Conservation of Endangered Hawaiian Waterbirds

I have been working since 1992 to protect endangered waterbirds in Hawaii. Most of the endangered species focus in Hawaii has been on forest birds, while endangered waterbirds largely have been ignored. Hawaiian waterbirds depend on wetland availability, which currently is 30% less than its original extent, and on avoiding introduced predators. As a consequence of these and related problems, all of Hawaii's endemic waterbirds are endangered.

My research has been in close affiliation with the USFWS and the Hawaii Division of Forestry and Wildlife, and more recently the Hawaii Natural Heritage Program. Until recently I have worked mostly on Hawaiian Stilt conservation. I am continuing work on stilts, and am now working on Hawaiian Moorhen and on the problem of optimal wetland design when there are multiple species of waterbird present at a wetland. The endangered waterbirds that use lowland wetlands on the main islands are the Hawaiian stilt, Hawaiian coot, Hawaiian moorhen, koloa (Hawaiian Duck), and in some areas Nene. Although all of these species might use the same wetland, habitat requirements differ significantly among species - for example, stilts like shallow water and no vegetation in or around ponds, while coots like deep water with extensive tall vegetation. Knowing the optimal approach to designing wetlands to support these endangered waterbirds would enhance conservation efforts.

I am completing development of a software package, MESHH (Managing Endangered Species Habitat in Hawaii), that will allow wetland managers in Hawaii to determine optimal wetland design for these endangered species. The first version of MESHH is being completed now, and model predictions will be field tested starting next year.

Software
Reed, J. M., N. Fefferman, C. S. Elphick, and M. Silbernagle. 2011. MESHH: Managing Endangered Species Habitat in Hawaii (available Fall 2011).