Wake Island (30053)
United States Minor Outlying Islands (to USA), Oceania
Site overview
KBA status: confirmed
Year of last assessment: 2012
National site name: Wake Island
Central coordinates: Latitude: 19.2833, Longitude: 166.6000
System: marine, terrestrial
Elevation (m): 0 to 6
Area of KBA (km2): 7.31515
Protected area coverage (%): 100.00
KBA classification: Regional
Legacy site: Yes
Site details
Rationale for qualifying as KBA: This site qualifies as a Key Biodiversity Area of international significance that was identified using previously established criteria and thresholds for the identification of Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs) and for which available data indicate that it does not meet global KBA criteria and thresholds set out in the Global Standard.
Delineation rationale: 2012-12-17 (BL Secretariat): original polygon clipped to hi-res coastline following identification in October 2012 of new marine IBA offshore this site; site area consequently updated to 732 ha.
Threats
Summary of threats to biodiversity at KBA: Climate change is listed as the third greatest threat to seabirds globally (Croxall et al. 2012). It is predicted to decrease the land area of low-lying Pacific islands and cause complete inundation of some islands (IPCC 1997) leading to substantial population declines (Hatfield et al. 2012). Although no current data or predictions are available specific to this IBA climate change represents a potential threat to this site owing to the risk of future sea level rise leading to inundation, and increased frequency of storms. Wake Island is administered by the US Air Force and is still operational as a base, including a missile factory. Military activity continues, causing unknown levels of disturbance on the bird populations. Depending on the political situation military activity at Wake Atoll could change quickly and at short notice. Wake Island has been subject to invasive alien species eradication's to remove feral cats and rats (Rauzon et al. 2008; Hebshi 2011). Cats had been considered successfully removed by 2007 - two individuals remaining were considered the same sex (Rauzon et al. 2008). A large scale rat eradication was planned to take place in the summer 2012 of which no early indication of the results are available (for plans see Hebshi 2011). Due to the continued use of Wake Island by the US Air Force there is the risk of future re-invasion by invasive mammalian predators, which could pose a serious threat to the bird populations present.
Additional information
References: Croxall, J. P., Butchart, S. H. M., Lascelles, B., Stattersfield, A. J., Sullivan, B., Symes, A. and Taylor, P. (2012) Seabird conservation status, threats and priority actions: a global assessment. Bird Conservation International 22: 1-34. IPCC – Intergovernmental Panel On Climate Change (1997) The Regional Impacts of Climate Change. An Assessment of Vulnerability. Geneva. Hatfield, J. S., Reynolds, M. H., Seavy, N. E. and Krause, C. M. (2012) Population dynamics of Hawaiian seabird colonies vulnerable to sea-level rise. Conservation Biology 26: 667-678. Hebshi, A. (2011) Ecological monitoring on Wake Island prior to rat removal. Department of Defense, Legacy, Resource Management Program. Rauzon, M.J., Everett, W.T., Boyle, D., Bell, L. and Gilardi, J. (2008) Eradication of feral cats at Wake Atoll. Atoll Research Bulletin, No. 560.