DOI: 10.5061/dryad.vdncjsxr4
title: Data from: Translocation with targeted vaccination is the most effective strategy to protect an island endemic bird threatened by West Nile virus

description: Aim Invasive pathogens are a growing conservation challenge and often
 occur in tandem with rapid environmental transformation, such as climate
 change, drought, and habitat loss. Climate change appears to have
 facilitated the spread of West Nile virus (WNV), a cause of widespread
 avian mortality. WNV is considered the primary threat to island scrub-jays
 (Aphelocoma insularis), endemic to Santa Cruz Island, California. Two
 approaches have been proposed to safeguard island scrub-jays: (1)
 vaccination and (2) conservation translocation to re-establish a second
 population on neighboring Santa Rosa Island, hypothesized to have a lower
 risk of WNV. These alternatives operate at regional scales but exemplify
 global concerns with strategic implications for conservation biogeography
 and climate adaptation. Location California Channel Islands, USA Methods
 We compared the efficacy of vaccination and translocation strategies at
 minimizing 25-year quasi-extinction risk for island scrub-jays using a
 stochastic population model. Results Under current WNV-free conditions,
 the predicted quasi-extinction risk for island scrub-jays was low (~0%)
 but increased to ≥22% with simulated WNV outbreaks. Vaccinating ≥60
 individuals reduced risk to &lt;5%, but risk doubled if population
 size declined and further increased with more frequent droughts.
 Translocation performed best if Santa Rosa Island had a large starting
 population size and habitat extent, and, more importantly, a low risk of
 WNV establishment; if Santa Rosa Island was inhospitable to WNV,
 quasi-extinction risk dropped to near zero. Main conclusions Translocation
 with targeted vaccination during high risk conditions was the most
 effective strategy to protect island scrub-jays from West Nile virus.
 Although vaccination often outperformed translocation, only scenarios that
 included a Santa Rosa population and vaccinations achieved acceptably low
 species-wide extinction risk across all potential future conditions. Our
 analysis informs strategies to improve the long-term viability of the most
 range-restricted bird species in the continental United States and
 provides a model for assessing conservation-translocation proposals for
 other species and threats.
description: Data support analyses conducted in the article to assess
 viability of island scrub-jays (ISSJ) on Santa Cruz and Santa Rosa
 islands <strong>ISSJrepro.txt
 </strong>contains individual ISSJ nest observation data to support
 analyses of daily nest survival probability, egg-to-fledge survival
 probability, and renesting probability. 
 <strong>RainNestSuccess.txt</strong> contains overall
 year- and site-specific nest success and rain data.
 <strong>ISSJresight.inp</strong> contains ISSJ
 resighting data as MARK input file.
 <strong>Spatial data for Population viability of an island
 endemic bird threatened by a novel disease.zip</strong> contains
 spatial data for Santa Cruz and Santa Rosa islands. Specifically,
 simulated ISSJ territories and habitat covariates.