Endangered Species I have Known

1. Endangered Species I have Known Marbled Murrelet Mariana and Hawaiian Crows Hawaiian Hawk California Condor

2. Quality of Old Growth For Marbled Murrelets • Marbled Murrelet • Seabird that uses old growth for nesting • Needs nest structures • Needs protection from predators

3. Marbled Murrelet Study • Quantify Nest Predation and Behavior of Predators • 5-year cooperative study • all relevant stakeholders • 49 forested stands • 12 types defined by 3 factors • proximity to human activity • fragmentation • stand structure

4. Simulating Murrelet Nests • Ascend into canopy of suitable murrelet nest trees with ropes • Select suitable nest platform • place egg or chick • monitor a subsample with cameras

5. Artificial Nest Experiments • Eggs • 60 x 40 mm, painted, wax coated • Chicks • Blk/Yel chickens, gutted, borax • Motion Sensitive Transmitters • Check nests every 2 days

6. Potential Predators at Artificial Nests? • Video and still cameras (camera nests not used in analysis) • Calibrate photos with marks on wax coated eggs and chick transmitters

7. Cameras Confirm Diversity and Avian and Mammalian Predators in Canopy Chicks Eggs Steller’s Jay Crow Deer Mouse Gray Jay Gray Jay Deer Mouse Steller’s Jay N. Flying Squirrel N. Flying Sq. Douglas Sq. Jay Chipmunk Chickadee Woodpecker N = 28 N = 19

9. Research with Arboreal Rodents • Field Trials • Live Pigeon • Nestlings • Night Trials • Realistic • Captive Trials • Food Type • Food Size • Effect of Hunger R.A. Wood

10. Stand Complexity and Corvid Abundance • Diversity and abundance increase with canopy complexity • Due to strong association of Gray Jays with old, very complex forests • F(2,44) = 12.8, P < 0.001

11. Stand Complexity, Corvid Abundance and Predation 22 20 18 16 14 12 10 8 r2 = .45 Simple Far Contiguous Simple Far Fragmented Simple Near Contiguous Simple Near Fragmented Complex Far Contiguous Complex Far Fragmented Complex Near Contiguous Complex Near Fragmented Very Complex Far Fragmented Very Complex Far Contiguous Very Complex Near Fragmented Very Complex Near Contiguous P<0.001 Days Before Nests Preyed Upon 0 1 2 Number of Corvids per Point

12. Edge Effects are affected by landscape • Predation is slightly slower and independent of distance from the forested stand’s edge (P = 0.62) when the surrounding matrix is young forest • Predation is rapid and dependent on distance from the forest edge (P = 0.05) when the forest abuts a human use area (campground, small town, etc.)

13. Contiguous Young Forest Days to predation for eggs (the darker the color the lower the predation) Lowest Predation where landscape is not patchy, edges are between young forest and old growth, and forest patches are predominantly of a single type Interface Between Contiguous Old growth And young forest Days to predation = 8.04 – 8.16 landscape patch density at 5km + 1.10 landscape contrast weighted edge density at 2km – 10.31 Shannon-Weaver evenness index at 2km (R2 = 0.27)

14. One of the last of its breed

15. Decline of ‘Alala in the Wild Current Population: 3 0 Listed as Endangered (Priority 2) 1967

16. Strategies for Recovery • Identify and Remove Limiting Factors • Manipulate Wild and Captive Pairs for Maximum Population Growth • Restore Population to Historical Range

17. Survival of Released ‘Alala 7 Survivors Returned to Captivity

18. Mortality of Released ‘Alala (N=21 Deaths) Hawaiian Hawk Predation Toxoplasmosis Bacterial (Erysipelas) + Toxoplasmosis Unknown Fungal (Basidiomycete) + Toxoplasmosis Mongoose Predation + Toxoplasmosis

