Forest bird population status on Saipan, a small oceanic island

Abstract

Tropical oceanic islands are critical biodiversity hotspots where population monitoring can help to determine the status and trends of rare and endangered species. Saipan is the second largest island in the Mariana Islands and contains many endemic and range-restricted bird species. Surveys of forest birds were conducted on Saipan using point-transect distance sampling, starting in 1982. To determine population status for Saipan avifauna, we generated abundance estimates based on surveys conducted in 1982, 1997, 2007, and 2018. We also assessed community composition by exploring if there were changes in assemblage diversity, total forest bird abundance, and ratio of native to non-native populations over time. For the 2018 survey, there were 5791 detections of 18 species during 242 counts, with six of 18 species detected at > 50 % of the counts and with relatively high abundance, while 12 species were detected at 40 birds/ha and the least common species was the Saipan Reed Warbler (gå'ga' karisu, Acrocephalus hiwae) at < 1 bird/ha. We found that the community composition is becoming slightly more even over time and the overall community abundance is stable (around 375,000 birds), but non-native species have become more common while native species have remained stable. Results from this study can be used to inform conservation management of forest birds in Saipan and contribute to a broader understanding of forest bird status in the Marianas.

Keywords

• Abundance
• Distance sampling
• Forest birds
• Population trends
• Saipan