Final Comprehensive Conservation Plan - U.S. Fish and Wildlife ...

Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge
Comprehensive Conservation Plan
A taxon may be delisted when all four of the criteria above have been met for a 30-year period.
‘Ō‘ū (Psittirostra psittacea): The ‘ō‘ū is currently one of the rarest birds in Hawa‘i, and may
possibly be extinct, although past survey efforts have been insufficient to determine its status
(Reynolds and Snetsinger 2001). The most recent observations indicate any remaining populations
are extremely localized in occurrence and are restricted to only a fraction of their former range in the
midelevation ‘ōhi‘a forest on the islands of Kaua‘i and Hawai‘i only.
No conservation efforts have been initiated specifically targeting ‘ō‘ū, but several research projects
and Federal and State land management programs aimed at removing limiting factors for endangered
birds and plants have been undertaken since 1985, and these provide some benefits to ‘ō‘ū. On
Hawai‘i Island, large tracts of State and federally owned land are being intensively managed for
habitat restoration. Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park, Hakalau Forest NWR, Pu‘u Maka‘ala Natural
Area Reserve, and the ‘Ōla‘a-Kīlauea Partnership (now TMA) area have been known to harbor ‘ō‘ū
in the past 25 years, and each area currently has management programs aimed at removing ungulates
to restore native forest habitat and ongoing research into eliminating other threats.
‘Akiapōlā‘au (Hemignathus munroi): Four categories of recovery strategies have been identified;
research, recovery areas, predator control, and captive propagation/reintroduction. For research,
studies are identified as necessary in four main areas: (1) testing of survey methodology, followed by
surveying and mapping of all populations and long-term monitoring; (2) demographic studies to
measure life-history parameters such as population structure, dispersion, dispersal, adult
survivorship, clutch size, nesting success, social system, and phenology of nesting and molting;
(3) habitat selection and foraging ecology, including diet and food availability, particularly in
regenerating forest, as well as the role that koa silviculture practices play in the creation of suitable
habitat; and (4) response of ‘akiapōlā‘au populations to control of mammalian predators, particularly
in low-stature dry forests where the species has difficulty maintaining itself.
For recovery areas, the most important component of the recovery strategy for the ‘akiapōlā‘au is
protection, management, and restoration of koa/‘ōhi‘a forests above 4,400 ft elevation. Fencing
and/or removal of ungulates from the remaining high elevation forests will protect these areas and
allow natural regeneration. Predator control is identified as an effective method of increasing
reproduction and survival in other Hawaiian forest birds (VanderWerf and Smith 2002). However,
the degree of threat from alien rodents may vary among species and locations, and rodent control
programs initially should be conducted in an experimental way to document their effect on
‘akiapōlā‘au populations.
Finally, captive propagation and reintroduction can augment natural recovery of ‘akiapōlā‘au and
reestablishment of wild populations in portions of the former range. Captive propagation techniques
such as collection of eggs from the wild, artificial incubation and hand rearing, captive breeding, and
reintroduction may be required to speed recovery. Feasibility should be determined for reintroducing
‘akiapōlā‘au into now protected areas of its former range, particularly at the Pu‘u Wa‘awa‘a Forest
Bird Sanctuary, the KFU of the Hakalau Forest NWR, Mauna Loa Strip of Hawai‘i Volcanoes
National Park, and, if it is managed as planned, the upper forests of Kīpāhoehoe Natural Area
Reserve.
Hawai‘i creeper (Oreomystis mana): The primary strategy for the recovery of the Hawai‘i creeper is
the protection and management of remaining koa/‘ōhi‘a forests above 4,900 ft elevation, and the
Chapter 1. Introduction and Background 1-21