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Conservation Assessment for the Northern Goshawk in Southeast Alaska

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Conservation Assessment for the Northern Goshawk in Southeast Alaska United States Department of Agriculture Conservation Assessment Forest Service Pacific Northwest for the Northern Goshawk Research Station General Technical Report in Southeast Alaska PNW-GTR-387 November 1996 George C. Iverson, Gregory D. Hayward, Kimberly Titus, Eugene DeGayner, Richard E. Lowell, D. Coleman Crocker-Bedford, Philip F. Schempf, and John Lindell Authors GEORGE C. IVERSON is the Regional Ecology Program leader, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Alaska Region, P.O. Box 21628, Juneau, AK 99801; GREGORY D. HAYWARD is an assistant professor, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82071; KIMBERLY TITUS is the regional supervisor, Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Wildlife Conservation, P.O. Box 240020, Douglas, AK 99824; EUGENE DeGAYNER is the regional wildlife ecologist, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Alaska Region, P.O. Box 309, Petersburg, AK 99833; RICHARD E. LOWELL is a wildlife biologist, Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Wildlife Conservation, P.O. Box 24002, Douglas, AK 99824; D. COLEMAN CROCKER-BEDFORD is a forest wildlife biologist, Ketchikan Administrative Area, Tongass National Forest, Federal Building, Ketchikan, AK 99901; PHILIP F. SCHEMPF is the project leader for raptor management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 3000 Vintage Blvd., Suite 240, Juneau, AK 99801; and JOHN LINDELL is a wildlife biologist, U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, 3000 Vintage Blvd., Juneau, AK 99801. Conservation and Resource Assessments for the Tongass Land Management Plan Revision Charles G. Shaw III, Technical Coordinator Conservation Assessment for the Northern Goshawk in Southeast Alaska George C. Iverson Gregory D. Hayward Kimberly Titus Eugene DeGayner Richard E. Lowell D. Coleman Crocker-Bedford Philip F. Schempf John Lindell Published by: U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station Portland, Oregon General Technical Report PNW-GTR-387 November 1996 In cooperation with: Alaska Department of Fish and Game U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service Abstract Iverson, George C.; Hayward, Gregory D.; Titus, Kimberly; DeGayner, Eugene; Lowell, Richard E.; Crocker-Bedford, D. Coleman; Schempf, Philip F.; Lindell, John. 1996. Conservation assessment for the northern goshawk in southeast Alaska. Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-387. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 101 p. (Shaw, Charles G., III, tech. coord.; Conservation and resource assessments for the Tongass land management plan revision). The conservation status of northern goshawks in southeast Alaska is examined through developing an understanding of goshawk ecology in relation to past, pres- ent, and potential future habitat conditions in the region under the current Tongass land management plan. Forest ecosystem dynamics are described, and a history of forest and goshawk management in the Tongass National Forest is reviewed. Nearly 900,000 acres of the most productive old-growth temperate rain forest in southeast Alaska (public and private lands) have been harvested during the past 90 years and changed to early seral conifer forests. Goshawk habitat relations are described through a review of the goshawk literature. Significant preliminary findings of a hab- itat relation study in southeast Alaska include the following: goshawks select produc- tive old-growth forests with > 60 percent of all adult goshawk telemetry relocations occurring in this cover type; nonforest, clearcut, and alpine cover types were least used and were avoided relative to their availability; and the median breeding season minimum convex polygon use areas of adult goshawks was about 10,000 acres. Goshawks predominantly use gentle slopes (70 percent of relocations) at elevations below 800 feet (54-74 percent of relocations); 24 percent of relocations occurred in riparian habitat zones, and nearly 20 percent of all relocations occurred within the beach fringe habitat extending 1,000 feet inland from the ocean shoreline. Goshawk nesting habitat is a nonrandom subset of the landscape with a significantly higher proportion of productive old-growth forest within a 600-acre analysis area surrounding known nests. The probability of persistence of goshawks has declined over the past 50 years owing to habitat loss and likely will continue to decline under current man- agement plan regimes; however, the goshawk population likely is not in immediate peril. The predicted consequences of several alternative habitat management ap- proaches are compared. This analysis suggests that