal habitat was surveyed to document whether rats are having an impact on marine invertebrates, such as opihi. Previous surveys have already been done on the plants and birds at Kaena to look at similar questions. Overall, the removal of non-native predators, such as rats, mongoose and cats are expected to have a large benefit to the native species found at Kaena Point.

2010 Island Invasives Conference in New Zealand

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Tawharanui predator proof fence

PRC recently returned from presenting at the Island Invasives Conference in Auckland, New Zealand in February 2010. The focus of the conference was on the ecological, social and economic impacts of invasive species on island ecosystems with a focus on techniques used to remove invasive species from island ecosystems. As part of the conference, we visited various predator-proof fences throughout New Zealand as well as several offshore island predator-free sanctuaries to learn more about the techniques used in New Zealand and how we can apply them in Hawaii.

Plastic Ingestion Rates of Laysan Albatross on Oahu and Kure Atoll

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The recent paper by Lindsay and her co-authors on the foraging patterns and plastic ingestion rates of Laysan albatross on Oahu and Kure Atoll (pdf 67) was written up by multiple media outlets including the Discovery Channel (http://news.discovery.com/animals/albatross-plastic-garbage-patch.html), scientific American (http://www.scientificamerican.com/post.cfm?id=plastic-plastic-everywhere-nor-any-2009-10-27) and a radio interview on national public radio (http://www.cbc.ca/quirks/archives/09-10/qq-2009-11-07.html). We found that by following birds at sea with miniaturized tracking devices and analyzing their stomach contents, that birds from Kure Atoll in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands ingested ten times the amount of plastic compared to birds on Oahu, primarily because birds from Kure spent more time over Asian waters which contained more plastic.

North Pacific Correspondent for ACAP

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Lindsay was recently invited to be the North Pacific Correspondent for ACAP, the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, which is an international treaty signed by 13 member countries. Lindsay provides several stories per month to the organization on issues related to North Pacific albatrosses. For more information visit www.acap.aq

Kaena Point ecosystem restoration

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The Kaena Point ecosystem restoration project is now in the final permitting stages and construction is scheduled to begin in Spring 2010 after a three year planning period. This project has received local, as well as national attention in numerous news pieces and will result in the construction of the first predator proof fence not only in Hawaii, but in the US.