Articles Estimation of Vital Rates for the Hawaiian Gallinule, a Cryptic, Endangered Waterbird Charles B. van Rees,* Paul R. Chang, Jillian Cosgrove, David W. DesRochers, Hugo K.W. Gee, Jennifer L. Gutscher-Chutz, Aaron Nadig, Stephanie E. Nagata, Mike Silbernagle, Jared G. Underwood, Kim Uyehara, J. Michael Reed C.B. van Rees, D.W. DesRochers, J.M. Reed Department of Biology, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts 02155 Present address of D.W. DesRochers: Department of Natural Sciences, Dalton State College, Dalton, Georgia 30720 P.R. Chang Department of Forestry and Wildlife Management, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003 Present address: Pacific Southwest Region, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Office of Law Enforcement, Sacramento, California 95814 J. Cosgrove Kaua‘i National Wildlife Refuge Complex, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Kilauea, Hawai‘i 96754 H.K.W. Gee Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences Department, South Dakota State University, Brookings, South Dakota 57007 Present address: 7-2323 Oakmoor Drive SW, Calgary AB T2V 4T2, Alberta, Canada J.L. Gutscher-Chutz Montana Natural Heritage Program, Helena, Montana 59601 Present address: DCI West Biological Consulting LLC, Whitefish, Montana 59937 A. Nadig Pacific Islands Fish and Wildlife Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Honolulu, Hawai‘i 96850 S.E. Nagata Department of Fishery and Wildlife Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523 Present address: Office of Maunakea Management, Hilo, Hawai‘i 96720 M. Silbernagle O‘ahu National Wildlife Refuge Complex, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Haleiwa, Hawai‘i 96786; Retired J.G. Underwood Pacific Reefs National Wildlife Refuge Complex, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Honolulu, Hawai‘i 96850 Present address: Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Fremont, California 94555 Kim Uyehara Kaua’i National Wildlife Refuge Complex, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Kilauea, HI, USA Abstract Vital rates describe the demographic traits of organisms and are an essential resource for wildlife managers to assess local resource conditions and to set objectives for and evaluate management actions. Endangered waterbirds on the Hawaiian Islands have been managed intensively at state and federal refuges since the 1970s, but with little quantitative research on their life history. Information on the vital rates of these taxa is needed to assess the efficacy of different management strategies and to target parts of the life cycle that may be limiting their recovery. Here, we present the most comprehensive data to date on the vital rates (reproduction and survival) of the Hawaiian gallinule Gallinula galeata sandvicensis, a behaviorally cryptic, endangered subspecies of wetland bird endemic to the Hawaiian Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management | www.fwspubs.org June 2018 | Volume 9 | Issue 1 | 117 Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/jfwm/article-pdf/9/1/117/2336594/102017-jfwm-084.pdf by guest on 18 August 2022