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Southeast Alaska Network Inventory and Monitoring Program Kittlitz’s (and Marbled) Murrelets Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve
Southeast Alaska NetworkInventory and Monitoring Program
Kittlitz’s (and Marbled) Murrelets
Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve
Southeast Alaska NetworkInventory and Monitoring Program May 6, 2009
NPS Photo: Sergeant
Justification
• Rare, pelagic seabird of AK, Russian Far East
• Rangewide declines– 40-80% rangewide, at least
since ~1990…earlier?• ESA Candidate, listing
decision due in 2014• GLBA is a major
population center
Southeast Alaska NetworkInventory and Monitoring Program
NPS Photo
Justification
• GLBA jurisdiction over uplands, marine waters, outer coast to 3 miles
• Permitting authority for commercial, private party entries
• Administrative and research traffic
• If listed, what constitutes “take”?
Southeast Alaska NetworkInventory and Monitoring Program
Objectives
• To monitor annual abundance of KIMU in Glacier Bay proper in July, with 80% power (at a=0.05) to detect a decline of 25% over 15 years
• To describe spatial variation in KIMU distribution in Glacier Bay proper
Southeast Alaska NetworkInventory and Monitoring Program
Technical Approach• A spatially balanced, unequal sampling
probability, serially augmented panel design• Spatial balance: GRTS
– All the benefits of randomness while ensuring spatial balance• Unequal Sampling Probability
– Similar to stratification– Informed, but not determined, by past densities
• Panel design– emphasizes what we know, but allows us to capture
distribution shifts
Southeast Alaska NetworkInventory and Monitoring Program
Technical Approach
• Tempered by constraints: 2 weeks, crew of 4, 1 vessel
• No-go areas, planning around park regs
• Early July, birds on the water
• 10 kts transect speedSoutheast Alaska NetworkInventory and Monitoring Program
NPS Photo: Moynahan
Southeast Alaska NetworkInventory and Monitoring Program May 6, 2009
Logistics and Budget
• Field work: 4 crew, 10 days early July• Analysis, reporting: 10 days each fall• Protocol development: $185K, FY08-11• Annual Supplies: $2K SEAN, $2K GLBA
(fuel) • Tech Assistance: $10K FY12• Shared vessel: R/V Fog Lark• Periodic contracting for 5-y reports
Southeast Alaska NetworkInventory and Monitoring Program
What we’re learning
• Up-front investments in design are well worth it!– Field effort (km) down 79%, precision up 60%– Cheaper, more statistically sound, less exposure to
risk, lower fuel consumption, reduced presence• Power to detect trend is much more
sensitive (25% v. 50% over 15 y)
Southeast Alaska NetworkInventory and Monitoring Program
What we’re learning
• GLBA much more important than we thought…
• Huge numbers of marbled murrelets• Annual variation in distribution• Upcoming opportunities to integrate
distribution with oceanographic data
Southeast Alaska NetworkInventory and Monitoring Program
Southeast Alaska NetworkInventory and Monitoring Program
Program Delivery
Protocol Status:• All chapters, 10
of 12 SOPs drafted
• Peer-review in May 2012
• National Audubon, July 2012
Southeast Alaska NetworkInventory and Monitoring Program
[email protected] 364.2621
NPS Photo: Moynahan
