EVENTS

Webinar overview:

How do invasive species and typhoons affect endemic species populations in the Northern Mariana Islands, and how do we mitigate potential impacts?

Check out Pacific RISCC webinar below on the conservation challenges in CNMI with speaker Bradley Eichelberger (Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Division of Fish and Wildlife).

The Northern Mariana Islands is home to many bird species that are not found anywhere else in the world and some of these species are only found on very specific islands within the island chain. As with many other smaller islands, these species have limited time and space to adapt to changes in habitat, climate change impacts, and competition/predation from invasive species.

In particular, the Northern Mariana Islands have experienced several typhoon events within the past six years, is partially dominated by heavily-modified forests, and is under constant threat of the introduction of the Brown Tree Snake, an invasive exotic species that has decimated bird populations on the neighboring island of Guam. This webinar will focus on:

1. Population trends and dynamics of endemic bird species over time
2. Recovery time and habitat resiliency across both native and heavily modified, invasive tree species-dominated forests following typhoon events
3. Efforts made to translocate native birds from the more Brown tree-snake invasion-susceptible southern islands in the CNMI to the more isolated northern islands

Speaker bio: Bradley Eichelberger is the Chief Geographic Information Officer at the CNMI Division of Fish and Wildlife. His work is focused on the spatial ecology of threatened and endangered species, remote sensing to detect changes in land cover, long-term monitoring of wildlife populations, and climate change vulnerability assessments for species of greatest concern.