Integrating Geographic and Prehistoric Data to Determine Conservation Needs and Reintroduction Potential for the Guam Kingfisher

Abstract

Conservation efforts for native birds on the island of Guam are currently being hindered by the invasive brown tree snake (Boiga irregularis) which has decimated the island’s native bird populations. Many of Guam’s endemic bird species, including the Guam kingfisher (Todiramphus cinnamominus), are now extinct and others are critically endangered. A habitat suitability analysis of Guam using physiographic datasets with respect to habitat preferences of the Guam kingfisher was carried out, using raster analysis in ArcMap 10.8.1. Results found suitable habitat that still existed in northern Guam, which correlated to this bird’s previously disjunct geographic range. These potential areas of habitation for the kingfisher also correlated to fossil remains of this species, derived from the northernmost point of the island. These results from associating environmental data and this bird’s limited fossil distribution on the island through cartographic methods offer a snapshot into the potential to reintroduce this species into the wild once the brown tree snake epidemic is mitigated.