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STENAPA Extra St Eustatius N ation al Parks O ct o b er 2 0 1 3 N e w sle t t er 3 / 2 0 1 3 Inside this Publication... Bridled Q uail-dove study 1 Statia Sustainability Con- 2 STENAPA Extra ference Botanist’s 10th visit to 3 Bridled Quail-dove Study Statia Red-billed Tropicbird 4 O ur current National Park intern, Catherine nevo is no stranger to the birds of.the is- breeding assessment McLaughlin, has embarked upon a popula- land, and w as excited w hen we an- Tropicbirds (cont.) 5 tion/habitat assessment of the Bridled Q uail- nounced Catherine’s plan to study this bird. dove (Geotrygon mystacea), a species of He spent three days with us recently w here ground dove that is know n only to inhabit he w alked some of the transects in our Don’t forget… certain areas of the Q uill. For the past tw o study area. He also set up a mist net in an months Catherine has been walking tran- attempt to catch one of these elusive birds, Guided Hikes: Are available sects in the Q uill in an effort to document however this was unsuccessful. the presence of this enigmatic, rather shy Bot anical Ga rden: Check out bird. Few studies have been done on this the view from the Lookout species to date, therefore the results will be Garden O pen from sunrise to of significant importance to other islands sunset. Great for picnics. that are also home to the bird. According to the Birds of the West Indies book by Raffaele et al., this dove is a ‘generally uncommon to Find us on F acebook : Keep up to date with all the rare resident in the Lesser Antilles and larger, latest happenings—Like our forested Virgin Islands; extremely rare and ‘Stenapa St. Eustatius’ and local in Puerto Rico’. The Bridled Quail-dove ‘Stenapa Youth Nature’ pages! can be distinguished from other species of dove from the w hite streak below its eye and a green-blue patch at the back of its neck. It generally roams the north/north- w estern slopes of the Q uill and can also be found inside the crater. REMINDER (Above: National Park intern Catherine McLaughlin has a BSc in Zoology) Lionfish are We have also installed cameras in an at- venomous and tempt to document the presence of this should only be dove, and in fact our cameras have cap- tured images of the bird. The cameras are removed by Marine triggered by a heat differential, however, Park Staff. and given Statia’s warm climate and the small size of the dove, they are only trig- (Above: Bridled Q uail-dove in the Q uill) gered w hen it is closer than a metre. Never- If you have any theless, w e do have photographic docu- questions or a Catherine is assisted in her project by Na- mentation of the dove. A paper containing tional Park Ranger Hannah Madden and Dr. the results of this study will be submitted to Lionfish sighting Adrian Delnevo, w ho has visited Statia nu- the Journal of Caribbean Ornithology for please call us on merous times to conduct bird trainings. Del- peer review in the near future. 318 2884 Page 2 STE N APA Extra Focus on Statia Species Stenapa Staff at Sustainability Conference Director Steve Piontek and National Hannah Madden presented the results of STEN APA wishes to congratulate STDF for organizing another Park Ranger Hannah Madden w ere this year’s Red-billed Tropicbird breeding excellent conference around the guest speakers at this year’s assessment study (detailed info on pages Sustainability Conference, hosted by 4 and 5). Both presentations were w ell issue of sustainability, w hich is so the St. Eustatius Tourism received and created some lively pertinent in today’s society, and for recognizing the importance of Development Foundation (STDF). discussion and questions among the bringing this issue to the fore. The The theme, “Tourism and Water: participants. Caribbean in Protecting our Common Future”, particular has w as in line with that chosen by the contributed least World Trade Organization for in terms of Tourism Day. This is the second year greenhouse gas STDF has organized its conference, emissions, yet will w hich included local, regional and be one of the international speakers from a wide regions that variety of sectors, including hotels, suffers the local utilities suppliers, the Caribbean consequences of Tourism Organization, N G Os and climate change the Caribbean Community Climate most in the Change Center. future. Steve Piontek opened the first day with his presentation about coastal We look forw ard management. He highlighted the to collaborating need for cooperation and (Above: NP Ranger Hannah Madden with STDF again communication in order to address talking about tropicbird breeding in 2014 for the third Statia the needs of the various success) Sustainability Conference. stakeholders w hose livelihoods