Slice of PI-CASC seminar: From Endangered Species Capital of the World to the Recovery Capital

Conservation actions differ in cost and effectiveness, and the same action may have differing benefits across taxa. In the Hawaiian Islands 580+ species are identified as threatened or endangered, and threats are increasing over time due to climate change. In this study, part of a larger Priority Threat Management project to identify cost-effective strategies for the islands of Maui Nui, we worked with ~100 experts who estimated the probability of persistence for 286 species across 15 groups under 29 scenarios. Actions such as invasive predator control, invasive ungulate control, and habitat management were important components of strategies with the greatest benefits across species, and increased collaboration for geographically overlapping species can provide improved efficiency. However, actions that only benefitted one or a few groups were critical to preventing extinctions in those groups. For example, in the absence of mosquito control for avian malaria or predator exclusion fencing for snails and seabirds, these groups were unlikely to persist, even with implementation of other actions. This project is a first step toward transforming the Hawaiian Islands from the “Extinction Capital of the World” to the “Recovery Capital of the World.”