Great Salt Lake Shorebird Conservation Strategy

ACCOUNTING FOR MIGRATORY SHOREBIRD HABITAT NEEDS AT ONE OF NORTH AMERICA’S GREAT ECOSYSTEMS

Great Salt Lake Issues Forum May 10, 2012 Strategy History

• 1991 GSL Hemispheric WHSRN site •1990s GSL shorebird conservation planning begins • 1997-2001 GSL Waterbird Survey • U.S. Shorebird and Intermountain West shorebird conservation Plans 2000 •2007 Intermountain West Shorebird Science Team migratory shorebird planning strategy •Key sites selected to account for Intermountain migratory shorebird habitats •2007 GSL Key Site

GSL Key Site Shorebird Conservation Strategy Framework

► Site specific ► Community-based ► Conservation oriented ► Population objective driven ► Explicit habitat demand measured ► Site conservation action team guided Four Major Strategy Elements

1. Migratory shorebird population objectives

2. Habitat requirements during migration

3. Conservation estate assessment

4. Conservation design and delivery GSL Migratory Shorebirds

Shorebirds Present at GSL at Some Species in yellow are GSL Ecosystem Point During the Annual Breeding Species of Importance. B = breeds at and Passage Cycle GSL.

► Black-bellied Plover Pluvialis squatarola ► Marbled Godwit Limosa fedoa ► Snowy Plover (B) Charadrius alexandrinus ► Red Knot Calidris canutus ► Semipalmated Plover Charadrius ► Sanderling Calidris alba semipalmatus ► Semipalmated Sandpiper Calidris pusilla ► Killdeer (B) Charadrius vociferous ► Western Sandpiper Calidris mauri ► Black-necked Stilt (B) Himantopus ► Least Sandpiper Calidris minutilla mexicanus ► Baird's Sandpiper Calidris bairdii ► American Avocet (B) Recurvirostra ► Pectoral Sandpiper Calidris melanotos americana ► Dunlin Calidris alpine ► Spotted Sandpiper (B) Actitis macularius ► Stilt Sandpiper Calidris himantopus ► Solitary Sandpiper Tringa solitaria ► Long-billed Dowitcher Limnodromus ► Greater Yellowlegs Tringa melanoleuca scolopaceus ► Willet (B) Tringa semipalmata ► Wilson’s Snipe (B) Gallinago delicate ► Lesser Yellowlegs Tringa flavipes ► Wilson's Phalarope (B) Phalaropus ► Whimbrel Numenius phaeopus tricolor ► Long-billed Curlew (B) Numenius ► Red-necked Phalarope Phalaropus americanus lobatus

Common Name North America IWJV GSL Peak Count North America IWJV Population Population Size Population Population at GSL (%) at GSL (%)

Black-bellied Plover 50,000 15,000 3,383 7% 23%

Snowy Plover 13,200 10,000 3,715 28% 37%

Killdeer 1,000,000 50,000 3,020 < 1% 6%

Black-necked Stilt 175,000 120,000 65,000 37% 54%

American Avocet 450,000 420,000 250,000 56% 60%

Greater Yellowlegs 100,000 12,000 555 < 1% 5%

Willet 160,000 50,000 2,289 1% 5%

Lesser Yellowlegs 400,000 15,000 1,832 < 1% 12%

Long-billed Curlew 123,500 70,000 409 < 1% 1%

Marbled Godwit 172,000 130,000 43,833 25% 34%

Sanderling 300,000 15,000 8,477 3% 57%

Western Sandpiper 3,500,000 500,000 194,536 6% 39%

Least Sandpiper 700,000 100,000 8,041 1% 8%

Baird's Sandpiper 300,000 35,000 1,130 < 1% 3%

Long-billed 400,000 250,000 58,800 15% 24% Dowitcher Wilson's Phalarope 1,500,000 750,000 533,000 36% 71%

Red-necked 2,500,000 350,000 240,000 10% 69% Phalarope Four migratory shorebird habitats

1. Emergent Wetlands 2. Hemi-Marsh 3. Open Water 4. Mud Flats and Playa Four GSL Migratory Shorebird Habitats at 4195’ and 4200’ above Sea Level Assessing Energetic Carrying Capacity

Population Energy Demand

Population Bird Energy Objective Needs

Habitat Energy Supply

Food Habitat Supply Acres

Deficit? Enough? Shorebird population objectives and total use‐days during migration at Great Salt Lake Use-days