depend upon the biodiversity O n the final day of the conference, present in the coastal zone of Statia. Madden took some of the delegates on a guided hike into the crater of the Q uill He w ent on to describe some of the threats w hich face the coastal zone w here they saw tiny frogs, scorpion of Statia, the consequences of these spiders, snakes, tarantulas and a variety threats and the management actions of birds and insects. required to mitigate these threats. (Above: Director Steve Piontek addressing the audience about coastal management) (Above: Some of the delegates from St. Maarten enjoying the view at the crater rim) N e wsletter 3 / 2013 Page 3 Botanist celebrates his 10th visit to Statia Dr. Frank Axelrod, botanist and Environmental Protection in the The monitoring program on Statia herbarium manager at the University Caribbean (EPIC), w ho is w orking hard to caught the attention of Saba nature of Puerto Rico (UPR), has just protect an area of land called the Emilio enthusiasts, Michiel Boeken and Mike celebrated his tenth visit to our tiny Wilson Estate. We hope this result in the Bechtold. Consequently, a parallel island. He has been coming to Statia protection of one of the last remaining monitoring program w as set up in since 2009 to collect and document forests on St. Maarten. 2012, providing an opportunity to the island’s plants, with the ultimate compare the health of populations goal of publishing a flora checklist. Orchids across islands, with Saba perhaps Statia is home to around 500 native having higher goat densities than plants, a large percentage of w hich Statia. A few more years of monitoring One of Statia’s loveliest orchids is will be required to evaluate the can be found in the Q uill and Brassavola cucullata, a species that grows demographic health status of B. northern hills, although Axelrod has on shaded boulders and tree trunks in cucullata on Saba. If the islands’ covered the entire island numerous the Q uill and Boven. Each new shoot populations appear to be declining, times. produces a single, nocturnally fragrant then it becomes critical to understand flow er. Although geographically the causes. We have already identified widespread, populations of these orchids one possible issue: goats. Another may be suffering from habitat cause might be a decline in the destruction, collecting, and invasive abundance of pollinators. Adult moths species. In 2009, Axelrod’s colleagues Dr. feed on nectar and their larvae eat Jim Ackerman and Raymond Tremblay leaves. So if we are to protect these (orchid specialists and professors), joined orchids w e must also protect food NP Ranger Hannah Madden to establish plants of their pollinators, w hich a monitoring program of B. cucullata. requires us to also understand the life Every year since they have gathered cycle of these insects. demographic data, w hich will be used to assess population viability and make Such plant-animal interactions are often recommendations for management. not simple. For example, one possible Reproductive effort and success are scenario might be that goats actually critical for population longevity. Fruit facilitate orchid population growth, if production in B. cucullata is very low, but their appetite for orchid leaves is typical of those tropical orchids that have compensated. The larval food plants of nectarless flow ers and attract pollinators the tw o identified moth pollinators are by deceit. The late Stew art Chipka (Above: Dr. Axelrod in the crater next from plant families that are loaded with reported tw o pollinators on Saba: to an as-yet-unidentified palm toxic secondary compounds (e.g. hawkmoths Manduca sexta and species) Solanaceae and Anacardiaceae). If Protambulix strigilis, both of w hich are goats avoid them, but eat their During his last visit in September, w e widespread in the Neotropics and along potential competitors, larval food plant spent tw o days in the Q uill, two in with perhaps other sympatric species, availability may actually increase, the northern hills, and the final day may pollinate B. cucullata. providing more naive moth pollinators of fieldw ork traversing other areas to be duped by deceitful orchids! O nly Preliminary analyses of the Statia such as tow n and coastal areas. We field observations and experimentation demographic data suggest that the w ere surprised to find a species of will tell. palm in the crater of the Q uill, and populations may be stable, but are Dr. Axelrod confirms he added a largely dependent on a few very large (Orchid text: J. Ackerman/Photo: H. number of species to his checklist. He plants for reproduction, making the Madden) will return for his final visit in populations seemingly vulnerable.
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