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Seabird Monitoring in the California Current System
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
U.S. Geological Survey
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Regional Seabird Conservation Plan
Objectives
• Review seabird resources, threats, and management issues
• Identify priorities for management, monitoring, research and outreach
• Develop a comprehensive strategy to direct future FWS actions
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Seabird Monitoring Program for Seabird Monitoring Program for the California Current Systemthe California Current System
• Monitoring at a variety of scales, using a hierarchical approach
• Scientifically rigorous, and logistically and fiscally feasible
• Cooperatively with other federal, state, and private partners
USFWS is working with USGS and seabird experts throughout the Pacific to develop a monitoring program for seabirds breeding in the California Current System.
NWR
State
Oceanographic sub-region
California Current System
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Geographic ScopeGeographic Scope
California Current System: coastal and marine habitats from Scott Islands, British Columbia, Canada to Punta Eugenia, Baja
California Sur, Mexico
Initial effort is focused on the U.S. portion of the CCS.
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Seabird Monitoring WorkshopsSeabird Monitoring Workshops
• Experts in seabird monitoring convened for two workshops
Oregon - September 2004 Southern California - April 2005
• Participants from Canada, Alaska, Washington, Oregon, and California
• Experts from USGS, USFWS, State Agencies, University, and private sector
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Objectives of Seabird Monitoring Objectives of Seabird Monitoring WorkshopsWorkshops
• Develop specific objectives for seabird monitoring in the CCS
• Outline the underlying design or framework for a seabird monitoring program
• Select focal species for monitoring
• For each of these species recommend: monitoring locations, population parameters, measurement variables, and field methodologies.
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Goals for Seabird MonitoringGoals for Seabird Monitoring
• GOAL 1 Detect and understand changes in the status and trends of seabird populations in support of conservation strategies in the CCS.
• GOAL 2
Integrate seabird monitoring into an overall assessment of the health of the marine/coastal ecosystem in the CCS.
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Goals for Seabird MonitoringGoals for Seabird Monitoring
OBJECTIVES
• Monitor trends of seabird populations.
• Determine conservation status of seabird populations, incorporating abundance, distribution, trends, and threats to seabird populations.
• Gain insight as to causes of population change.
• Collaborate with partners to achieve and advance all objectives.
GOAL 1: Detect and understand changes in the status and trends of seabird populations in support of conservation strategies in the CCS.
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Goals for Seabird MonitoringGoals for Seabird Monitoring
OBJECTIVES• Use seabirds as indicators of CCS health (i.e. structure,
function, and productivity).
• Collaborate with partners to integrate seabird monitoring with other marine monitoring efforts.
GOAL 2: Integrate seabird monitoring into an overall assessment of the health of the marine/coastal ecosystem in the CCS.
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Considerations for Species Selection
• Birds of Conservation Concern
• Stewardship species – those species and subspecies for which the CCS supports the majority of the global population
• Representation from each foraging guild
• Species with broad distribution across the oceanographic sub-regions of the CCS
• Species that can provide data to address the Goals and Objectives
TARGET SPECIES
Leach's Storm-PetrelAshy Storm-PetrelPelagic CormorantBrandt's CormorantWestern GullGlaucous-winged GullElegant TernBlack SkimmerCommon MurreXantus's MurreletCassin's AukletRhinoceros Auklet
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Basic Framework of the Monitoring Program
Two tiered approach
• Inventory of all colonies at infrequent intervals (e.g., every 10-15 years)
• More intensive monitoring of population parameters of target species at selected colonies
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Schedule
2005 Draft manual developed:Species specific recommendations for monitoring, monitoring locations, population parameters,
measurement variables, and field methodologies.
Spring 2006 Review by team of experts
Summer 2006 Peer review
Fall 2006 Final Manual