Florida Grasshopper Sparrow Disease Risk Analysis November, 2018 Florida Grasshopper Sparrow Disease Risk Analysis 28 – 29 November, 2018 White Oak Conservation Yulee, FL Workshop Report 9 April, 2019 Workshop Organization White Oak Conservation Workshop Design and Facilitation IUCN/SSC Conservation Planning Specialist Group Workshop Support United States Fish and Wildlife Service Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission White Oak Conservation Cover photo: Christina Evans A contribution of the IUCN/SSC Conservation Planning Specialist Group, in collaboration with White Oak Conservation, United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and workshop participants. Workshop support provided by United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and White Oak Conservation. IUCN encourage meetings, workshops and other forums for the consideration and analysis of issues related to conservation, and believe that reports of these meetings are most useful when broadly disseminated. The opinions and recommendations expressed in this report reflect the issues discussed and ideas expressed by the participants in the workshop and do not necessarily reflect the formal policies IUCN, its Commissions, its Secretariat or its members. © Copyright CPSG 2019 Suggested Citation: IUCN CPSG. 2019. Florida Grasshopper Sparrow Disease Risk Analysis: Workshop Report. 9 April 2019. Apple Valley, MN: IUCN SSC Conservation Planning Specialist Group. Workshop Report Florida Grasshopper Sparrow Disease Risk Analysis 9 April 2019 Florida Grasshopper Sparrow Disease Risk Analysis 28 – 29 November, 2018 White Oak Conservation Yulee, FL Table of Contents Executive Summary ......................................................................................................................... i Florida Grasshopper Sparrow Disease Risk Analysis: Project History, Iterative Workshop Process, and Expectations......................................................1 A Short Summary of Programmatic Pathogen Control Efforts .............................................................. 1 Risk Analysis: An Iterative, Adaptive Process ....................................................................................... 3 Key Concepts of Disease Risk Analysis ................................................................................................ 4 Method Used to Conduct this DRA........................................................................................................ 5 DRA Context .......................................................................................................................................... 7 Problem Description ........................................................................................................................8 Acceptable Risk ...................................................................................................................................... 8 Hazard Identification .......................................................................................................................9 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 9 List of Relevant Hazards ...................................................................................................................... 10 Hazard Assessment Criteria ................................................................................................................. 11 Hazard Assessment ............................................................................................................................... 11 Hazard Assessment Summary and Conclusions ................................................................................... 14 Risk Assessment for Priority Hazards ...........................................................................................15 Risk Assessment: Filarid Nematodes ................................................................................................... 15 Risk Assessment: Coccidian Protozoa ................................................................................................. 15 Risk Assessment: Transfer Pathway Analysis...................................................................................... 16 Discussion of management alternatives ........................................................................................................ 19 Filarid nematode treatment ............................................................................................................................ 19 Coccidian protozoa treatment ........................................................................................................................ 20 Duration of “quarantine and isolation” .......................................................................................................... 20 Post-release monitoring ................................................................................................................................. 22 A Preliminary Analysis of Further Research Needs ......................................................................23 Preliminary Conclusions from This Analysis ................................................................................23 References ......................................................................................................................................25 Workshop Report Florida Grasshopper Sparrow Disease Risk Analysis 9 April 2019 Appendices .....................................................................................................................................27 Appendix I: List of Workshop Participants ....................................................................................... 27 Appendix II: Comments from Disease Experts Regarding Pre-Release Health Screening and Quarantine for Florida Grasshopper Sparrows .............................................................. 29 Appendix III: A Literature Review of pathogens that may cause morbidity or mortality in the critically endangered Florida Grasshopper Sparrow ..................................................... 45 Appendix IV: Data Summary Presentations from Workshop .............................................................. 59 Appendix V: Documents and literature provided to participants in advance of the Disease Risk Assessment Workshop ................................................................................................... 75 Appendix VI: Florida Grasshopper Sparrow 5-Year Strategic Vision (Second Draft – Last Update 26 November 2018) ........................................................ 77 Appendix VII: Workshop Participant Dissenting Statement ............................................................... 131 Workshop Report Florida Grasshopper Sparrow Disease Risk Analysis 9 April 2019 Florida Grasshopper Sparrow Disease Risk Analysis Executive Summary Introduction The Florida grasshopper sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum floridanus, FGSP) is a non-migratory subspecies endemic to dry prairie habitats of south-central Florida. It has been listed as state endangered since 1977 and federally endangered since 1986. Populations have declined at all three major documented breeding sites on public land, including Three Lakes Wildlife Management Area, Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park, and Avon Park Air Force Range. The primary causes of this decline have not been fully identified, but known and potential threats to the species include: habitat loss, altered fire regimes, altered hydrology, grazing and land use effects, increased predation pressure, and introduced species. If the Florida grasshopper sparrow continues to decline, it may become extinct in less than a decade. Disease is perceived to be a potential threat to the continued survival of wild FGSPs, although little is known about the prevalence and intensity of parasites and other pathogens that might affect them. There is some existing evidence regarding the disease threat – parasites that have been found in free-ranging FGSPs include ectoparasites (ticks, feather lice, and feather mites), helminths (Mediorhynchus papillosum and an unidentified microfilaria), unidentified fecal coccidia (probably Isospora sp.), hemoparasites (Plasmodium sp., Leucocytozoon sp., and Trypanosoma sp.), tick-borne hemobacteria (Ehrlichia chaffeensis and Rickettsia aeschlimannii, the latter found only from the gut of ticks that fed on FGSP), and mycobacteriosis (Mycobacterium avium). The FGSP captive-breeding program began in 2015 at the Rare Species Conservatory Foundation (RSCF) and in 2016 at White Oak Conservation (WOC) to assist with species recovery. A higher-than-acceptable rate of morbidity and mortality occurred among captive birds during the 2016 and 2017 breeding seasons due to management, nutrition, and disease-related issues. Disease is a common problem in many captive bird populations due to higher densities and stress of birds in captivity. Therefore, steps were immediately taken to identify and manage disease in the captive facilities. Changes in husbandry practices led to a significant reduction in disease in the captive Florida grasshopper sparrow flocks, and no disease-related deaths were reported in 2018. From the management group’s perspective, the most pressing infectious disease concerns affecting the captive population (and thus