Managing Conservation Reliant Species: Hawai'i's Endangered Endemic Waterbirds

摘要: Hawai'I's coastal plain wetlands are inhabited by five endangered endemic waterbird species. These include the Hawaiian Coot ('alae ke'oke'o), Duck (koloa maoli), Stilt (ae'o), Gallinule (Moorhen) 'ula), and Goose (nēnē). All species categorized as being “conservation reliant.” The current strategy to recover these birds includes land protection active management of wetlands. To assess effectiveness paradigm, we compared population trends across state those on six actively managed wetland national wildlife refuges (Refuges) thought be critical for survival perform evaluation relied systematic semiannual counts that have been conducted most in monthly occurred Refuges during same time period. We found statewide Refuge populations Coot, rebounded from historic lows over last 20 years slowly increased or remained stable. also documented important each year-round a disproportionately larger percentage is them. Understanding why successfully house disproportionate reliant” can inform future conservation efforts well ensure long-term viability