Long-Term Population Monitoring: Lessons Learned From an Endangered Passerine in Hawaii

Author:

Johnson, Luanne, Camp, Richard J., Brinck, Kevin W., Banko, Paul C.

Title:

Long-Term Population Monitoring: Lessons Learned From an Endangered Passerine in Hawaii

Periodical:

Wildlife Society Bulletin

Year:

2006

Volume:

34

Pages:

1055-1063

Subject:

Loxioides bailleui Palila Bird populations Sampling methods Surveys Variable circular plot method

Summary:

The palila (Loxioides bailleui) is an endangered, seed-eating Hawaiian honeycreeper that is restricted to the subalpine forests of Mauna Kea, on the island of Hawaii. As a result, obtaining reliable population estimates is crucial to monitoring this endangered species in an effort to develop recovery strategies. Since this bird is vulnerable to extinction primarily since more than 90 percent of the population is concentrated in a habitat on the western slope of this high, dormant volcano, annual surveys of the palila population have been conducted for ecological, legal, and other purposes since 1980. Since sampling protocols and analytical methods have evolved, a means of adapting the monitoring program to produce comparable estimates of abundance over the past 25-year period and into the future was examined during this study. The results of annual surveys that were done from 1999 - 2004 are reported here and original data that were obtained from 1980 - 1998 that was done to track long-term population changes were analyzed.

Label:

Birds - Palila

URL:

http://cletus.uhh.hawaii.edu:2075/stable/4134316

Date:

Nov. 2006

Collection:

Periodicals