19. Conflicts Among Endangered Species

20. A Century of Change

21. Island Paradise?

22. Declines in Aga Listed as Endangered (Priority 2) 1984

23. Agents of Decline • Brown Tree Snake • Rats, Monitor Lizards, Drongos • Allee Effects • Environmental Stochasticity • typhoons • Infertility • Homesteading, Tourism

24. Ignoring Islands

25. Continued Extinction? ‘Alala Aga

26. Recovery • Outline of recovery actions needed within 60 days • Recovery Plans developed by Recovery Team for the Regional Manager • Prioritization of species (add C for conflict)

27. Annual Expenditures do Not Follow Priorities (Restani and Marzluff 2001)

28. Why Aren’t Priorities Followed? • Congressional earmarking • takes part of Service budget and stipulates it to be spent on particular species • Allure of sexy species • high visibility, good PR, good chance of recovery • Lawsuits • For sexy species with public appeal • Poor Coordination • Conservation of species in one part of its range may not offset conservation in less important region • Plans are not kept up to date • priorities may no longer be valid

29. Effect of Earmarking • 1994 • total recovery budget for usfws = 29.55 million • Earmarked portion was 10.392 million (35%) • Only 28% of the earmarks were for species ranked as 1 or 2 on the priority list • A few sexy big winners • Peregrine (900K) rank = 9 • Condor (600K) rank = 4C • Wolves (1.6 mill) rank =3-5C • Manatee (500K) rank = 5C • Spotted Owls (2.35 mil) rank = 9C

30. Wide-ranging Species Benefit From Not Following Priorities

31. Things are Different Down Under (Endangered Birds in Australia; Garnett et al. 2003)

32. Status Of The California Condor And Efforts To Achieve Its Recovery Photo by Sue Haig A report from the AOU Committee on Conservation, California Condor Blue Ribbon Panel (subcommittee) A Joint Initiative of The AOU and Audubon California Funded by The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and private donors Panel Members: Jeffrey Walters (chair), Scott Derrickson, Michael Fry, Susan Haig, John Marzluff, Joseph Wunderle Assisted By: Brock Bernstein, Karen Velas

33. Pre-assessment, Site Visits, Interviews, Literature, Comments Los Angeles Zoo, San Diego Wild Animal Park, The Peregrine Fund World Center For Birds of Prey (Boise), Oregon Zoo Hopper Mountain and Bitter Creek National Wildlife Refuges, Vermillion Cliffs (Arizona, TPF), Big Sur (Ventana Wildlife Society) and Pinnacles National Monument Bob Risebrough, Chris Barr, Joseph Brandt, Diane Elam, Jesse Grantham, Paul Henson, Michaela Koenig, Marge Kolar, Ken McDermond, Ivett Plascencia, Richard Posey, Mike Stockton, Marc Weitzel, Ed Lorentzen, Ron Jurek, Dale Steele, Art Gaffrey, Kathy Sullivan, Tom Cade, Eddie Feltes, Bill Heinrich, Grainger Hunt, Peter Jenny, Lindsay Oaks, Chris Parish, Cal Sandfort, Randy Townsend, Rick Watson, Joseph Burnett, Kelly Sorenson, Jim Petterson, Scott Scherbinski, Alacia Welch, Don Janssen, Mike Mace, David Remlinger, Bruce Rideout, Don Sterner, Mike Wallace, Mike Clark, Cathleen Cox, Chandra Davis, Leah Greer, Curtis Ing, Susie Kasielke, John Lewis, Janna Wynn, Estelle Sandhaus, Jane Heartline, David Shepardson, Shawn St. Michael, David Moen, Tony Vechio, Mike Best, Bob Stine, Don Geivet, Steve Thompson, Noel Snyder, Cynthia Stringfield, Kathy Ralls, Lloyd Kiff, Allan Mee, Keith Day, Jim Parrish, Nancy Sandburg, Steve Ferry, Don Smith, Eduardo Peters, Michael Moore, Brian Sharp, Tice Supplee, Dave Clendenen, Jan Hamber, Bill Toone

