The natural history of Kure Atoll, Northwestern Hawaiian Islands

Abstract

Sooty Storm P e t r e l , Oceanodroma C r i s t r a m i Red-tailed Tropicbird, Phaethon rubricauda White-tailed ~r o~i c b i r d , -P h a e t h o n l e p t u r u s Blue-faced Booby, Sula d a c t y l a t r a Brown Booby, leucogaster Red-footed Booby, Sula s u l a Great F r i g a t e b i r d , Fregata minor Lesser F r i g a t e b i r d , Fregata Black-crowned Night Heron, Nycticorax nycticorax ( h o a c t l i ? ) Emperor Goose, P h i l a c t e canagica European Widgeon, Mareca penelope P i n t a i l , Anas a c u t a Tufted Duck, Aythya f u l i g u l a Bufflehead, Bucephala a l b e o l a Peregrine Falcon, ~alc-rinus ( p e a l e i ? ) D o t t e r e l , Eudromias morinellus American Golden Plover, P l u v i a l i s dominica Black-bellied Plover, Squatarola s q u a t a r o l a Ruddy Turnstone, Arenaria Lntntt P i n t a i l Snipe, Fapella Wood Sandpiper, Tringa g l a t e o l a Wandering T a t t l e r , I-Ieteroscelus incanum Lesser Yellowlegs, Totanus f l a v i p e s S h a r p -t a i l e d Sandpiper, E r o l i a acuminata P e c t o r a l Sandpiper, E r o l i a melanotos S h a r p -t a i l e d o r P e c t o r a l Sandpiper, E r o l i a acuminata o r melanotos Dunlin, E r o l i a a l p i n a sakhalina Long-billed Dowitcher, Limnodromus scolopaceus Western Sandpiper, Ereunetes a B a r -t a i l e d Godwit, Limssa lapponica Ruff, Philornachus pugnax Sanderling, Crocethia alba Red Phalarope, Phalaropus f u l i c a r i u s Ring-billed Gull, Larus delawarensis Herring Gull, Larus a r g e n t a t u s v s Slaty-backed Gull, s c h i s t i s a g u sGlaucous-winged Gull, Larus glaucescens Glaucous Gull, hyperboreusBlack-legged Kittiwake, Xissa t r i d a c t y l a Black Tern, Chlidoniae n i g e r A r c t i c Tern, S t e r n a paradisea Sooty Tern, s t e r n a f u s c a t a Gray-backed Tern, Sterna l u n a t a Brown Noddy, A m s t o l i d u s Black Noddy, A m t e n u i r o e t r i s FIGURESGreen I s l a n d , Kure A t o l l .Vegetation of Green I s l a n d , Kure A t o l l .A e r i a l view of Green I s l a n d , Kure A t o l l , looking north, 6 A p r i l 1966.A e r i a l view of Green I s l a n d , Kure A t o l l , looking south, Looking towards west p o i n t from r a d a r r e f l e c t o r , Green I s l a n d , Kure A t o l l , 1 J u l y 1968.Breeding Red-footed Boobies i n c e n t r a l r o o s t , Green I s l a n d , Kure A t o l l , 1 J u l y 1968.South beach, Green I s l a n d , Kure A t o l l , 1 July 1968.Edge of runway, Green I s l a n d , Kure A t o l l , 1 J u l y 1968.Looking towards n o r t h p o i n t from n o r t h tower, Green I s l a n d , Kure A t o l l , 1 J u l y 1968.Sooty Tern colony i n south antenna f i e l d , Green Island, Kure A t o l l , 1 J u l y 1968.Generalized annual population cyc1.e~ of breeding s p e c i e s a t Kure A t o l l .Generalized annual population c y c l e s o f non-breeding s p e c i e s a t Kure A t o l l . Number of Bonin P e t r e l s captured each n i g h t i n two study a r e a s , 1 1 February -14 A p r i l 1969, on Green I s l a n d , Kure A t o l l .Counts of Wedge-tailed She...

Review of impacts of the introduced house mouse on islands in the Southern Ocean: are mice equivalent to rats?

“…The incidence and impacts of rat predation on island biota vary widely and depend on factors such as the physical environment of the island, seasonal availability of food, the size, behaviour and population density of the rats and the presence of other rat species and/or other predators or competitors (Woodward 1972;Atkinson 1978;Taylor 1979;Moors and Atkinson 1984). Although the effects of these factors have been studied principally for rats, there is evidence that the impacts of mice vary according to similar factors (Chown and Smith 1993;Smith et al 2002;Wanless et al 2007).…”

Size at sex change in protogynous labroids, prey body size distributions, and apex predator densities at NW Hawaiian atolls

“…Beginning in 1996 and extending through 2000, adults of the larger carangids at MID were subject to physiological stress (and possible mortality) by a recreational catch-and-release fishery, and displayed conditioned aversion to small boats and divers resulting from coincident recreational dive operations . Carangids and sharks had been fished by military personnel at KUR for over 3 decades until 1992, when the US coast guard abandoned its Long Range Navigation System (LORAN) station there (Woodward 1972). No such sustained removal of apex predators has ever occurred at PHR, as reflected by the right-skewed body size distributions of adults there.…”

Sailing through Time: A Historical Examination of the Explorations and Expeditions of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument

“…The program, known as the Pacific Ocean Biological Survey Program, included an extensive review of the literature, as well as several scientific expeditions to the NWHI. A series of comprehensive reports were published as a result of these explorations, including thorough monographs on the natural history of French Frigate Shoals (Amerson 1971), Gardner Pinnacles (Clapp 1972), Kure Atoll (Woodward 1972), Laysan Island (Ely and Clapp 1973), Pearl and Hermes Atoll (Amerson et al, 1974), Lisianski Island (Clapp and Wirtz 1975), Mokumanamana Island (Clapp and Kridler 1977) and Nīhoa Island (Clapp et al, 1977). These monographs contain detailed information on the biology, geology, geography, climate and human history of each of these islands visited as part of the Pacific Ocean Biological Survey Program.…”