National Park Service Inventory & Monitoring U.S. Department of the Interior Pacific Island Network ND ISLA NE IC TW IF O C R A K Pacific Island Network P Quarterly Newsletter of the Pacific Island Network (PACN) N P g Inventory & Monitoring Program S rin Inv ito Quarterly ent Mon Oct. – Dec. 2009, Issue no. 18 ory & Outreach and Will American staff updates...2 Calendar...3 Featured staff...3 Memorial Park's Bird inventory...4 Google Earth™...4 birds become a faded Marine Fish Monitoring, memory? Plenty of Other Fish in the Sea? Featured resource page 5 Haleakalä National Park, A Ranger's Perspective Featured park pages 6-7 American Memorial Park's Bird Trouble Although the birdlife on Saipan is currently stable, a sinister threat lays in waiting. Critical issue page 8 Photo: white tern (Gygis alba) Newsletter of the Pacific Island Network • October – December 2009, issue no. 18 National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Outreach and Staffing Update Featured Staff - Biotechs in W. Pacific Parks Pacific Island Network Outreach P.O. Box 52 Visa Vaivai is from American Samoa. She I&M participated in the annual KAHO kids We look forward to having her as part of the Chris Rillahan migrated to the warm 1 Crater Rim Drive - Qtrs 22 began conservation work when she was hired Hawai'i National Park, HI 96718 cultural festival in mid-November. This festival I&M team. waters of Guam in December 2008, just as by the American Samoan Department of Ma- gave us the opportunity to engage with scores of the winter chill settled on his hometown Hawaii-Pacific Islands Cooperative rine and Wildlife Resources as a clerk. She was W. Hawaii 4th and 5th graders about anchialine Anne Farahi has officially joined the NPS of Boston, Massachusetts. He decided to Ecosystem Studies Unit aquatic team as a biotech after a long stint as a hang up his drysuit, 7mm hood, and gloves only there for one day before she applied for a University of Hawaii at Manoa pools and the watershed. position with the Wildlife Division as a techni- 3190 Maile Way, St.John Hall #408 volunteer and temporary employee. after graduating from the University of New cian. It was there that she developed a passion Honolulu, HI 96822-2279 The PACN I&M program entered the social Hampshire, where he studied fish behavior Funding for long time on an experimental open ocean aquaculture for wildlife. While working 8 hours a day, she The National Park Service (NPS) has imple- media age with several entries to the Pacific COOPERATORS: also took classes at the community college mented natural resource inventory and monitor- Island Parks blog http://pacificislandparks. cooperator and GIS magician, Viet Doan, has project. Now, as a Technician and Dive Safety ing on a servicewide basis to ensure all park and earned an Associates of Science degree in com/ and instant communications on Twitter been exhausted and we will unfortunately Officer, Chris is working on projects for the units possess the resource information needed Inventory and Monitoring, Program in Natural Resources. After seven for effective, science-based management, (PACNscience). The program also released five be losing his services through the CESU by years at the Department of decision-making, and resource protection. Vital Signs video podcasts on iTunes. January 2010. Viet has done a great job as a GIS War in the Pacific NHP on Guam, and American Memorial Park on Saipan. He Marine and Wildlife Resources, Program Manager: Specialist for the program and the network she gained knowledge and ex- Greg Kudray 808-985-6183 I&M has continued its partnership with parks over the past five years. Because of his has helped to initiate freshwater aquatic perience which she will gladly the University of Maryland Center for expertise the program has rehired Viet as surveys and water quality protocols in both Pacific Island Network Staff: an NPS emergency hire to fill the gap until a parks. He also works on the parks' marine share and use throughout her Asia Addlesberger 808-985-6320 Environmental Studies by completing poster new biotech position with the Alison Ainsworth 808-985-6180 and flier projects for HAVO and KALA. permanent GIS Specialist can be hired. protocols. Watershed erosion has led Chris Donna Ashenmacher 808-985-6182 to investigate coral recruitment rates and the National Park Service. She looks Larry Basch 808-541-2693 (x743) accumulation of sediment on the reef. Even forward to working and learning Julie Christian 808-985-6187 Staffing Update Kazuki Kageyama has swapped cooperator more about conservation and Viet Doan 808-985-6184 NPS: Visa Vaivai, new I&M biotech at NPSA, assignments and now works through the when he is not working, Chris spends his time Anne Farahi 808-985-6188 management projects within the came on board in late October. She brings University of Hawaii at Hilo on the Fish near the ocean. The Pacific is a great place for Tahzay Jones 