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Population Ecology and Conservation of the Snail Kite

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Population Ecology and Conservation of the Snail Kite POPULATION ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION OF THE SNAIL KITE By JULIEN MARTIN A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2007 1 © 2007 Julien Martin 2 A Mercedes 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am greatly indebted to my committee members: Wiley Kitchens, Jim Nichols, Don DeAngelis, Peter Frederick, and Ben Bolker. Wiley Kitchens has been an exceptional supervisor and mentor. His unwavering support and countless hours of expertise helped me grow as an ecologist and contributed to the success of my research. I also owe special thanks to Jim Nichols who had a major influence on the project. He helped me think more critically about my research and assisted with many of the statistical analyses. Don DeAngelis provided excellent input and valuable ideas. I am thankful to Peter Frederick for many useful discussions about water management and bird populations in the Everglades. Ben Bolker provided helpful statistical advice. In addition to the input from my committee members, I also greatly benefited from the assistance of other scientists: Jim Hines, Wolf Mooij, Arpat Ozgul, MadanOli, Jeff Hostetler, Hardin Waddle, Vicky Dreitz, Rob Bennetts, Gary White, Roger Pradel, Christopher Cattau, Andrea Bowling, Zack Welch, Eric Powers, Christa Zweig, Sarah Haas, Steve Beissinger, Bret Sandercock, Therese Donovan, Nicholas Schtickzelle, Tom Contreras, Alejandro Paredes, Thomas Cornullier, Maynard Hiss, Brad Stith, Phil Darby, Steve Daniels and Fred Johnson. Statistical analyses related to capture-mark-recapture would not have been possible without the help of Jim Hines. This dissertation could never have been completed without the great vision of the individuals who initiated and designed the Snail Kite monitoring program: Rob Bennetts, Wiley Kitchens, Vicky Dreitz, and Jim Nichols. Additionally, in the early stage of my research, Rob Bennetts spent many hours helping me become familiar with kites and the huge Snail Kite database. During my first field season, he replaced me in the field for several months which 4 allowed me to attend an important course on capture-mark-recapture techniques offered by Gary White and David Anderson. I would like to thank all the field biologists involved with data collection during the last 5 years: Christopher Cattau, Andrea Bowling, Samantha Musgrave, Sara Stocco, Brian Reichert, Melinda Conners, Danny Huser, Derek Piotrowicz, Christina Rich, Michaela Speirs, Jamie Dubeirstein, Janell Brush, Zack Welch, Jeff Kingscott, Freddy Martin, and Paul Pouzergues. I appreciate the help and cooperation of the following biologists and managers who invested time and effort to promoting Snail Kite recovery: Tylan Dean, Debbie Pierce, Steve Miller, Joe Benedict, Susan Sylvester and Jim Rodgers. Financial support was provided by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the St. Johns River Water Management District, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and the U.S. Geological Survey. Employees of the Florida Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit were especially helpful with the administration of this study, particularly Donna Roberts, Franklin Percival, Barbara Fesler and Debra Hughes. Lois Wilcox, Anne Taylor, and Ellen Main helped with editing. Finally, I would like to thank members of my family and friends who have been a great support throughout these years: Mercedes, Christophe, Jose, the Martin-Pouzergues family, the McSweeneys, the Glogowskis, the Kitchens, Jacotte, Emilie, Bruno, and Sarah. 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...............................................................................................................4 LIST OF TABLES.........................................................................................................................11 LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................................12 ABSTRACT...................................................................................................................................13 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................15 Why Study the Snail Kite? .....................................................................................................15 Background Information on Snail Kites.................................................................................16 Objectives and Outline ...........................................................................................................18 2 IMPORTANCE OF WELL-DESIGNED MONITORING PROGRAMS FOR THE CONSERVATION OF ENDANGERED SPECIES: CASE STUDY OF THE SNAIL KITE .......................................................................................................................................19 Introduction.............................................................................................................................19 Methods ..................................................................................................................................23 Study Area.......................................................................................................................23 Sampling Methods...........................................................................................................23 Marking protocol......................................................................................................23 Population survey protocol.......................................................................................23 Analysis ...........................................................................................................................24 Superpopulation size estimates of adults .................................................................24 Estimation of population growth rate.......................................................................26 Estimation of the number of young produced..........................................................27 Detection probabilities for number of young produced every year .........................27 Count data ................................................................................................................28 Average number of kites and growth rate based on count data................................28 Detection probabilities for FC and MC....................................................................28 Estimates of Precision and Magnitude of the Difference between Estimates.................29 Results.....................................................................................................................................30 Population Size and Average Population Growth Rate...................................................30 Average Number of Kites Before and After Decline Based on the Superpopulation Approach......................................................................................................................31 Average Number of Kites Before and After Decline Based on Count Data...................31 Average Number of Kites and Growth Rate Based on Count Data ................................31 Number of Young............................................................................................................32 Detection Probabilities for FC and MC...........................................................................32 Discussion...............................................................................................................................32 6 Population Decline ..........................................................................................................32 Problems Associated with Counts and Implications for Recovery Plans........................34 Importance of Monitoring to Diagnose Causes of Decline.............................................37 Conclusion ..............................................................................................................................38 3 MULTISCALE PATTERNS OF MOVEMENT IN FRAGMENTED LANDSCAPES AND CONSEQUENCES ON DEMOGRAPHY OF THE SNAIL KITE IN FLORIDA......44 Introduction.............................................................................................................................44 Hypotheses and Predictions.............................................................................................47 Methods ..................................................................................................................................49 Study Area.......................................................................................................................49 Criteria for Determining the Regional Impact of the 2001 Drought...............................49 Statistical Models to Estimate Movement and Survival..................................................50 Field Methods for the Study of Movement on a Monthly Scale .....................................51 Statistical Methods to Estimate Movement on a Monthly Scale Using Radiotelemetry.............................................................................................................51 Estimating monthly movement among regions........................................................51 Estimating monthly movement within regions using radio-telemetry .....................52 Field Methods for the Study of
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