The federally endangered Nene (Branta sandvicensis), or Hawaiian Goose, once present on most of the Hawaiian Islands, was found only on Hawai’i Island by 1900. Nene have been restored to a few places like Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park (HAVO). As their slow recovery has progressed, Nene have begun to reestablish some natural movement patterns and routes that connect their isolated small subpopulations on Hawai’i Island. The objectives of this research are to understand long distance movements of HAVO Nene that travel between distant populations on Hawai’I Island and to determine habitat use patterns of Nene in the Kahuku Unit. MORE 
The hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) is the most endangered sea turtle in the Eastern Caribbean. The NPS` Buck Island Reef National Monument’s Sea Turtle Research and Monitoring Program has been conducting an intensive tagging program for sea turtles since 1988, focusing on the hawksbill since 1990. We will utilize capture histories of individual nesting females, both within and between years, to partition changes in numbers observed over time into component vital rates (survival, breeding probability, number of nests laid per female per year), and address hypotheses about changes in these parameters over time. Finally, we will use the saturation tagging data that has been collected at Buck Island Reef to assess the amount and type of effort needed for future monitoring of similar sea turtle populations, to achieve reasonable precision. MORE 
The current population status of the federally Threatened Haleakala silversword is unclear, with compelling but inconclusive evidence suggesting that its population may be on the decline after decades of recovery. We propose to develop and conduct an accurate baseline map and census of silversword subpopulations in Haleakala National Park, and develop a monitoring protocol for tracking annual population trends. We also propose to research the spatial dynamics and effects of the invasive Argentine ant on insect pollinators and rates of seed set in the Haleakala silversword. MORE
U.S. Department of the Interior |
U.S. Geological Survey
URL: http://www.fort.usgs.gov/brdscience/pobs1.aspx?topic=Endangered Species
Page Contact Information: Paul_Geissler@usgs.gov
