IMPLEMENTING THE CASPIAN TERN MONITORING STRATEGY FOR THE PACIFIC COAST REGION – 2024″

Project ID: F24AC00134

Federal Agency: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Partner Institution: Oregon State University

Fiscal Year: 2024

Initial Funding: $129,907

Total Funding: $129,907

Principal Investigator: Creighton, Jennifer

Agreement Technical Representative: Meier, Julianne

Abstract: THE GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO IMPLEMENT THE U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE (FWS) CASPIAN TERN MONITORING STRATEGY FOR THE PACIFIC COAST REGION (USFWS 2015) DURING THE 2024 BREEDING SEASON AND ROBUSTLY ESTIMATE POPULATION SIZE IN THE PACIFIC FLYWAY. IMPLEMENTATION OF THIS MONITORING STRATEGY IS PART OF THE FWS COMMITMENT ASSOCIATED WITH THE CASPIAN TERN MANAGEMENT PLAN. DURING THE FIRST THREE IMPLEMENTATIONS OF THE FWS MONITORING STRATEGY (PETERSON ET AL 2017 AND PECK RICHARDSON ET AL 2019 AND LAWES ET AL 2022) A FEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR POTENTIAL METHODOLOGICAL IMPROVEMENT WERE IDENTIFIED INCLUDING GREATER STANDARDIZATION OF COLONY DEFINITION AND MORE REPRESENTATIVE AND CONSISTENT SAMPLING AMONG YEARS AND THE POSSIBLE INCORPORATION OF NON SAMPLE SET COLONY SIZE DATA INTO THE POPULATION ESTIMATE.