Development of new technologies and techniques to advance wildlife monitoring and improve management of endangered hawaiian bird species in a changing climateproject dates: 9 1 2023 through 8 31…

The University of Hawaii (UH) received a $308,822.73 Cooperative Agreement award from the U.S. Geological Survey under the National and Regional Climate Adaptation Science Centers (CFDA 15.820) program. The award is for a 2-year project to advance monitoring efforts for endangered native Hawaiian bird species in response to climate change. Key project activities and deliverables include:

1. Establishing a cloud-based repository, called Kilokani, to store and analyze historical and current forest soundscape data across Hawaii to track changes in bird populations over time.
2. Deploying automated recording units in critical forest habitats on three Hawaiian islands to collect microclimate and bioacoustic data.
3. Generating analytical reports on bird species distribution and abundance trends, as well as peer-reviewed publications synthesizing the findings.
4. Conducting outreach and community engagement through events, media, and an interactive exhibit to raise awareness and foster stewardship of Hawaiian ecosystems.

The data and insights generated from this project will enable wildlife managers to make informed decisions about implementing conservation strategies, such as targeted mosquito suppression efforts, to protect vulnerable Hawaiian bird species.

Activities

The recipient will advance avian population monitoring by creating a cloud based repository kilokani for the storage and analysis of current and historical forest recordings across the state of hawaii, and through the deployment of automated recording unit (ARU) arrays in critically important forest bird habitat across the three hawaiian islands where there are plans for landscape-scale incompatible insect technique mosquito control. Outreach and information dissemination activities will take place at the hawaii festival of birds, at an interactive exhibit and quarterly presentation at the imiloa astronomy center, through the hawaii public radio bird conservation segment manu minute, and at the annual hawaii conservation conference.deliverables and expected outcomes:this project will collect and archive two basic types of data: 1) large volumes of historic and current soundscape data recording presence and abundance of bird species across three islands, 2) microclimate data from sensors established at six study sites across the three islands. Other products generated from this project will include: 1) the kilokani cloud-based soundscape data repository, 2) reports on bird species distribution and abundance for managers, 3) improved statistical models for bird population trends over time using microclimate and bioacoustic datasets, and 4) peer-reviewed scientific manuscripts that synthesize project results. Various levels of collaboration, information dissemination, and community engagement will benefit this project and will also reach a wide audience to inspire AWE and increase understanding of the diversity of hawaiian ecosystems and foster stewardship of the land in local communities while providing access to research information not otherwise available.intended beneficiary(IES):this study will provide wildlife managers with critical information to make informed decisions on how best to implement conservation strategies. Specifically, the results can be used to direct mosquito suppression efforts to areas that are in greatest conservation need. Examples of partnering agencies include the: division of forestry and wildlife, haleakala and hawaii volcanoes national park system inventory and monitoring division, US geological survey, kauai forest bird recovery project, maui forest bird recovery project, hakalau national forest wildlife refuge, nature conservancy, and pohakuloa training area natural resources office.

Subrecipient activities

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