The 1996 'North Cape' oil spill along the Rhode Island coast led to the deaths of at least 2292 birds, resulting in an estimated 6275 bird-years lost (adjusted by expected longevity and productivity). We synthesize information on bird population dynamics to develop an appropriate restoration strategy. Marine birds (seaducks, loons, grebes) with natural recovery periods estimated to exceed 1 yr accounted for 87% of the total bird-years lost. Marine birds (gulls, cormorants, alcids, gannets) with recovery estimated to be less than a year accounted for 10% of injuries. Common loons Gavia immer and common eiders Somateria mollissima were selected as targets for restoration because of regional concern over their population status and the magnitude of lost bird-years. Three restoration options were evaluated for loons: nest site protection; nest site enhancement; and public education/outreach. Nest site enhancement opportunities were limited and benefits from public education/outreach efforts were uncertain. Nest site protection was preferred for both loons and eiders because nest site availability and/or quality currently limit(s) productivity. This option assumes that preventing future productivity loss compensates for productivity loss that resulted from the 'North Cape' oil spill. This assumption is supported by regional productivity estimates for the 2 target species, is consistent with scientific literature, and represents the consensus of expert opinions. Based on a series of scaling calculations, protection of 25 nest sites for a 100 yr period is expected to balance the loss of 2920 loon-years. Protection of 315 eider nest sites over a 100 yr period would replace 2605 bird-years lost (remaining marine bird injury). Calculations adjust future production credit through economic discounting of 3% yr
Isotria medeoloides (Small Whorled Pogonia) is a globally rare woodland orchid. Observed population declines in this species may be related to decreased light availability resulting from forest maturation. In East Alton, NH, a population of Small Whorled Pogonia was partitioned into two groups, with one left as a control and the other subjected to canopy-reduction management. The removal of all shrubs and 25% of the tree basal area approximately doubled light transmission to the managed group. The number of stems and seed capsules signifi cantly increased in this group relative to the control group. While this was not a replicated experiment, our observations suggest that canopy thinning may help promote the long-term conservation of this federally threatened species.
The North Cape spill of 828,000 gallons of home heating oil was unique in that the natural resources most affected by the spill were water column and benthic resources. There was a fishery closure, extensive mortality of offshore benthic organisms (e.g., lobsters, surf clams, crabs), oil contamination of the water and sediments of the coastal salt ponds, and exposure offish in the salt ponds. Studies initiated during the preassessment phase of the natural resource damage assessment included assessment of: direct mortality and reduced reproduction of lobster, winter flounder, and piping plovers; sublethal impacts on juvenile fish growth rates and survival; sediment toxicity; prey base impacts in the ponds; and extent and weathering of oil in the water column and sediments. Four technical working groups were formed to assist injury quantification and identification of restoration alternatives: salt pond communities; marine communities; birds; and economics. Each group was responsible for coordinating all aspects of damage assessment for the identified resource; ensuring that the damage assessment for the identified resource is complete and defensible; and assisting in the development and scaling of restoration options for the injured resource. This paper presents an overview of the natural resource impacts for each of the major habitats and/or resources affected by the spill.
Resale or republication not permitted without written consent of the publisherMar Ecol Prog Ser 264: [213][214][215][216][217][218][219] 2003 sizes for most ecological studies, and therefore high uncertainty in estimating abundance or in evaluating the success of alternative intervention options designed to benefit the population. This concern has generated the development of statistical methods explicitly designed to deal with rare species (e.g. Green & Young 1993, Strayer 1999. Occasionally, research will be done on a more abundant surrogate species (Caro & O'Doherty 1999), but this approach requires establishing, with confidence, that the factors responsible for the large demographic differences between the conservation target and the surrogate species do not prevent rigorous transfer of results from one to the other (Bevill & Louda 1999). Of the many causes for rarity, some imply intrinsic incompatibilities between even closely related species (Kunin & Gaston 1993). Ethically, restoration options that entail risk to the threatened population cannot be justified, thereby closing the door to some actions that may indeed have been beneficial. Ethics further dictate that where data are sparse and uncertainty high, a precautionary approach be taken in evaluating evidence of injury to a threatened or endangered species and in adopting restoration plans to compensate for that injury (Gerber et al. 1999).In the US, recovery plans for many listed species have been developed and implemented by federal agencies charged with administration of the Endangered Species Act. Such plans are helpful in developing compensatory restoration because they review the causes of population limitation for the target species and identify potential restoration actions.Here we illustrate how the constraints of rarity and the existence of an established recovery plan affect the process of choosing, scaling, and implementing compensatory restoration through the example of a federally threatened shorebird, the piping plover Charadrius melodus. Known nesting grounds for piping plovers were extensively polluted by the 1996 North Cape oil spill in Rhode Island. This oil spill precipitated studies of the impacts on the Moonstone Beach breeding population of piping plovers, and led to the development of compensatory restoration actions. By describing the process of injury assessment and restoration development, we communicate insights of value to restoration of other threatened or endangered species. THE BIOLOGY OF PIPING PLOVERS AND RISKS FROM THE OIL SPILLThe piping plover is a shorebird, once described as common along Atlantic beaches, that became greatly diminished in abundance by 1900 through hunting and egg gathering (Haig & Oring 1987 (MacIvor 1990, Keane 2002. Nests are constructed above the high-tide line on coastal beaches, with preferences exhibited for wide beach, sand spits, overwash areas, and other disturbed habitat with sparse vegetation and proximity to protected, moist foraging habitats (Burger 1987, Elias et al. 2000, Ke...
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