Contact Dr. Matthew Perry, Laurel, MD, 301-497-5622

Dr. Jeffrey Spendelow will be the keynote speaker at the 9th International Roseate Tern Workshop at the Wexford Wildfowl Reserve, North Slob, Wexford, Ireland, April 7-10, 2003. His keynote speech will review the results of the USGS-Patuxent Wildlife Research Center’s "Cooperative Long-term Roseate Tern Metapopulation Dynamics and Ecology Project" and it’s implications for the conservation of this globally threatened/endangered species. He will be presenting 3 posters relating to specific themes of the workshop, (Initial responses of Roseate and Common Terns to Revetment construction at Falkner Island, Connecticut; Consequences of Black-crowned Night-Heron Predation on Roseate Tern Population Dynamics at Falkner Island, Connecticut; and Can Chick Growth Parameters be Used to Predict Post-fledging Survival and Natal-site Recruitment of Roseate Terns?) Dr. Spendelow will participate in several roundtable discussions relating to conservation research. During his stay he will visit several tern colony sites in Ireland to advise on management concerns. Workshop participants will include researchers and colony site managers working in Europe, Africa, North America and Australia.

Contact Dr. Jeffrey Spendelow, Laurel, MD, 301-497-5665

The first PWRC Chesapeake Bay Focus Team meeting will be held at the National Wildlife Visitor Center, Laurel, MD on April 16, 2003 from 8:30 AM until approximately 3:00 PM. Patuxent Scientists involved in research in the Chesapeake Bay will provide 15 minute presentations on their work. A brief question and answer period will follow each presentation. Anyone wishing to attend should contact Marcia Holmes 301-497-5729.

Contact Dr. Harry Coulombe, 301-497-5670.

Zoologists’ Work in Amphibian Assessment Supports Conservation

Dr. Robert Reynolds (Unit Leader, USGS/PWRC Biological Survey Unit) and Dr. W. Ronald Heyer (Curator, Division of Amphibians and Reptiles, of BSU's host and partner organization, the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History) will travel to Belo Horizonte, Brazil, March 31- April 4, 2003 on a matter of great conservation importance for the Americas. They will participate in the Amazonian Region Review Workshop, part of the Global Amphibian Assessment Project coordinated by Conservation International. The purpose of this project is to prepare vulnerability assessments for every amphibian species in the world, in order to establish candidacies for the International Union for the Conservation of Nature Red List of threatened species. Drs. Reynolds and Heyer are among the experts that will evaluate assessments that have been gathered. Reynolds also prepared the assessments for amphibians of Guiana. In total, over 600 species will be evaluated in this workshop. The assessments include all of South America except for the Andes, Chile, and Argentina, which will be addressed at other workshops. This enormous and ambitious project will provide an invaluable contribution to recently heightened efforts to document the status of the world's biodiversity and to identify and protect species at risk.

Contact Dr. Robert P. Reynolds, Washington, D.C., 202-357-1930

Patuxent's Erwin is Co-Editor and Author in Special Issue of Waterbirds, "Managing Wetlands for Waterbirds: Intebrated Approaches"

R. Michael Erwin is the co-editor and author in a recent special issue of Waterbirds, "Managing Wetlands for Waterbirds: Integrated Approaches", published in December 2002. (Citation: KC Parsons, SC Brown, RM Erwin, HA Czech, and JC Coulson, editors. 2002. Managing wetlands for waterbirds: integrated approaches. Waterbirds 25 special publication-2). Dr. Erwin initiates discussion of integrated wetland management by providing an updated operational framework. Many dimensions of integrated management are explored in including: (1) taxonomic--explicit incorporation of nongame species into traditional waterfowl management strategies, (2) spatial--the trend toward managing at larger scales and at multiple scales, (3) temporal--achieving multiple management objectives either simultaneously or sequentially, and (4) population/habitat interactions--managing wetlands according to their contribution to population sustainability. Successful integrated wetland management relies on flexibility in approach and collaborative effort to meet the myriad demands placed on wetland habitats worldwide.

Contact Dr. R. Michael Erwin, Charlottesville, VA, 804-982-2137

Ms. Conception "Connie" Flores successfully defended her Master of Science thesis on March 20, 2003 at the University of Maryland (Eastern Shore Campus) in Princess Anne, Maryland. Connie's thesis was entitled "Evaluation of Vegetative Response to Fire Exclusion and Prescribed Fire Rotation on Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge and Fishing Bay Wildlife Management Area", and dealt with comparing two controlled burning regimes at these management areas. This study has important considerations for the refuge management staff at Blackwater and other FWS refuges dealing with marsh burning. Connie's research results are also of interest to several USGS scientists at Patuxent Wildlife Research Center who are working at Blackwater on other management concerns, including nutria herbivory (Dr. Michael Haramis) and sea level rise (Drs. Don Cahoon and Glen Guntenspergen).