34. The Condor Recovery Program Has Reached A Crossroads Figure from Wallace et al. 2007 California Condor Master Plan The program is caught between the financial and logistical pressures required to maintain an increasing number of condors in the wild and the environmental problems that preclude establishment of naturally sustainable, free-ranging populations • Captive breeding and release has brought the condor from 22 birds and extirpation from the wild to 300+ birds and 150+ wild birds in two decades • 4 breeding facilities • Releases southern and central California, Arizona, Baja in Mexico • Condors survive in the wild only through constant and costly human assistance and intervention

35. The Bottom Line: Get The Lead Out • Recommendation: USFWS head effort to replace lead ammunition with non-lead alternative ammunitions nationally, or minimally within condor range • Conclusion: condors suffer lead poisoning from ingestion of spent ammunition sufficiently frequently to raise mortality rates well above those required for sustainability • Evidence has become overwhelming, occurs at all release sites • Voluntary programs with excellent compliance, local regulations unlikely to reduce contamination to near zero, which is what is required • Population increase is not sustainable, current populations are not viable • Effects on human health, other scavengers are possible Photo Courtesy of The Peregrine Fund

36. Hunting Good, Lead Bad Photo by Anna Fuentes Conclusion: Hunters are the dominant predators within condor’s range and are important source of food for condors Recommendation: Eliminating lead threat should not be accomplished by reduction in hunting, but by replacement of lead ammunition with non-lead alternatives. Hunters should be made aware of their importance to condors

37. Cascading Effects Of Lead • Recommendation: Supplemental feeding must continue until lead problem solved, but encourage birds to forage more widely to learn about the capacity of condors to become self-sufficient foragers on current landscapes • Conclusions: Lead is the ultimate source of other problems: condors are provided with supplemental food at fixed sites to reduce exposure to lead and so birds can be trapped, tested and treated for lead poisoning. • Supplemental food decreases lead exposure, but interferes with normal wide-ranging foraging behavior, affects time and energy budgets, affects other behaviors. • Yet unclear whether condors can subsist without subsidies on modern landscapes Photo courtesy of USFWS

38. We Bad Conclusions: Supplemental feeding may promote development of inappropriate behavior Great progress made in refining captive-rearing and release techniques to produce better behavior, inappropriate behavior no longer impediment to successful reintroduction although still occurs Parent-rearing generally more effective than puppet-rearing, latter produces greater quantity of birds for release Photo Courtesy of USFWS

39. Recommendations: Continue emphasis on parent-rearing while demand for birds remains low, quality more important than quantity • Continue development puppet-rearing, improve rearing and release techniques by making them more closely resemble natural processes rearing and socialization • Endorse effort evaluate puppet-rearing and group socialization techniques in Baja California release, encourage similar experiment parent-reared and parent-socialized birds if opportunity arises new release area • Continue close integration between captive and field facilities in managing behavior • Once lead issue resolved, release established breeding pairs, remaining old birds from original wild population • Knowledge of latter could be invaluable to life skills of younger birds once they are no longer dependent on humans

40. Talking Trash • Recommendation: Continue to clean up trash, conduct experiments with aversive training • Conclusions: Successful nesting in southern California is contingent upon intensive nest monitoring because of the microtrash problem • Most promising approaches to problem are cleaning up trash, returning offending adults to captivity for aversive training, promoting more natural foraging patterns • Latter may not reduce feeding of microtrash by breeders with tradition of such behavior Photo courtesy of USFWS

41. Time To Reorganize *Includes $394,000 in earmarked funds through USFWS. • Conclusions: Structure of program reflects past rather than current or future conditions, reorganization will improve effectiveness • Central elements = Recovery Team, field working group, Coordinator • Recovery Team too large, resembles stakeholder group in lacking independent scientists outside the program • Field working group highly effective • USFWS program including Coordinator housed refuge office associated site first releases, but now these refuges only fraction range southern California birds, Coordinator monitors program spanning 2 countries, 3 USFWS regions.

