U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Draft Recovery Plan for Five Species From American Sāmoa J. Malotaux R. Stirnemann Pe'ape'a Vai or Pacific Sheath-tailed BatBatBat Ma'oma'o Emballonura semicaudata semicaudata Gymnomyza samoensis Tu'aimeo or Friendly Ground-Dove J. Malotaux Gallicolumba stairi R. RundellRundellR. Rundell Eua zebrina R. Rundell Ostodes strigatus Draft Recovery Plan for Five Species from American Sāmoa Peʻapeʻa Vai or Pacific Sheath-tailed Bat, South Pacific Subspecies (Emballonura semicaudata semicaudata) Maʻomaʻo or Mao (Gymnomyza samoensis) Tuʻaimeo or Friendly Ground-Dove (Gallicolumba [=Alopecoenas] stairi) American Sāmoa Distinct Population Segment Eua zebrina Ostodes strigatus June 2020 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Portland, Oregon Approved: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Regional Director U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service DISCLAIMER Recovery plans delineate reasonable actions needed to recover and/or protect listed species. We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), publish recovery plans, sometimes preparing them with the assistance of recovery teams, contractors, State agencies, and others. Objectives of the recovery plan are accomplished, and funds made available, subject to budgetary and other constraints affecting the parties involved, as well as the need to address other priorities with the same funds. Recovery plans do not necessarily represent the views or the official positions or approval of any individuals or agencies involved in the plan formulation, other than our own. They represent our official position only after signed by the Director or Regional Director. Draft recovery plans are reviewed by the public and may be subject to additional peer review before the Service adopts them as final. Recovery objectives may be attained and funds expended contingent upon appropriations, priorities, and other budgetary constraints. Recovery plans are guidance and planning documents only; identification of an action to be implemented by any public or private party does not create a legal obligation beyond existing legal requirements. Nothing in this plan should be construed as a commitment or requirement that any Federal agency obligate or pay funds in any one fiscal year in excess of appropriations made by Congress for that fiscal year in contravention of the Anti-Deficiency Act, 31 U.S.C. 1341, or any other law or regulation. Approved recovery plans are subject to modification as dictated by new findings, changes in species status, and completion of recovery actions. Literature citation of this document should read as follows: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 2020. Draft recovery plan for five species from American Sāmoa. Portland, Oregon. xiii + 50 pages. An electronic copy of this recovery plan is also available at: https://www.fws.gov/pacific/ecoservices/endangered/recovery/plans.html and http://www.fws.gov/endangered/species/recovery-plans.html i ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, gratefully acknowledge the contributions of the following individuals and organizations in developing the Draft Recovery Plan for Five Species from American Sāmoa. The primary authors of this draft recovery plan are Joy Browning and Ryan Peʻa (Pacific Islands Fish and Wildlife Office [PIFWO], Honolulu, Hawaiʻi), and Grant Canterbury (Regional Office, Portland, Oregon). We particularly thank the species experts who provided their input during development of the draft recovery plan: Scott Burch, National Park of American Sāmoa Robert Cowie, Pacific Biosciences Research Center, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Adam Miles, American Sāmoa Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources Alivereti Naikatani, University of the South Pacific David Sischo, Snail Extinction Prevention Program, Hawaiʻi Division of Forestry and Wildlife Rebecca Stirnemann, Australian National University Nunia Thomas-Moko, NatureFiji David Waldien, Kutztown University of Pennsylvania ii RECOVERY PLANNING PROCESS The Service’s Recovery Planning and Implementation (RPI) approach to recovery planning (see https://www.fws.gov/endangered/esa-library/pdf/RPI-Feb2017.pdf) is intended to reduce the time needed to develop and implement recovery plans, increase recovery plan relevancy over a longer timeframe, and add flexibility to recovery plans so they can be adjusted for new information or circumstances. Under the RPI process, a recovery plan includes the statutorily-required elements under section 4(f) of the Endangered Species Act (Act) (objective and measurable recovery criteria, site-specific management actions, and estimates of time and costs), along with a concise introduction and our strategy for how we plan to achieve species recovery. An RPI recovery plan is supported by