Virginia Coastal Program: 1999 Coastal Grant Project Description and Final Summary
Project Task:
FY1999 Task 1.05
Grantee:
Virginia Museum of Natural History
Project Title:
Avian Habitat Restoration on the Virginia Barrier Islands
Project Description as Proposed:
The Virginia barrier islands (VBIs) historically have been among the most important nesting areas for shorebirds and colonial waterbirds on the entire Atlantic coast. The spread of the raccoon (Procyon lotor) and red fox (Vulpes vulpes) on these islands has significantly reduced avian habitat suitability. We have been working since 1998 to develop, test and refine a plan for VBI predation management. Eight new and continuing tasks are planned for 2002: (1) Repeat the systematic track surveys on all islands from Metompkin southward through Fishermans. (2) Continue the predation management program (i.e., trapping and removal) that we initiated on Metompkin and North Cedar Islands in 2000 and on Wreck, Ship Shoal and Myrtle Islands in 2001. (3) Radiocollar raccoons on Brownsville and Fowling Point and on North Smith and Mockhorn, to look for natural mainland-island and island-island movement in the central and southern portions of the study area. (4) Recollar the 15 translocated raccoons from 2001 for a 2nd year of observation. (5) Translocate additional radiocollared raccoons from Parramore and Hog Islands to Revel and Rogue Islands, respectively, to fill gaps in the 2001 data. (6) Monitor nesting success on the five "treatment" islands (Metompkin, North Cedar, Wreck, Ship Shoal, Myrtle) from June through August, to further test the influence of predator removal and/or absence on avian recruitment. (7) Calibrate the tracking methods of Keiss (2001) and Jiménez (1998) against trapping data (~MNA), and determine influence of weather on the visibility and persistence of tracks. (8) Expand the 2001 genetic analyses of mainland and island raccoons to identify genetic and population connections on the VBIs. CRMP funding is requested for tasks 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7.
Federal Funding:
$10,200
Project Contact:
Nacy Moncrief - 276.666.8614, nmoncrie@vmnh.org
Project Status:
Grant Closed
Final Product Received:
Project Summary Provided by Grantee:
The Virginia barrier islands (VBIs) historically have been among the most important nesting areas for shorebirds and colonial waterbirds on the entire Atlantic coast. The spread of the raccoon (Procyon lotor) and red fox (Vulpes vulpes) on these islands has significantly reduced avian habitat suitability. We have been working since 1998 to develop, test and refine a plan for VBI predation management. Eight new and continuing tasks were planned for 2002. (1) Summer track surveys detected raccoons on 18 of the 26 islands and red fox on 7. The coyote (Canis latrans) was detected in our track surveys for the first time, on both Sandy Island and Hog Island. (2) Personnel of the Wildlife Services Division of the USDA -APHIS removed 1 red fox from Metompkin Island, 3 raccoons from North Cedar and 2 raccoons from Myrtle. Personnel of the US Fish and Wildlife Service removed 1 raccoon and 3 red foxes from Assawoman Island, immediately to the north of Metompkin. We believed that Assawoman, Metompkin, North Cedar, Wreck, Ship Shoal and Myrtle were raccoon-free at the beginning of the nesting season, but both Metompkin and North Cedar harbored one or more red fox. (3) We radiocollared raccoons on Mockhorn (4), Skidmore (1), Mink (1), Myrtle (1), North Smith(1) and Fishermans (2) Islands, to look for natural over-water movement. Only one case of inter-island movement has been observed. (4) Although 5 of the 16 raccoons radiocollared in 2001 could still be detected by radiotelemetry in May 2002, we were not successful at recapturing any of the 2001 animals. (5) We translocated 2 radiocollared raccoons from Parramore to Revel, and 5 radiocollared animals from Revel to Parramore. We will monitor these animals closely this winter. (6) We monitored avian nesting success on the 6 "treatment" islands (Assawoman, Metompkin, North Cedar, Wreck, Ship Shoal, Myrtle) from June through August, to further test the influence of predator removal and/or absence on avian recruitment. Although the predation management (i.e., removals) were less complete than in 2001, there still was abundant evidence of increased island use by nesting adults in the absence of mammalian predators. (7) We expanded the 2001 genetic analyses of mainland and island raccoons to identify genetic connections between populations. Genetic samples were collected from 28 mainland and 72 island raccoons trapped in strategically important areas. (8) We ran an experiment to calibrate our tracking methods against trapping data and to determine influence of weather on the persistence of tracks. Most tracks last only 24 to 72 hours on the upper beach. Our systematic track surveys thus detect mostly "fresh" tracks. Predation management remains the most promising method yet proposed to enhance and restore avian nesting habitat on the Virginia barrier islands.
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Disclaimer: This project summary provides the federal dollars initially awarded to the grantee. Due to underexpenditure or reprogramming of grant funds, this figure may change. For more information on the allocation of coastal grant funds, please contact Laura McKay, Virginia Coastal Program Manager, at 804.698.4323 or email: Laura.McKay@deq.virginia.gov
A more detailed Scope of Work for this project is available. Please direct your request for a copy to Virginia.Witmer@deq.virginia.gov
