Monitoring of the ʻEkupuʻu (Laysan finch) on Eastern Island, Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge
Hawaiian honeycreepers face numerous threats related to sea level rise, increasing storm frequency, erosion and invasive species. These impacts can alter their habitat, making it unsuitable and detrimental to their already small populations. Researchers supported by this Pacific Islands CASC project will create additional populations of a Hawaiian honeycreeper species by translocating them from Manawai to the Eastern Island at Midway Atoll which provides a habitat safer from these impacts. These efforts will help ensure the preservation of species as well as provide data to inform managers for future translocation plans.
Public Summary
The ‘ekupu‘u (Laysan finch) and palihoa (Nihoa finch) are the only Hawaiian honeycreepers that occur today in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI; Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument). Similar to other Hawaiian species that occur in small, isolated populations, both finches face numerous threats that pose a high risk of extinction. Examples of these threats include the potential introduction of nonnative predators and pathogens, habitat alteration by nonnative plants or wildfire, and increasingly severe storms and sea level rise related to climate change.
Creating additional populations of ʻekupuʻu and palihoa on other Northwestern Hawaiian Islands has been recommended for decades to reduce extinction, with a long-term goal of reestablishing populations for both finch species on high islands within the Main Hawaiian Islands (MHI). In 1967, an ‘ekupu‘u population on Manawai was established to reduce extinction risk for the species. However, due to the threats of sea level rise and storm surges, Manawai can no longer fulfill that purpose, and now, the already small and declining population faces extirpation due to the high risk of island inundation and a consequential lack of food resources. In response, the US Fish and Wildlife Service has determined that translocating the Manawai birds to the Eastern Island at Midway Atoll would help preserve the species and provide a more suitable habitat for these birds.
The overall objective of this project is to successfully translocate up to 100 ‘ekupuʻu from Manawai to Eastern Island, where success will be measured as the immediate survival of released birds and their establishment as a self-sustaining population. Post-release monitoring will be critical to provide data on the status and fates of released birds, and their subsequent reproduction and population growth. These data will allow the managers and scientists to understand the underlying causes of success or failure of the translocation, adapt management of the new population, and inform modification of future releases. As ʻekupuʻu released on Eastern Island progress through their first year, monitoring will allow us to assess the different stages in the establishment of a population there, from post-release survival and movements to foraging, habitat use, and reproductive effort and success. These data from Eastern Island also will provide essential information to help us review our methods and improve the two subsequent translocations of Telespiza species planned in the NWHI.
- Source: USGS Sciencebase (id: 68307b2ed4be0269904c239d)
Hawaiian honeycreepers face numerous threats related to sea level rise, increasing storm frequency, erosion and invasive species. These impacts can alter their habitat, making it unsuitable and detrimental to their already small populations. Researchers supported by this Pacific Islands CASC project will create additional populations of a Hawaiian honeycreeper species by translocating them from Manawai to the Eastern Island at Midway Atoll which provides a habitat safer from these impacts. These efforts will help ensure the preservation of species as well as provide data to inform managers for future translocation plans.
Public Summary
The ‘ekupu‘u (Laysan finch) and palihoa (Nihoa finch) are the only Hawaiian honeycreepers that occur today in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI; Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument). Similar to other Hawaiian species that occur in small, isolated populations, both finches face numerous threats that pose a high risk of extinction. Examples of these threats include the potential introduction of nonnative predators and pathogens, habitat alteration by nonnative plants or wildfire, and increasingly severe storms and sea level rise related to climate change.
Creating additional populations of ʻekupuʻu and palihoa on other Northwestern Hawaiian Islands has been recommended for decades to reduce extinction, with a long-term goal of reestablishing populations for both finch species on high islands within the Main Hawaiian Islands (MHI). In 1967, an ‘ekupu‘u population on Manawai was established to reduce extinction risk for the species. However, due to the threats of sea level rise and storm surges, Manawai can no longer fulfill that purpose, and now, the already small and declining population faces extirpation due to the high risk of island inundation and a consequential lack of food resources. In response, the US Fish and Wildlife Service has determined that translocating the Manawai birds to the Eastern Island at Midway Atoll would help preserve the species and provide a more suitable habitat for these birds.
The overall objective of this project is to successfully translocate up to 100 ‘ekupuʻu from Manawai to Eastern Island, where success will be measured as the immediate survival of released birds and their establishment as a self-sustaining population. Post-release monitoring will be critical to provide data on the status and fates of released birds, and their subsequent reproduction and population growth. These data will allow the managers and scientists to understand the underlying causes of success or failure of the translocation, adapt management of the new population, and inform modification of future releases. As ʻekupuʻu released on Eastern Island progress through their first year, monitoring will allow us to assess the different stages in the establishment of a population there, from post-release survival and movements to foraging, habitat use, and reproductive effort and success. These data from Eastern Island also will provide essential information to help us review our methods and improve the two subsequent translocations of Telespiza species planned in the NWHI.
- Source: USGS Sciencebase (id: 68307b2ed4be0269904c239d)