Population ______Species Objective Fall Spring American Avocet 269,950 17,116,680 3,133,550 Black-bellied Plover 19,030 29,270 512,210 Black-necked Stilt 91,030 4,658,820 540,390 Long-billed Dowitcher 64,730 3,374,390 751,200 Killdeer 10,420 303,630 125,700 Long-billed Curlew 250 2,640 9,780 Marbled Godwit 153,850 7,611,600 1,287,460 Red Knot 70 390 1,630 Sanderling 14,410 13,910 258,850 Semipalmated Plover 20 390 430 Snowy Plover 8,730 392,560 267,970 Spotted Sandpiper 50 1,220 280 Stilt Sandpiper 70 1,120 0 Whimbrel 10 40 140 Willet 13,990 168,290 388,920 Baird's Sandpiper 3,610 115,410 28,040 Least Sandpiper 9,140 182,090 3,350 Semipalmated Sandpiper 260 2,420 2,720 Western Sandpiper 265,160 3,097,770 204,250 Red-necked Phalarope 280,340 1,567,640 5,534,170 Wilson's Phalarope 692,030 14,968,270 965,960 Greater Yellowlegs 2,410 96,050 18,720 Lesser Yellowlegs 4,900 150,550 67,330 Total Use-days 53,855,150 14,103,050 Foraging Habitat Objectives

Three Pieces of Information Needed

1. How much food does a shorebird require per day?  Daily Energetic Demand

2. How many shorebirds are at GSL and for how long?  Population Objectives → Use-days

3. How much food is available?  Average food (invertebrate) density

Foraging Habitat Objectives Daily Energetic Demand (Kersten & Piersma 1987)

Standard Formula American Avocet ► Existence Metabolic ► Existence Metabolic Requirement (EMR) Requirement (EMR) EMR = 912 ∙ (Body EMR = 395 kj/day Mass)0.704

► Net Energy Content of ► Net Energy Content of Food (Invertebrates) Food (Invertebrates) NEC = 16.8 kj/g NEC = 16.8 kj/g ► Daily Invertebrate Mass ► Daily Invertebrate Mass Required during Migration Required during Migration -1 IM = (EMR ∙ NEC ) + Migration IMMigration = 25.5 g/day 2g/day

Foraging Habitat Objectives

Population Objectives Fall Migration Use-days: AMAV Population at GSL Σ AMAV= 17.1 million Σ All Shorebirds = 53.9 million 300,000 269,951

250,000

200,000 150,000

Abundance 100,000 50,000 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 April May June July Aug Sep

5-Yr Mean Objective Foraging Habitat Objectives

Estimate of Invertebrate Density Invertebrate Acres at Density 4200 Assumption Habitat Guild Elevation (g/m2) Reference/Basis for Assumption I-Emergent wetland 50,960 2.00 Loesch et al. (2000); Vermillion & Ortego (2009) II-Hemi-marsh 23,810 2.00 Loesch et al. (2000); Vermillion & Ortego (2009) III-Open Water 240,120 0.77 Huener (1984); Huener & Kadlec (1992) IV-Mudflat/Playa 204,400 0.79 Andrei et al. (2009) Shoreline 13,480 1.60 Collins (1980); Wurtsbaugh (2009) Total 532,770 Weighted Average 0.97 Foraging Habitat Objectives Foraging Habitat Objectives

GSL Shorebird Foraging Habitat Requirements

40,000 35,000 30,000 Σ = 230,030 acres

25,000

20,000 Acres 15,000 10,000 5,000 0 5-14 15-24 25-3 4-13 14-23 24-2 3-12 13-22 23-31 July August September Time Period Assessing Energetic Carrying Capacity

Wetland Habitat Requirements for Fall Migrating Shorebirds at Great Salt Lake - 4200 ft Elevation

200,000

180,000

160,000 Population Demand

140,000 Habitat Supply

120,000

100,000

80,000 Wetland Acres Wetland 60,000

40,000

20,000

0 5-14 15-24 25-3 4-13 14-23 24-2 3-12 13-22 23-31 July Aug Sep Conservation Estate Assessment

► Management focus at conservation sites ► Conservation partners and programs ► Applied research ► Trends in community growth ► Threats to shorebird habitat

Threats to Shorebird Habitats

► WATER QUANTITY Population Growth for Selected Utah Counties

2,500,000 Total ► WATER QUALITY 2,000,000 Salt Lake 1,500,000 Weber 1,000,000 Utah ► WATER DISTRIBUTION 500,000 Davis Cache 0 Box Elder ► 1950 1990 2000 2004 2007 2008 EXOTIC/INVASIVE SPECIES Tooele Year

► DISEASES/PATHOGENS

► HABITAT CONVERSION FRAGMENTATION AND LOSS

GSL Threat Regions

► Cache Valley ► South Shore/Tooele (south/west of Goggin Drain to Stansbury Is to Union Pacific ► Bear River Bay (Bear River Railroad causeway) Delta Region)

► Gunnison Bay (West side ► Ogden Bay (Antelope Island Union Pacific Railroad causeway, to Fremont Island, causeway north around Bay to Union Pacific railroad back to east side Union Pacific causeway and Ogden River causeway) Delta)

► Utah Lake ► Farmington Bay (north of Goggin Drain to Antelope Island causeway) ► Toole Valley

Questions needing answers for moving forward.

What is the conservation strategy as derived from report findings?

Who should move these conservation elements forward?

Where do we provide migratory bird conservation?

When and with what timeline does the Strategy move forward?