Marbled Murrelet – Oregon Conservation Strategy

Photo Credit: U.S. Forest Service, Martin Raphael

Overview

Species Common Name Marbled Murrelet
Species Scientific Name Brachyramphus marmoratus
Federal Listing Status Threatened
State Listing Status Endangered

Ecoregions

Coast Range

Oregon’s Coast Range, known for its dramatic scenery, is extremely diverse, with habitats ranging from open sandy dunes to lush forests and from tidepools to headwater streams. It follows the coastline and extends east through coastal forest to the border of the Willamette Valley and Klamath Mountains ecoregions

Klamath Mountains

The Klamath Mountains ecoregion covers much of southwestern Oregon, including the Umpqua Mountains, Siskiyou Mountains, and interior valleys and foothills between these and the Cascade Range. The Rogue watershed has the largest population of any coastal watershed in Oregon (Jackson County, Josephine County, and a portion of Curry County). Several popular and scenic rivers run …

Nearshore

The Nearshore ecoregion includes a variety of habitats ranging from submerged high-relief rocky reefs to broad expanses of intertidal mudflats in estuaries and hosts a vast array of fish, invertebrates, marine mammals, birds, plants, and micro-organisms. This ecoregion encompasses the area from the outer boundary of Oregon’s Territorial Sea to the supra-tidal zone, and up into the estuaries.

Special needs

Marbled Murrelets require late-successional forests with specific nest tree characteristics.

Limiting factors

Marbled Murrelets are adversely affected by reductions and modifications to late-successional forests. Habitat loss due to uncharacteristically severe fire is of particular concern in the Klamath Mountains ecoregion. Murrelets have low reproductive output and have experienced poor breeding success in some areas.

Data gaps

Evaluate the effectiveness of protected forested nesting areas to species’ recovery; identify gaps and shortfalls. Determine minimum area requirements. Increase understanding of predator population dynamics and how they are affected by habitat characteristics and human uses (e.g., recreation and anthropogenic food sources). Assess predation rates in relation to fragmentation of nesting habitat.

Conservation actions

Continue marine (at-sea) surveys to detect trends in Oregon. Continue inland surveys to detect presence and nesting locations. Monitor impacts to nesting success. Monitor and minimize impacts of ocean energy development projects. Lower predation rates by minimizing garbage at campgrounds near murrelet habitat.

Key reference or plan

Marbled Murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratus) 5-Year Review