Understanding the Extent and Severity of Disturbance by Motorized Vessels to Kittlitz’s Murrelets in Glacier Bay National Park
Project ID: J8W07100046
Federal Agency: National Park Service
Partner Institution: Oregon State University
Fiscal Year: 2010
Initial Funding: $66,014
Total Funding: $211,139
Project Type: Research
Project Disciplines: Biological
National Park: Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve
Principal Investigator: Roby, Daniel
Agreement Technical Representative: Gende, Scott
Abstract: The Kittlitz’s Murrelet (Brachyramphus brevirostrus; KIMU) is a small, poorly understood seabird endemic to the Alaskan coast and eastern Russia. Population surveys of KIMU across their range have demonstrated precipitous declines by up to 75%, including within Glacier Bay National Park (GLBA) which may support up to 15% of the world’s population. Consequently KIMU has a Listing Priority 2 under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the US Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) may make a determination to list the species in 2012.
Listing KIMU under ESA may have significant consequences for vessel management within GLBA. The National Park Service (NPS) issues permits to all vessel traffic entering into the park, including cruise ships, and there is likely considerable spatial overlap between high vessel-use areas and KIMU roosting/foraging habitat. A previous study found that vessels, particularly large and fast-moving vessels, increased the probability of flight of KIMU by 30-fold. Thus, a pressing information need is to understand the temporal and spatial extent of disturbance by vessels in GLBA for both mitigation and management purposes, and to further refine estimates of the impacts (behavioral, physiological, demographic) of these disturbances to KIMU. The overall intent of this project is to better understand the extent, and possibly the severity, of disturbances by motorized vessels to KIMU in GLBA. The project will be accomplished in two phases. The first phase, funded by this Task Agreement, will focus on developing a study plan. The study plan will be jointly developed by NPS and Oregon State University, and in close consultation with the FWS Endangered Species Branch and GLBA. The goal will be to identify management-relevant, realistically answerable questions regarding the extent and severity of disturbance with respect to the implications to vessel management if KIMU is listed as a federally protected species. The study plan will be reviewed by several subject matter experts to ensure that the methods to be employed will sufficiently address those questions and will consider the regulations and restrictions of working in a national park. The second phase of the project will be to implement the study plan during 2011 and 2012 to collect and analyze vessel disturbance data.