long rotation forestry (e.g., 300 years) and uneven-aged silvicultural management may maintain habitat char- acteristics important to sustaining goshawk populations well distributed across the region. Although habitat reserves are not considered an essential component of a forest-wide goshawk conservation strategy, reserves, in combination with extended rotations, may be important where the intensity of past management actions has precluded the opportunity to attain a desired combination of forest age classes achieveable under long rotations. Reserves are most likely critical if extensive clearcut logging continues. Keywords: Northern goshawk, Accipiter gentilis laingi, habitat, conservation, assessment, management. Preface This assessment synthesizes the best available science information regarding the ecology and habitat relations of the northern goshawk (Accipiter gentilis) in south- east Alaska. By building on these relations, it examines the conservation status of the goshawk relative to past, present, and anticipated habitat conditions throughout southeast Alaska. Finally, it provides management considerations for sustaining gos- hawk populations across the Tongass National Forest. This conservation assess- ment was chartered under the Tongass [National Forest] land management plan (TLMP) revision and the interagency memorandum of understanding (MOU) among the Alaska Region of the Forest Service (FS), the Alaska Region of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) to conserve species tending toward listing under the Federal or State endangered species acts.1 Revision efforts for the TLMP resumed in fall 1994 with a focus on five major land management issues considered to be inadequately addressed in the existing TLMP: wildlife viability, fish and riparian habitat, caves and karst, alternatives to clearcutting, and socioeconomic considerations. Goshawk conservation is an important compo- nent within the wildlife viability issue. Concern for goshawk population viability in southeast Alaska evolved during the past decade and culminated with the petition to list the Queen Charlotte goshawk (A. g. laingi) as an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act. The FWS concluded in 1995 that listing the goshawk was not warranted at that time owing to insufficient information, but stated that “...without significant changes in the existing Tongass National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan, the longterm viability of the Queen Charlotte goshawk may be seriously imperiled” (USDI Fish and Wildlife Service 1995). Specific management recommendations or strategies for managing goshawk habitat were not a component of the charters for this assessment and are not included in this report. This synthesis of available information provides planners and the public with a scientific basis for evaluating the consequences of habitat management choices. It presents ecological relations as well as management considerations that should be examined in crafting and evaluating an ecosystem management plan that sustains all resources, including goshawks. Although this assessment presents some new and preliminary results of current research, its main use is as a synthesis of current information to assist conservation planning and not to report the results of original research. This assessment represents a collaborative product of management and research biologists. The authors brought experience in managing and investigating goshawks plus a variety of perspectives from several government agencies. Consensus was obtained on the science and conclusions commensurate with information data avail- able through early 1996. Ongoing goshawk inventories and studies in the Tongass National Forest will continue to provide new knowledge, and this document repre- sents an incremental step in understanding goshawk ecology. Adaptive manage- ment can be a useful tool to respond to new information. 1 The primary objective of the MOU was to foster interagency cooperation for the conservation of candidate and sensitive species to avoid the need for listing and protection under the Endangered Species Act. The goshawk, in addition to the marbled murrelet (Branchyramphus marmoratus) and Alexander Archipelago wolf (Canis lupus ligoni), were identified as priority species for conducting a conservation assessment to achieve MOU objectives. Contents 1 The Forest Ecosystem and Its Management 1 Natural Disturbance Regimes 3 Forest Stand Development 5 Forest Inventory 6 History of Forest Management in Southeast Alaska 8 History of Northern Goshawk Management in the Tongass National Forest 11 Management Update Since Assessment Initiation 11 Review of Northern Goshawk Ecology in North America 11 Introduction 12 Review of Technical Knowledge 22 Analysis of Northern Goshawk Ecology in Southeast Alaska 22
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