42. Recommendations: Reorganize to better reflect current and future circumstances • Establish USFWS Condor Recovery Office • Condor Recovery Coordinator handles basic programmatic coordination • Condor Research and Monitoring Coordinator (USFWS or USGS staff scientist) • House in Sacramento regional office, report to Deputy or Assistant Regional Director • Establish Recovery Implementation Team • Comprised organizations raising, rearing, releasing, and monitoring condors • Modeled after field working group • Establish Science Advisory Team • Small, scientifically focused, advisory group composed largely of independent scientists outside of the condor program • Disband Recovery Team • Form a Policy Advisory Team • Comprised of leaders of partner organizations • Includes Coordinator.

43. Research And Data • Conclusion: Current contribution research insufficient. Although there is effective feedback between monitoring and management, adaptive management framework that includes research not evident • Recommendation: Presence Research and Monitoring Coordinator and Science Advisory Team should elevate research. Adopt formal adaptive management approach that includes research to address key issues • Conclusion: Problems with standardization, management and ownership data seriously impede effectiveness of the program • Recommendation: As interim measure, hire data manager/statistician • Oversee existing data, assist Research and Monitoring Coordinator with standardization data collection, reporting, storage • Summarize extant data for review and evaluation • Develop standardized databases to be used throughout program

44. Population Structure and Current and Future Release Sites • Conclusion: As numbers increase and birds range more widely, structure of overall population becomes important question. There is no plan for metapopulation development and conservation of species range wide (e.g., optimum distribution of release sites) • Recommendation: Assess utility current and future release sites on metapopulation scale to develop range-wide plan to manage population structure and viability. • Do not open new release sites until lead issue resolved. • Conclusion: Field staffing southern California release site operated by USFWS is insufficient. Monitoring requirements there exceed those at other release sites, yet fall to small number of temporary employees, in contrast to large number permanent staff at other sites • USFWS should either support adequate number of permanent staff or focus support on recovery coordination and find partners willing to adequately staff southern California site • Consider site in Sierras as alternative, especially for release of 4 remaining condors originally captured from the wild once lead issue resolved

45. Reaching Out Photo Courtesy of USFWS Conclusions: Outreach programs are essential to condor recovery. Program partners active locally, but look to USFWS for assistance and leadership at national level. Extensive outreach effort to rally public support for replacement lead ammunition, emphasizing human health and condors, is urgent need Recommendation: USFWS provide more leadership in outreach at national level, especially on lead issue

46. Other Issues • Conclusion: Feeding on marine mammals is positive development, but may result accumulation contaminants such as DDT, PCBs • Recommendation: Vigorous investigation impact contaminants on reproduction among central California birds • Conclusion: Intensive monitoring of released birds is essential • Currently necessary to reduce mortality due to lead poisoning • Important to detect and treat inappropriate behavior quickly • In southern California critical to nesting success currently • Once current problems are solved, monitoring will be needed to track population dynamics, foraging patterns and dispersal • Recommendation: Continue demographic, behavioral monitoring • Continue current monitoring intensity until lead, microtrash issues resolved • Integrate monitoring into adaptive management framework in order to learn about emerging issues such as foraging capabilities and connections between populations. • Recommendation: Continuing veterinary coordinator position to facilitate information transfer on topics such as vaccines and procedures

47. A Vision For The Future Two decades ago condors were extirpated from the wild and nearly extinct, task of recovering them was so daunting as to seem hopeless. Today condors have been brought back from brink of extinction and returned to nature. The lead problem has created an impasse, but it is not insoluble. New challenges will arise as condors become more independent of humans and range more widely, but they can be faced.

48. A Vision For The Future We can imagine that recovery of the California Condor, once almost inconceivable, could become a reality.