Contact Dr. Matthew Perry, Laurel, MD, 301-497-5622

Barnett Rattner co-authored "Use of Retrospective Data to Assess Ecotoxicological Monitoring Needs for Terrestrial Vertebrates Residing in Atlantic Coast Estuaries" (Jonathan B. Cohen, Barnett A. Rattner, and Nancy H. Golden. 2003. Ecotoxicology 12:365-375.) The results of a detailed gap analysis of the USGS "Contaminant Exposure and Effects—Terrestrial Vertebrates" database and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Index of Watershed Indicators (IWI) that identifies critical information needs for Atlantic Coast watersheds was recently published. This analysis revealed that no terrestrial vertebrate ecotoxicological data has been collected in the past decade for 15 watersheds that are classified by the IWI as having water quality problems or high vulnerability to pollution. These data gaps are especially significant as high levels of contaminants in wildlife tissues have been documented in older studies in some of these watersheds. Of 90 National Wildlife Refuge units, 42 without current data fall within watersheds of concern. Of 40 National Park units larger than 1 km2, 17 without current data fall within watersheds of concern. Issues encountered in this analysis highlighted the need for spatially and temporally replicated field monitoring programs that utilize random sampling. Without such data, it will be difficult to perform unbiased assessments of regional trends in contaminant exposure and effects in terrestrial vertebrates. This publication also outlines the rationale for inclusion of terrestrial vertebrates as part of a comprehensive monitoring program. Information derived from this analysis can be used by resource managers to prioritize areas in need of ecotoxicological monitoring.

Contact Dr. Barnett A. Rattner, Laurel, MD, 301-497-5671

Northeast Fish and Wildlife Conference to be held in Newport, April 13-16, 2003

Dr. Michael Runge will be attending the 59th Northeast Fish and Wildlife Conference in Newport, Rhode Island. He will be presenting "Grassland Breeding Birds on Northeast Refuges," and co-author to "Monitoring Grassland Bird Productivity and Assessing Study Feasibility on Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge, West Virginia" and poster presentation on "Evaluation of Four Transect Techniques for Surveying Birds During the Non-breeding Season in Grassland and Saltmarsh Habitats."

We are assessing the geographic relationships between different grassland management techniques used on Region 5 refuges, and the vegetation structure and composition, and grassland bird use of managed areas during the breeding season. Specifically, the study is looking at three treatments: native warm-season grass fields (WSG) managed burning, non-native cool-season grass fields (CSG) managed through burning, and CSG fields managed through mowing. The management needs of this group of declining species in the northeast U.S. include (1) determining structure and density, (2) how the vegetation structure and density affects grassland bird use, and (3) establishing data about species distribution and habitat use to support decisions about regional priorities for management. The results of this study will be used by Region 5 to establish regional grassland breeding bird habitat management objective strategies. Further, the results will also be shared with partner conservation organizations, such as SDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, to assist in creating and improving grassland breeding bird habitat throughout Northeast through Farm Bill enhancement programs) e.g., CRF and WHIP). The study is entering its third year (FY2000#). We will present preliminary results.

Declines of grassland breeding birds are documented throughout North America, leading to increased monitoring and management of grassland habitats. Unfortunately, most management focuses on songbird abundance and not productivity. Abundance can be a misleading indicator if songbirds have limited site options and are concentrated on areas that may also concentrate potential nest predators. Without productivity information it is difficult to determine whether management techniques are attracting songbirds to sites that may serve as > sink= due to fragmentation, small field size, field shape, or other factors. The objectives of the study were to: 1) document songbirds using grasslands during the nesting season, 2) determine practicality of large-scale monitoring programs, and 3) locate and monitor nests to determine next success on three actively mowed fields on the Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge, West Virginia during 2002. The predominant grassland species found during surveys and nest monitoring included bobolinks (Dolichonyz oryzivorus), savannah sparrows (Passerculus sandwichensis), and eastern meadowlarks (Sturnella magna). Overall, there were 46 nests monitored, with a 74% nest success rate. It appeared there were higher depredation rates closer to edges (i.e., roads, hedgerows) for all grassland obligate species. However, in this study bobolinks utilized core grassland sites, leaving other species to nest on the fringes of bobolink territories, making them more susceptible to depredation. Determining whether songbirds have acceptable levels of reproduction is a time-intensive and often frustrating process. Monitoring productivity should be a management component, and developing a feasible protocol for refuges would provide productivity information to help guide management practices.

Most of the research on birds in grassland and saltmarsh habitats has focused on the breeding period, with relatively little attention to the non-breeding period. Consequently, wildlife managers and biologists often base management and recovery plans on breeding season data alone. Effective bird conservation and management planning should incorporate an increased understanding of the complete annual cycle of these species. Because of their limited acreage, most national wildlife refuges in the United States likely do not make significant contributions to landbird production; yet they are often located along key non-breeding areas, and thus may be very valuable to birds during that time. One of the most prevailing challenges to addressing the non-breeding period is that of identifying an effective survey technique that will address sample size, identification limitations, abundance and density, and staff limitations. We present the preliminary findings from a pilot project in which four transect survey techniques were compared in grasslands at Eastern Virginia Rivers NWR Complex in Virginia and in saltmarsh at Supawna Meadows NWR in New Jersey. The techniques involved 1) a single observer, 2) two observers, 3) two observers with one partner flushing birds, and 4) two observers with two partners flushing birds. All techniques were conducted in transects 20 meters wide and 100 meters long. These techniques were evaluated for potential incorporation into a future regional/flyway-wide study of non-breeding birds on national wildlife refuges, and the development of standardized survey protocols for the non-breeding period.