For State Wildlife Action Plans
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- Table 1.4. Mammal RSGCN, listed in decreasing level of concern and responsibility.
- RSGCN List: Mammals
- RSGCN Concern
- State Data Coverage
- Federal Status
MammalsForty-five species of mammals have been designated as RSGCN in the Northeast based on their current conservation status, the percentage of their distribution contained in the region, the number of states that listed them as Species of Greatest Conservation Need in their 2005 State Wildlife Action Plans, and in response to emerging issues and threats (see Table 1.4). Seven mammal species are considered to be of “high” or “very high” concern and were listed in the majority of Northeastern Wildlife Action Plans: southern rock vole, Eastern small-footed myotis, Allegheny woodrat, Delmarva fox squirrel, long-tailed shrew, southern water shrew, New England cottontail, and the American water shrew (Eastern). They are also considered “high” regional responsibility, as at least half of their range occurs in the Northeast (see Figure 1.1 for further explanation of selection and threshold criteria for RSGCN species). Several taxonomic groups are well-represented among RSGCN, particularly bats, with fourteen species. One species, the Eastern small-footed myotis, is recognized as high responsibility and high concern throughout the Northeast. The RSGCN list also includes the federally endangered Indiana bat, which has been the subject of considerable conservation research and attention (see http://www.fws.gov/midwest/endangered/mammals/inba/ for more information). Most of the northeastern species of bats are acutely threatened by the advent of white-nose syndrome (WNS), a fungal disease that alters the torpor cycle and metabolism of overwintering bats and leads to significant mortalities. The competitive State Wildlife Grants (SWG) program has provided support to the Northeast states, and the RCN grant program has supported a series of research studies designed to elucidate the causal factors of WNS and to test possible therapeutic and preventive treatments for the disease (see Appendix 1 and Terwilliger Consulting Inc. and NEFWDTC 2013 for project details; see also http://rcngrants.org/content/exploring-connection-between-arousal-patterns-hibernating-bats-and-white-nose-syndrome and http://rcngrants.org/content/laboratory-and-field-testing-treatments-white-nose-syndrome-immediate-funding-need-northeast for more information about these projects). Ten bat species (Indiana, Eastern small-footed, Northern, little brown, Southeastern, gray, silver-haired, hoary, Eastern red, and tricolored bat) are listed in the majority of Northeast State Wildlife Action Plans. When the SWG project began in the winter of 2008, WNS was only known to be present in New York and the adjacent states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont. Unfortunately, by the spring of 2009, it had swept south all the way to western Virginia. Although the sudden magnitude of the problem was unexpected, this grant was critical to preventing state agencies from being completely overwhelmed by the crisis. Eleven states participated in this grant: Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, Wisconsin, and New York. Although each state individually pursued a strategy to handle the WNS crisis, they shared common goals of developing a public reporting system, improving public outreach, coordinating sample requests, and improving their ability to monitor and track bat populations. They met and shared information on successful strategies to achieve these goals, and participated in federal efforts to coordinate the response. All states achieved these broad goals. The group also cooperated in identifying and selecting research priorities that were most important to states already experiencing heavy mortalities associated with WNS. Four vole species are included on the RSGCN list, all of which are endemics with very limited distribution; the beach vole in Massachusetts, the Block Island vole in Rhode Island, the Penobscot meadow vole in Maine, and the southern rock vole in Virginia, West Virginia and Maryland. Two endemic squirrels are also ranked high on the RSGCN list: the Delmarva fox squirrel in Delaware, Maryland and Virginia and the Virginia northern flying squirrel in Virginia and West Virginia. The Delmarva fox squirrel has been the subject of considerable conservation attention since its early listing under the federal Endangered Species Act in 1967. The status of this species has improved dramatically in recent decades and there is a possibility of delisting at the federal level. For more information about this species please visit (http://www.fws.gov/endangered/esa-library/pdf/squirrel.pdf). The Pungo white-footed deer mouse in Virginia is another endemic rodent of high responsibility but limited concern. Nine shrew species are included on the RSGCN list, including the Maryland and the southern water shrews, which are localized and endemic to southern portions of the region and thus of “very high” regional concern. The long-tailed shrew has been identified as a SGCN in the majority of State Wildlife Action Plans in the Northeast. The New England cottontail and the Allegheny woodrat are two formerly widespread small mammal species that are now considered RSGCN based on documented evidence of population decline. These species have also been identified as Species of Greatest Conservation Need in the majority of State Wildlife Action Plans in the Northeast, indicating that a general state of concern exists throughout most of the region. The New England cottontail has been the subject of substantial regional collaboration and coordination, including the development of regional survey and monitoring protocols for the species and the development of a comprehensive species restoration and conservation plan (please see: http://www.newenglandcottontail.org/sites/default/files/conservation_strategy_final_12-3-12.pdf and http://rcngrants.org/content/development-noninvasive-monitoring-tools-new-england-cottontail-populations-implications for more information about these projects). Six whales (Sei, blue, humpback, sperm, northern right, and fin whales) are included in the RSGCN list as open-water marine mammals which are identified as SGCN in all relevant Northeast states. The conservation of whales in the Northeast has been a significant concern since the depletion of local populations due to whaling in the mid nineteenth century, and continues with concerns about new offshore energy developments. Some Northeast whale species (e.g. blue, fin whales) have shown signs of recovery since a global whaling ban was imposed in the 1970s. Other Northeast whales, such as the North Atlantic right whale, have never recovered from heavy harvest pressure. Inclusion of whales as SGCN in the State Wildlife Action Plans is often complex due to the multiple agencies that have jurisdiction over the conservation of these mammals, including state marine fisheries programs, National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), USFWS, and the state wildlife agencies. Some U.S. states choose to include whales and other marine mammals such as seals in their State Wildlife Action Plans, while others do not because of the extensive protections already afforded marine mammals under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Additional information is available through NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service Northeast Regional Office at http://www.nero.noaa.gov/Protected/mmp/ and the USFWS at www.fws.gov/le/USStatutes/MMPA.pdf. Table 1.4. Mammal RSGCN, listed in decreasing level of concern and responsibility.
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