BIONEwS ISSUE 15 - 2018 Editor’s Letter Dutch Caribbean, July 2018 BIONEWS ISSUE 15 Every year on Bonaire, dozens of dedicated vol- In this edition of BioNews you can read about their unteers wake up before dawn with one simple but recent Sunscreen Awareness Conference and their 2 Editor’s Letter important mission: count as many yellow-shoul- results on how to move towards an oxybenzone- dered parrots (Amazona barbadensis rothschildi) free island. 3 Bonaire’s Yearly Parrot Count as possible. In this BioNews edition we published an article on this year’s twenty-third Lora count, We also proudly present the findings of several 5 Sunscreen Awareness which has been organized by Echo Bonaire with recent research projects that recently investigated Bonaire- Moving towards the help of STINAPA Bonaire and Bonaire’s the marine and terrestrial mollusc fauna of Aruba, a oxybenzone free island Department of Environment and Nature. In this Bonaire, Curaçao, Saba and St. Eustatius. What article we also present the recent findings of an- transpires is that the mollusc fauna of these islands 8 Molluscs of the Dutch other study by Rivera-Milán et al. in collaboration is much richer than previously thought, with many Caribbean Islands with STINAPA, US Fish and Wildlife Service and rare and endemic species. The biodiversity of the WILDCONSCIOUS on the population assessment Dutch Caribbean Islands is already recognized as 11 AcroporaNet Symposium of yellow-shouldered parrots on Bonaire. rich and unique, but the findings on the islands’ malacofauna indicate that there is still much to 12 Research Overview Coral reefs in the Wider Caribbean Region have discover. suffered considerable declines in health and abun- 13 Long-Term Projects Overview dance in recent decades. Climate change, overfish- Lastly University of Applied Sciences Van Hall ing and eutrophication seem to be the main drivers Larenstein (HVHL) invites you to the third an- 21 Monitoring Overview of the degradation of our reefs for the last dec- nual AcroporaNet Symposium to be held in ades. However, international scientist claim that Leeuwarden, the Netherlands, on December 7th, 25 List of Acronyms impaired water quality by chemicals such as the 2018: A platform for scientists conducting funda- UV filter oxybenzone in sunscreen products adds mental and applied research into tropical marine 26 Reports and Publications to the problems of already stressed reefs which biology. undermines their resilience and ability to withstand 27 Calendar and recover from e.g. global warming related impacts. Therefore, Wageningen Marine Research, 28 Members and Contact Boneiru Duradero and World Wide Fund for Nature Happy reading! the Netherlands started a project on Bonaire. The DCNA Team 29 References Cover photo by: © Mallory K Smith & Editor’s Letter photo by: © Christian König BioNews 15 - Content 2 3 4 5 6 ... Bonaire’s Yearly Parrot Count Every year on Bonaire, dozens of dedicated When the last Saturday of January comes along it is volunteers wake up before dawn with one time for the actual count to take place. Volun-teers simple but important mission: count as many that have prior experience are sent to the most yellow-shouldered parrots (Amazona barbadensis important roost sites. Each team has at least two rothschildi), or Loras as they are locally known counters so that data logged may be cross-checked. in Papiamentu, as possible to estimate their numbers. This year marks Bonaire’s twenty-third The methodology used is simultaneous counting, Lora count, which was organized by Echo Bonaire during which all volunteers count the parrots at with the help of STINAPA Bonaire and Bonaire’s the same time in different places. Volunteers leave Department of Environment and Nature home before dusk to their designated site, wearing (DRO). The Lora count started in 1980 and has dark clothes to ensure minimal disturbance to the contributed to the protection of this endangered birds and are equipped with a compass, binoculars and endemic sub-species of parrot. and a watch. Once the Loras wake up, shrieking loud and flying up, the volunteers begin to fill out The yearly monitoring event of Bonaire’s yellow- the data collection sheet. They record the number shouldered parrots is made possible thanks to the of observed parrots, their point of departure, contribution of volunteers. By involving locals in flight direction, destination and time at which this monitoring efforts, the count helps increase local happened, and complete an observa-tion map. awareness of the need to protect one of Bonaire’s Once all the data has been collected, the organizers most iconic species. These citizen scientists receive of the Lora count tally up the num-bers to estimate training prior to the count to ensure that they can the minimum number of Loras present at the perform the tally to the best of their ability. This surveyed roosts. also helps guarantee that volunteers all apply the same methodology and know directions to the The yellow-shouldered parrot has a limited and monitoring site they have been designated. As distinct range with