Regional Ecosystem Office (REO) - Northwest Forest Plan
Interagency Regional Monitoring: Marbled Murrelet Monitoring
The marbled murrelet is a seabird that spends most of its life in coastal waters, while nesting primarily in the trees of late-successional and old-growth forests. The marbled murrelet monitoring program assesses status and trends in marbled murrelet populations and nesting habitat to answer the basic questions:
- Are the marbled murrelet populations associated with the Northwest Forest Plan area stable, increasing, or decreasing?
- Is the Plan maintaining and restoring marbled murrelet nesting habitat?
Murrelet monitoring is an interagency cooperative effort. We monitor marbled murrelet population size and trends by annual sampling of populations in near-shore waters, using a standardized, boat-based line transect method. Trends in the amount and quality of nesting habitat in the Plan area are evaluated periodically using habitat suitability models applied to current vegetation maps developed by the Late-Successional and Old Growth Forest monitoring program.
Contact Information
- Bill McIver - Program Manager
- Email: bill_mciver@fws.gov
Reports
| Time | Five-Year Monitoring Reports |
|---|---|
| 25-Year Habitat | Lorenz, T.J.; Raphael, M.G.; Young, R.D. [et al.]. 2021. Status and trend of nesting habitat for the marbled murrelet under the Northwest Forest Plan, 1993 to 2017. Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-998. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 64 p.
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| 25-Year Population | McIver, W.R.; Pearson, S.F.; Strong, C. [et al.]. 2021. Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-996. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 37 p.
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| 20-Year | Falxa, Gary A.; Raphael, Martin G., tech. coords. 2016. Northwest Forest Plan—the first 20 years (1994–2013): status and trend of marbled murrelet populations and nesting habitat. Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-933. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 132 p.
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| 15-Year Habitat | Raphael, Martin G.; Falxa, Gary A.; Dugger, Katie M.; Galleher, Beth M.; Lynch, Deanna; Miller, Sherri L.; Nelson, S. Kim; Young, Richard D. 2011. Northwest Forest Plan—the first 15 years (1994–2008): Status and trend of nesting habitat for the marbled murrelet under the Northwest Forest Plan. Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-848. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 52 p. |
| 15-Year Population | Miller, Sherri L.; Raphael, Martin G.; Falxa, Gary A.; Strong, Craig; Baldwin, Jim; Bloxton, Thomas; , Galleher, Beth M.; Lance, Monique; Lynch, Deanna; Pearson, Scott F.; Ralph, C. John; Young, Richard D. 2012. Recent population decline of the Marbled Murrelet in the Pacific Northwest. Condor 114:771-781, plus appendix. |
| 10-Year | Huff, Mark H.; Raphael, Martin G.; Miller, Sherri L.; Nelson, S. Kim; Baldwin, Jim, tech. coords. 2006. Northwest Forest Plan—the first 10 years (1994-2003): status and trends of populations and nesting habitat for the marbled murrelet. Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-650. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 149 p. |
| Monitoring Plan | Madsen, Sarah; Evans, Diane; Hamer, Thomas; Henson, Paul; Miller, Sherri; Nelson, S. Kim; Roby, Daniel; Stapanian, Martin. 1999. Marbled murrelet effectiveness monitoring plan for the Northwest Forest Plan. Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-439. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 51 p. |
| Other Monitoring Reports |
|---|
2023 Summary Report - McIver, W.R.; Baldwin, J.; Lance, M.M.; Pearson, S.F.; Strong, C.; Raphael, M.G.; Duarte, A; Fitzgerald, K. 2024. Marbled murrelet effectiveness monitoring, Northwest Forest Plan - 2023 summary report, Northwest Forest Plan Interagency Regional Monitoring Program. February 2024, final report. 25 p.
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2022 Summary Report - McIver, W.R.; Baldwin, J.; Lance, M.M.; Pearson, S.F.; Strong, C.; Raphael, M.G.; Duarte, A; Fitzgerald, K. 2023. Marbled murrelet effectiveness monitoring, Northwest Forest Plan - 2022 summary report, Northwest Forest Plan Interagency Regional Monitoring Program. January 2023 final report. 25 p.
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2021 Summary Report - McIver, W.R.; Baldwin, J.; Lance, M.M.; Pearson, S.F.; Strong, C.; Raphael, M.G.; Duarte, A; Fitzgerald, K. 2022. Marbled murrelet effectiveness monitoring, Northwest Forest Plan: At-sea Monitoring - 2021 summary report. 25 p.
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2020 Summary Report - McIver, W.R.; Baldwin, J.; Lance, M.M.; Pearson, S.F.; Strong, C.; Lynch, D.; Raphael, M.G.; Young, R.; Johnson, N; Fitzgerald, K.; Duarte, A. 2021. Marbled murrelet effectiveness monitoring, Northwest Forest Plan: At-sea Monitoring - 2020 summary report. 25 p.
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2019 Annual Summary Report - McIver, W., J. Baldwin, M.M. Lance, S.F. Pearson, C. Strong, D. Lynch, M.G. Raphael, R. Young and N. Johnson. 2020. Marbled murrelet effectiveness monitoring, Northwest Forest Plan: At-sea Monitoring - 2019 summary report. 23 p.
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2018 Annual Summary Report - McIver, W., J. Baldwin, M.M. Lance, S.F. Pearson, C. Strong, N. Johnson, D. Lynch, M.G. Raphael, R. Young, T. Lorenz and K. Nelson. 2019. Marbled murrelet effectiveness monitoring, Northwest Forest Plan: 2018 summary report.
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Pearson, S.F. et al. 2018. Marbled murrelet effectiveness monitoring, Northwest Forest Plan: 2017 summary report.
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D. Lynch et al. 2017. Marbled murrelet effectiveness monitoring, Northwest Forest Plan: 2016 summary report.
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D. Lynch et al. 2016. Marbled murrelet effectiveness monitoring, Northwest Forest Plan: 2015 summary report.
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For older reports see the document archive.
Data
| Time | Data Reports |
|---|---|
| 25-Year Report |
Figure 9. Habitat probability map for marbled murrelet range in Washington for 2017 by lower, moderate, and higher probability of nesting habitat, with probability gradients in each class - PDF / GIS data [Depending on which file].
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| 20-Year Report |
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| 15-Year Report |
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