Note: Only the cover article is
presented here. For copies of other articles from this issue please contact
the New Jersey Field Office.
| Title | Author | Page |
| From the Supervisor's Chair | Clifford G. Day | Cover |
| Candidtate Species: Can listing a Species be Prevented? | Annette Scherer | 2 |
| Accelerated Environmental Changes Lead to Species Decline | Edward Henry | 3 |
| The Role of Pesticides in the Decline of Migratory Birds | Veronica Varela | 4 |
| Are We Doing Enough to Recover Swamp Pink? | Paula J. Halupa | 5 |
| The Atlantic Brant: Providing Habitat for a Declining Species on Refuges | Paul Steblein | 6 |
| Recent Decline of the American Eel | Eric Schrading & Alex Hoar | 7 |
| Horseshoe Crab -- Supply and Demand of a Prehistoric Creature | Eric Schrading | 8 |
| Bog Turtle -- A Species in Decline | Lisa P. Arroyo | 9 |
| The Director's Perspective on Declining Species | Jamie Rappaport Clark | 10 |
The theme of this Field Notes activity report is "declining species." The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (Service) 1998 Strategic Plan emphasizes restoration and management of federal trust fish and wildlife resources and lists ambitious goals to stabilize and improve declining wild populations. Additionally, a priority set forth by the Service's Directorate is to: look for innovative ways to address declining species. This issue of Field Notes highlights the work of our in-the-field professionals to counter the decline of species in New Jersey. The imperilment of wild species is a gauge of the Service's stewardship responsibility for sustaining and safeguarding nationally significant fish and wildlife resources.
Some species populations are undergoing significant declines, due all or in part to several endangerment factors: exploitation, mass depredation, habitat loss, intoxication by environmental contamination, invasion by exotic species, disease, and in some cases human indifference. Interrelated, these factors eventually lead to the degradation or loss of habitat quality, thereby eliminating a species life requisites of food, water, and reproductive cover. Long-term ramifications of these endangerment factors caused declines in New Jersey's wild populations. Species status varies from: continued decline (Atlantic brant); declined to the point of being classified as a State listed (blue spotted salamander) and/or federally listed species (piping plover); extirpated (Delmarva fox squirrel); and extinct (heath hen).
Many wild species cannot adapt to change. Some species are characteristic of small, restricted populations in specialized habitat such as the federally threatened bog turtle. This species depends on a specific successional stage of freshwater wetlands which is vulnerable to habitat loss and degradation. Some species depend on restricted habitat, making its population susceptible to exploitation and vulnerable to environmental contamination. Horseshoe crab breeding and shorebird feeding grounds along the Delaware Bay shoreline are vulnerable to oil spills. Other species depend on habitat that is accessible, and thus susceptible, to exploitation, such as the glass-phase American eel migrations in small tidal streams. Species also decline when they become economically valuable; witness the exploitative attempts on the American eel and horseshoe crab. Some species decline after unsuccessfully competing against invasive exotics, such as native wetland plant communities invaded by Phragmites and purple loosestrife.
There is reason for concern, but from the standpoint of biological diversity New Jersey retains abundant fish and wildlife resources. Efforts by the Service and its partners help to reverse the trend of declining species in the State. Under the ecosystem approach to fish and wildlife conservation, we recognize declining species conservation and combine single species management with the dynamics of ecological systems. The five National Wildlife Refuges in New Jersey, protecting about 90,000 acres, help counter habitat loss and provide important stopover habitat for migratory birds on the Atlantic Flyway. The Endangered Species program emphasizes recovery planning; the Service reintroduced the federally threatened Northeastern beach tiger beetle to the coast. The bog turtle is now protected under the Endangered Species Act, and work is underway to learn more about other candidate species. The Service continues to establish landowner and municipal partnership agreements to protect federally threatened swamp pink colonies in freshwater wetlands and piping plover nesting sites along the coast. ThePartners for Fish and Wildlife program eradicates invasive exotics to help restore wetlands. The Fisheries Across America program is opening blocked tidal areas to anadromous fish. The Service works cooperatively with other agencies to develop fishery management plans for regulating the harvest of horseshoe crab and American eel. Continuing research is underway to obtain more information on toxicity levels in the peregrine falcon and bald eagle, and the impact of oil spills on horseshoe crab reproduction.
Although New Jersey's wild populations were previously exploited to dangerously low levels, the State can now exemplify how responsible stewardship promotes the conservation of declining species. The Service extends an invitation to promote high levels of partnerships -- fellowships -- working and looking for innovative ways to address declining species.
|
|