genetically isolated populations Loras are sometimes confused with brown-throated in Bonaire and Curaçao as well as northern parakeets (Aratinga pertinax), volunteers are taught Venezuela and the Venezuelan islands of Margarita how to identify the parrots visually and vocally. and La Blanquilla. This parrot is endangered with Pre-roost counts begin in early January to work out a global population estimated at less than 8,000 how many volunteers will be needed per roost site individuals, and is classified by the IUCN Red List on the day of the count. Newly identified roosts as Vulnerable (Birdlife International, 2018). On and those that have become re-active are added Bonaire, the population was once close to extinction to the annual count. due to poaching and habitat degradation. Photos by: © ECHO BioNews 15 - Content 2 3 4 5 6 ... Therefore in 2002 DRO ringed and registered all and parrots periodically change roost locations. In existing pet Loras. Anyone after this campaign found the area of Sabadeco, just 11 parrots were counted in possession of an unringed parrot faces prosecution. compared to the previous year’s 229, while in the Thanks to concerted and continued conservation Washington Slagbaai National Park, just 50 birds were efforts, legal protection and enforcement – the Lora recorded (Echo, 2017). This unpredictable behavior of receives local protection under the Island’s Nature the Loras makes it challenging for the participating Graph 1: Number of yellow-shouldered parrots in roosts on Bonaire based on data Ordinance - the yellow-shouldered parrot is now volunteers to count them each year (Echo, 2017). collected by the yearly Lora count. considered a flagship species for the island’s dry forest ecosystem. The local non-profit organization Echo is Recently, a study by Rivera-Milán et al. (accepted for working hard to protect the parrots on the island, publication) in collaboration with STINAPA, US Fish find out more about their behavior and increase and Wildlife Service and WILDCONSCIOUS found local awareness. other results. Their systematic distance-sampling surveys in 2009-2017 show a slight decline in the Information gathered over the years, thanks to the population estimate for Lora’s in Bonaire over the annual Lora count, suggests that the number of past years most probably because of the drought, parrots at the surveyed roosts on Bonaire is increasing although other factors cannot be discarded including steadily. While numbers of parrots counted has an increase in human-induced mortality. They also fluctuated each year, the overall trend seems an conducted Bayesian state-space logistic model upward one and, even though not statistically proven, simulations to predict changes in abundance in might be related to the start of conservation efforts 2018−2066. Rivera-Milán et al. consider Bonaire’s on the island, including population monitoring parrot population vulnerable to the risk of extinction. (Echo, STINAPA, DRO, Salba Nos Lora), nest site That said, the parrot population has an estimated management (Echo), awareness campaign (STINAPA, maximum population growth rate of 0.179 and under Echo, Salba Nos Lora), rescue and release of injured favorable conditions (consecutive wet years with The green dots on the graph show the actual annual counts, birds (Echo), enforcement of protected status food abundance, and low human-induced mortality) while the green lines represent the trendlines (STINAPA, Echo) and tree planting (Echo and Salba can recover through high survival and successful (average, minimum and maximum) associated with it. Nos Lora ) [Graph 1]. In 2017, however, the number of reproduction. As different methods are used, Loras recorded was significantly lower than usual, with the involved organizations are now discussing 700 Loras counted as opposed to 1,000 in previous the methodologies and possibility for years (Echo, 2017). It is speculated that this drop in cooperation with the same goal: numbers may not have been the result of fewer parrots adequately monitor the Loras on the island, but could be caused by a long period to assess changes in abundance of drought followed by heavy rains that caused the and the results of conservation parrots to spread out more across the island, making actions taken to safeguard these them harder to observe and count. Weather and food parrots on Bonaire. supply have been known to drastically affect the count Would you like to share a news item? Bonaire’s Yearly Parrot Count 1 Salba Nos Lora is no longer an active organization. PleaseWould e-mailyou like us: to [email protected] share a news item? Please e-mail us: [email protected] Photo By: © ECHO BioNews 15 - Content 2 3 4 5 6 ... Sunscreen Awareness Bonaire Moving towards an oxybenzone-free island Photos by: © Raynel Cecilia By Diana Slijkerman (WMR) & Sharon Bol (BD) Wageningen Marine Research (WMR) and Boneiru UV-filter levels and thus environmental risk seem to be Duradero (BD) supported by World Wide Fund for related to tourist intensity, country of origin and product Nature the Netherlands (WWF-NL) organised a use.