808-985-6188 region and especially in Samoa. Kelly Kozar 808-985-6186 several years of diverse experience working Harvest protocol with Dr. Jim Beets. him to explore through snorkeling, running Visa especially loves the field Lindsey Kramer 808-329-6881 (x1221) with Samoan flora and fauna to the program. with his boonie dog on the beach, diving, Chris Rillahan 671-477-7278 (x1012) surfing, and learning to kiteboard. work. HOORAH! Visa Vaivai 684-699-9418 Corie Yanger 808-985-6189 Hawaii-Pacific Islands CESU Cooperators: Calendar and Monitoring Schedule Kazuki Kageyama 808-985-6181 Cory Nash 808-985-6185 January 9 – 17 Marine ecologist Larry Basch travels to Guam to work on Environmental Impact Statement Sarah Nash 808-985-6193 Karin Schlappa 808-985-6192 January – March Water quality work throughout the network from January through March Steering Committee Members ALKA – Aric Arakaki AMME – Allison Palmer January 25 – Feb.ruary 14 Freshwater streams monitoring at War in the Pacifc National Historical Park HALE – Steve Anderson HAVO – Rhonda Loh KAHO – Sallie Beavers January Vegetation mapping field data collection at Hawai�i Volcanoes National Park (Kahuku) KALA – Guy Hughes Vegetation mapping field data collection at the National Park of American Samoa (Tutuila) NPSA – Peter Craig Mapping acuracy assessment field work in West Hawai�i national park units PUHE – Sallie Beavers/Daniel Kawaiaea PUHO – Adam Johnson VALR – Eric Brown February 3 – 5 Groundwater monitoring protocol implementation at American Memorial Park WAPA – Allison Palmer Comments? Write to: February Vegetation mapping field data collection on Tutuila in the National Park of American Samoa Cory Nash, Editor Vegetation mapping field data collection at Hawai�i Volcanoes National Park Pacific Island Network Quarterly P.O. Box 52 Hawai'i National Park, HI 96718 March 19 – April 1 Marine fish monitoring in the National Park of American Samoa Phone: 808-985-6185 Benthic marine monitoring at the National Park of American Samoa Fax: 808-985-6111 Email: [email protected] http://science.nature.nps.gov/im/units/pacn/ March Anchialine pools field testing at Hawai�i Volcanoes National Park Mailing List: Please pass this newsletter on NOTE: Unless indicated all photos and articles are NPS. March Mapping accuracy assessment field work in West Hawai�i national park units Contributers: CGAPS (brown tree snake head), M. Vegetation mapping field data collection at Hawai�i Volcanoes National Park Rauzon (AMME bird photos), C. Nash, S. Nash, A. Addles- berger, T. Jones, D. Cardea, C. Rillahan, V. Vaivai 2 Pacific Island Network Quarterly Pacific Island Network Quarterly 3 Pacific Island Network — Featured Resource Bird Inventory of American Memorial Park Mariana moorhens are spotted ! marchei), rufous fantail (Rhipidura rufifrons Marine Fish Monitoring saipanensis), and white tern (Gygis alba) were Schooling A twelve-day survey of aquatic and forest birds also commonly seen in the survey. Two other Network Parks Where Fish are Monitored spadefish search the was conducted this July at American Memo- endangered and endemic bird species of note • National Park of American Samoa • War in the Pacific NHP reef for food. rial Park (AMME), Saipan, to determine bird included four Nightingale reed-warblers (Ac- • Kaloko-Honokōhau NHP • Kalaupapa NHP abundance with a special focus on the endan- rocephalus luscinia) in the wetland and a flock gered Mariana moorhen (Gallinula chloropus of Mariana swiftlets (Collocalia bartschi) along guami). The bird inventory covered a total of the coast. The little tern (Sternula albifrons) Importance six transects for both the core wetland natural was also seen flying over the park shoreline area (30 acres) and the smaller strand forest and constitutes a new species for the park. Marine fish are a vital resource to Pacific island human (4.9 acres) along the shoreline. Mark Rauzon populations. However, fish stocks throughout the Pacific are recorded ten Mariana moorhens within the This inventory reinforces the importance of threatened by overfishing, habitat loss, and environmental wetland area of the park. Previously, only AMME’s wetland and forest strand areas to the changes. Recent technological advances in fishing techniques anecdotal reports accounted for the waterbird birds of Saipan. and gear lead to increased catch, especially of predatory fish in AMME with many surveys having bypassed like sharks, groupers, and snappers as well as large wrasses and park lands altogether. parrotfish. These advances, among other factors, have led to The elusive declines in fish biomass and species shifts in fish communities. Mariana A total of 948 birds were observed from 17 moorhen Fish communities are an important component of coral reef (Gallinula species. The most common bird reported was ecosystems. Shifts in fish communities can have long lasting chloropus impacts on coral reef systems as a whole.