Adaptive Management of Black Rails Active
The Black Rail (Laterallus jamaicensis) is the most secretive of the secretive marsh birds and few aspects of its life history and ecology are well understood. The Eastern Black Rail subspecies (L. j. jamaicensis) is listed as endangered in five states along the Atlantic Coast and has been proposed as Threatened under the Endangered Species Act and is under review for federal listing. Historical population size was likely in the tens of thousands but is now believed to be in the hundreds or low thousands.
The Challenge: Eastern Black Rail (BLRA) is a rare and declining secretive marsh bird. The historic breeding range included the Atlantic coast from Massachusetts to Florida and the northern Gulf coast from Florida to Texas. The subspecies has declined drastically in the northern areas and the range has contracted from Massachusetts to New Jersey.
The Science: The subspecies appears to have specific habitat requirements related to vegetation structure (dense overstory) and hydrology (a narrow range of water levels), but many aspects of its life history and habitat requirements are poorly understood. Marsh loss and degradation have occurred throughout the range and the greatest current threat in tidal salt marsh is inundation of habitat due to ongoing sea level rise. Seemingly suitable habitat remains unoccupied however and there is an urgent need to identify management practices that will result in high quality rail habitat. We will develop and implement an adaptive management framework to support decision making and increase our understanding of how Black Rail habitat responds to management interventions.
The Future: This project will combine data about wetland management (e.g., timing and depth of water levels, burning, etc.) with Black Rail occupancy or abundance and vegetation response across many different project sites from NJ to FL. The data will be used to build and update statistical models that predict BLRA responses to management actions. Over time, these models will be used to test assumptions and improve predictions about what management techniques result in high quality habitat for BLRA across their range. The models and decision guidance will provide general predictions of how well a given management action is likely to perform to aid managers in making decisions about potential actions to take on the ground.
Below are partners associated with this project.
- Overview
The Black Rail (Laterallus jamaicensis) is the most secretive of the secretive marsh birds and few aspects of its life history and ecology are well understood. The Eastern Black Rail subspecies (L. j. jamaicensis) is listed as endangered in five states along the Atlantic Coast and has been proposed as Threatened under the Endangered Species Act and is under review for federal listing. Historical population size was likely in the tens of thousands but is now believed to be in the hundreds or low thousands.
The Challenge: Eastern Black Rail (BLRA) is a rare and declining secretive marsh bird. The historic breeding range included the Atlantic coast from Massachusetts to Florida and the northern Gulf coast from Florida to Texas. The subspecies has declined drastically in the northern areas and the range has contracted from Massachusetts to New Jersey.
The Science: The subspecies appears to have specific habitat requirements related to vegetation structure (dense overstory) and hydrology (a narrow range of water levels), but many aspects of its life history and habitat requirements are poorly understood. Marsh loss and degradation have occurred throughout the range and the greatest current threat in tidal salt marsh is inundation of habitat due to ongoing sea level rise. Seemingly suitable habitat remains unoccupied however and there is an urgent need to identify management practices that will result in high quality rail habitat. We will develop and implement an adaptive management framework to support decision making and increase our understanding of how Black Rail habitat responds to management interventions.
The Future: This project will combine data about wetland management (e.g., timing and depth of water levels, burning, etc.) with Black Rail occupancy or abundance and vegetation response across many different project sites from NJ to FL. The data will be used to build and update statistical models that predict BLRA responses to management actions. Over time, these models will be used to test assumptions and improve predictions about what management techniques result in high quality habitat for BLRA across their range. The models and decision guidance will provide general predictions of how well a given management action is likely to perform to aid managers in making decisions about potential actions to take on the ground.
- Partners
Below are partners associated with this project.