Part I - Funding Request for operation of University of Hawaii Tree Snail Conservation Lab, to the Oahu Army Natural Resources Program

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Belinda Hamilton
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1 Part I - Funding Request for operation of University of Hawaii Tree Snail Conservation Lab, to the Oahu Army Natural Resources Program Date: September 1, 2012 August 31, 2013 Address: 337 Henke Hall Telephone: (808) Project Name: Captive Propagation of Endangered Tree Snails Operating Costs Location: Center for Conservation Research & Training, University of Hawaii Principal Investigator: Dr. Brenden Holland (bholland@hawaii.edu) Amount Requested $81, Introduction, recent accomplishments, thoughts on future direction On two days in February of 2012, OANRP, UH and USFWS personnel carried 340 (215 juvenile, 72 subadult, and 53 adult) endangered Achatinella mustelina tree snails from the UH Tree Snail Conservation Lab, and released them into the recently completed, state of the art snail enclosure in the Waianae Mountains of Oahu. This was an important event, as it was the first tree snail release in the history of this long-term collaborative program, and the successful culmination of multiple years of planning, hard work and meetings, which we hope represents the beginning of a new direction for efforts to save the Oahu tree snails from extinction. A second enclosure was recently finished in the southern Waianaes, and construction and planning of a third structure are ongoing for the Koolau Mountains, where Achatinella lila, the most abundant endangered snail in the UH Tree Snail Conservation Lab, will eventually be released. On April 12, 2012 OANRP, USFWS and UH Tree Snail Conservation Lab personnel staff met at Kewalo Marine Lab primarily to discuss the evolving role of the UH lab in conservation efforts moving forward into the future. During the meeting we discussed the idea of rotating snails through the lab for limited periods of time, for example six months to one year, then releasing them and their offspring back into the wild. There was consensus at the meeting that this could be a good way to safeguard snails, as well as to increase the number of snails in the wild, based on excellent survival and the tendency of adult snails to reproduce in the early phase of time in captivity, especially for the first year. The rotation program will be conducted only in areas where predator control efforts have been implemented. Another major point of discussion focused on the Puu Hapapa release, including the performance of the enclosure structure in restricting access by key predators. In summary, shells representing 6% of

the released snails have been collected since the release. This indicates an extremely low inferred mortality rate, therefore the release has been deemed a success.

Lab staffing, logistics and current status of captive endangered tree snail populations As of our latest count, we are caring for 837 Hawaiian tree snails.

At current tree snail population levels, we are operating 5 environmental chambers, and culturing 76 potato dextrose agar plates of tree fungus per week.

2 the released snails have been collected since the release. This indicates an extremely low inferred mortality rate, therefore the release has been deemed a success. Thus we see an increasing role of enclosure structures, plus targeted predator control with rotation through the UH lab to ensure to continued existence of the Hawaiian tree snails. Lab staffing, logistics and current status of captive endangered tree snail populations As of our latest count, we are caring for 837 Hawaiian tree snails. We have 13 species, 9 of which are endangered, the majority of which are members of the genus Achatinella, from Oahu, and are Federally endangered according to the USFWS Endangered Species Act. At current tree snail population levels, we are operating 5 environmental chambers, and culturing 76 potato dextrose agar plates of tree fungus per week. In addition either two or three personnel per week go hiking on Oahu trails for leaf collection. We currently have a crew of 8 technicians involved with care and maintenance of the captive tree snails. Figure 1.L-R: Achatinella livida in petri plate, snail cages showing irrigation system, and environmental chambers. Budget description For this upcoming fiscal year s operating cost request, we have quantified tree snail care and maintenance activities into time estimates. Since the care and maintenance of endangered species requires a variety of different daily and weekly activities, we have factored in all of the relevant tasks from the Tree Snail Care Protocol, including: weekly cage changing, cleaning, counting and measuring new-born snails, recording births and deaths, cataloging, measuring and preserving the dead specimens as well as total number of live snails per cage, together with weekly leaf collecting hikes,

3 and preparation of Petri plates and growth medium, plus fungus culture, currently at 76 plates per week, and includes autoclaving potato dextrose agarose growth medium and sterilizing Petri plates. We also maintain and clean environmental chambers, including replacement of full spectrum fluorescent bulbs and ballast, de-icing heat exchangers, regularly clearing Tygon drain tubes, and scrubbing algal growth from cage trays. Overall, for cages with less than 10 snails, we estimate effort invested at 2 hours per week, while cages of 10 snails or more require 3 hours per week. Maximum number of snails per cage is 50. Our staff consist of biologists and technicians with a range of experience, and accordingly are paid a range of different wages. In order to place a single value per hour, we have therefore used a dollar value intermediate between the senior and junior level personnel, at $17 per hour. We estimated the number of hours per week per cage, then present the annual cost per cage, again only for snails that occur on Army or Army-managed land. We present here the budget request in table form, consisting of 4 separate tables including: Table 1 - Historic Maintenance, Table 2 Outgoing, Table 3 Incoming, Table 4 Summary of Labor Costs.

4 Table 1 - Historic Maintenance Species Cage/ Population Snails per cage Hours per week Annual cost A. apexfulva Poamoho 1 2 $1, A. bulimoides Poamoho 8 2 $1, A. lila Control $2, Control $2, Control $2, Cuttlebone $2, Cuttlebone $2, Cuttlebone $2, CaCO $2, CaCO $2, CaCO $2, Population 1 and Cage $2, A. livida Cage $2, Cage 2 (East of Radio) 21 3 $2, A. mustelina Alaiheihe and Palikea Gulches 16 3 $2, TOTALS $38,012.00

5 Table 2 - Outgoing Snails Hours per Species Cage/Population per cage week Annual cost A. decipiens Cage A 2 0 $0.00 A. mustelina Recombined (up to 10 snails) 1 2 $1, ,000 Snails 11 0 $0.00 Palikea Lunch 5 0 $0.00 Ekahanui Honouliuli 7 0 $0.00 Makaha 4 0 $0.00 Ohikilolo Makai and Mauka 4 0 $0.00 Schofield West 10 0 $0.00 South Range 10 3 $2, Kaala S-ridge 1 0 $0.00 A. sowerbyana Peahinaia 1 0 $0.00 TOTALS 56 4 $4,420.00

6 Table 3 - Incoming Species Cage/Population Snails per cage Hours per week Annual cost A. decipiens North Kaukonahua 10 3 $2, A. mustelina Kahanahaiki 90 6 $5, Puu Palikea 10 3 $2, Ekahanui Honouliuli 10 3 $2, Makaha 10 3 $2, East Makaleha 10 3 $2, Schofield West 10 3 $2, A. sowerbyana Upper Opaeula 10 3 $2, TOTALS $21, Table 4 - Summary of labor costs Status Snails per cage Hours per week Annual cost Outgoing 56 4 $4, Historic $38, Incoming $21, TOTAL $63, Care and Maintenance Labor Subtotal....$63, UH Fringe (0.47%)...$ Required lab supplies, reagents Petri plates, ethanol, replacement cages, screens, fungus culture medium, antibacterial detergent, trash bags, (for leaf collection/storage), chamber maintenance:.....$4,380.00

7 Overhead (17.5% indirect):.$11, TOTAL COSTS: $80,284.00

CHAPTER 3: ACHATINELLA SPECIES MANAGEMENT

CHAPTER 3: ACHATINELLA SPECIES MANAGEMENT 3.1 INTRODUCTION OANRP changed the annual reporting format, therefore, this year s rare snail chapter is very different from previous year-end reports. All the