two supplementary documents: a Species Status Assessment or Species Report, which describes the best available scientific information related to the biological needs of the species and assessment of threats; and the Recovery Implementation Strategy, which details the particular near-term activities needed to implement the recovery actions identified in the recovery plan. Under this approach, new information on species biology or details of recovery implementation may be incorporated by updating these supplementary documents without the need to revise the recovery plan, unless changes to statutorily-required elements are necessary. Thus, this draft recovery plan document is one piece of a three-part framework: 1. The Recovery Plan contains a concise overview of the recovery strategy for the species (indicating how its recovered state will achieve redundancy, resiliency, and representation), as well as the statutorily required elements of recovery criteria, recovery actions, and estimates of the time and costs to achieve the plan’s goals. 2. The Species Status Assessment (SSA) or Species Report informs the Recovery Plan; it describes the biology and life history needs of the species, includes analysis of each subspecies’ historical and current conditions, and includes discussion of threats and conservation needs of each subspecies, as well as detailed literature references. The SSA or Species Report’s format is structured around the conservation biology principles of resiliency, redundancy, and representation (Shaffer and Stein 2000, pp. 307-310; Wolf et al. 2015, entire). Biology and threat status for the species addressed in this draft recovery plan, including the geography and environmental context of their range in the Samoan archipelago (and more broadly for the bat), are described in five Species Report documents (USFWS 2020a, 2020b, 2020c, 2020d, and 2020e). 3. The Recovery Implementation Strategy (RIS) is the vehicle for implementing the Recovery Plan. The RIS is a short-term, flexible operational document focused on how, when, and by whom the recovery actions from the Recovery Plan will be implemented. This approach allows us to incorporate new information and adapt to changing circumstances with greater flexibility and efficiency. The RIS will be developed and maintained in cooperation with our conservation partners, and will focus on the period of time and scope of activities that work best for our partners to achieve recovery goals. For this draft recovery plan, we are in the process of coordinating with conservation partners in American Sāmoa (particularly the National Park of American Sāmoa [NPSA] and the American Sāmoa Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources [DMWR]) and internationally to identify the highest priority actions for recovery of these species and finalize the draft RIS. iii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Species Status This draft recovery plan addresses one mammal (peʻapeʻa vai, the South Pacific subspecies of Pacific sheath-tailed bat [Emballonura semicaudata semicaudata]); two birds (maʻomaʻo or mao [Gymnomyza samoensis] and the American Sāmoa distinct population segment (DPS) of tuʻaimeo or friendly ground-dove [Gallicolumba stairi]); and two snails (Eua zebrina and Ostodes strigatus). These five species were proposed for listing as endangered on October 13, 2015 (USFWS 2015) and were listed as endangered on September 22, 2016 (USFWS 2016). No critical habitat is designated for these species. All of these species are currently or historically known from American Sāmoa; the peʻapeʻa vai and maʻomaʻo also occur internationally. Recovery Vision Recovery of peʻapeʻa vai will be signified by restoration of multiple redundant populations distributed widely throughout its international range, comprising one or more viable and interconnected metapopulations allowing natural processes of dispersal and recolonization. Populations should be resilient and self-sustaining, with threats effectively managed through protection of roosts and foraging habitat, and conserve existing genetic diversity. Recovery of maʻomaʻo will be signified by the presence of protected, resilient local populations conserving existing genetic diversity (with sufficient habitat and with predation pressure adequately managed to be self-sustaining), redundantly on multiple islands in Sāmoa and American Sāmoa. Recovery of tuʻaimeo will be signified by the presence of protected, resilient local populations conserving existing genetic diversity (with sufficient habitat and with predation pressure adequately managed to be self-sustaining), redundantly on multiple islands in American Sāmoa. Recovery of Eua zebrina and Ostodes strigatus will be signified by the presence of multiple redundant local populations in American Sāmoa that are resilient, self-sustaining, and conserve existing genetic diversity.