Full report - Conservation Gateway

Chapter 12 - Coastal & Marine BirdsSelection of Target SpeciesOver 80 species of seabirds utilize this region to someextent (Nisbet et al. 2008). The conservation needs ofthese species were assessed in several ways. First, highpriority stopover sites and wintering concentrations formany species identified by (need source of map) werenoted as outstanding features along Northwest Atlanticcoastline and added to the characterization of coastalshoreline units (see the Coastal chapter of this document).Second, key breeding areas for beach and salt marshbreeding birds identified through a separate analysis ofthe North Atlantic Coast, Chesapeake Bay and NorthernAppalachian ecoregions (Anderson et al. 2006a and b;Samson et al. 2003) were reproduced here to reemphasizetheir importance to the region. Third, a small subset ofseabirds, for which the North Atlantic Coast ecoregionplays an important role, were identified and targeted forconservation action. The criteria used to identify thesetarget species were as follows:1) Species that primarily breed on offshore islands orprimarily forage in marine waters during at leastone part of year;2) Species ranked as High or Highest Concern inNorth American Waterbird Conservation Planrankings, High or Highest Concern by the Mid-Atlantic/New England Marine regional rankingsin the Waterbird Conservation Plan, listed as aSeaduck Joint Venture declining species, or listedas an Atlantic Coast Joint Venture high prioritypelagic/marine species;3) Species for which the population trend isdeclining or unknown, or the population size issmall.The team assessed which species have available consistentdatasets that cover the entire region or the portion of theregion in which the species is found. The single largesteliminator of species was lack of standardized data acrossthe region. More species can be added as additional informationbecomes available.This process resulted in the selection of six marine targets:• Arctic Tern (Sterna paradisaea)• Audubon’s Shearwater (Puffinus lherminieri)• Barrow’s Goldeneye (Bucephala islandica)• Harlequin Duck (Histrionicus histrionicus)• Razorbill (Alca torda)• Roseate Tern (Sterna dougallii)Three coastal species were added from coastalassessments, as discussed above:• Least Tern (Sternula antillarum)• Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus)• Red Knot (Calidris canutus rufa)Population Status and the Importance ofNorthwest Atlantic regionThe Northwest Atlantic region is extremely importantto populations of Roseate Tern, Arctic Tern, LeastTern, Harlequin Duck, Audubon’s Shearwater, Barrow’sGoldeneye, Red Knot, and Piping Plover. In all cases,significant percentages of the total species populationbreed, migrate through, winter, or have foraging concentrationsin this region. In the case of the Red Knot,almost the entire population of the rufa race relies upon asmall number of stopover locations within the NorthwestAtlantic region. Fifty to 75% of the Caribbean populationof Audubon’s Shearwater forages in one area off the coastof North Carolina during the late summer. Eighty percentof the Atlantic population of breeding Piping Plovers canbe found in the Northwest Atlantic region.The conservation status of these species is mixed. Mostspecies are considered of “least concern” at the globalscale by the International Union for the Conservationof Nature (IUCN). However, in many cases, the significantpopulations or subspecies of these species that arefound in the Northwest Atlantic region are threatened.Roseate Tern, Least Tern, Harlequin Duck, Red Knot,and Piping Plover are listed as threatened or endangeredby the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS)or the Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS). All speciesexcept the Audubon’s Shearwater are listed as threat-12-Northwest Atlantic Marine Ecoregional Assessment • Phase 1 Report