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Seychelles Black Paradise-flycatcher Terpsiphone corvina is found almost exclusively on the 10 km2 island of La Digue. It is currently considered the second rarest endemic bird in the Seychelles, using the criteria of total population and number of discrete populations. Research reassessing the habitat requirements of the flycatcher was conducted on La Digue from 1999 to 2001. This work was conducted in parallel with assessment and ranking of the suitability of medium-sized islands of the inner Seychelles archipelago for avian ecosystem restoration, using biological, geographical and anthropogenic criteria. Predator eradications on several islands have led to a reduction in the range of alien predators, and future eradications are planned. These developments combined with the findings of recent ecological research and a novel assessment of many islands in the archipelago have led to the opportunity for a reassessment of conservation options for Seychelles Black Paradise-flycatcher. This paper discusses and prioritizes strategies to increase the range and total population and hence improve the conservation status of this species.

The takamaka tree Calophyllum inophyllum is animportant component of indigenous coastal forests in the granitic Seychelles,found on most islands of the archipelago. In 1994, a fungal pathogen previouslyunrecorded in the Seychelles (Leptographium calophylli) wasdetected on takamaka. Since the first cases of the disease were observed, spreadof the disease has been rapid, both within and between islands. Attempts tocontrol the disease, involving both legislation and forest management, appear tohave had little impact in controlling the spread. In the six yearssince the disease was first recorded in the Seychelles, it has reached10 islands, including most of the large islands of the archipelago. Mortality ratesand rates of spread between trees appear to vary in different islands andsituations, but in some cases both appear to be high. This paper describes thedistribution of the disease in the granitic Seychelles six yearsafter it was first recorded, reviews the potential impact of the disease onconservation value and discusses management strategies to minimise the impact ofthe disease on endemic vertebrates.

The introduced yellow crazy ant or long-legged ant Anoplolepis gracilipes was first reported in Seychelles in 1969 and now occurs on at least nine islands in the Central Seychelles. We describe the yellow crazy ant's effects on vegetation and invertebrate communities on one of these, Bird Island; in 2000, Anoplolepis (first reported in 1991) occurred there at densities at least 80 times higher than on other islands in the Central Seychelles. They were associated with high densities of coccid scale insects on foliage, especially of the native tree Pisonia grandis, in some instances causing tree death. Yellow crazy ants on Bird Island also significantly affected invertebrate communities on foliage and on the ground, both in terms of taxonomic composition and the density of specific taxa, apparently causing the local exclusion of some invertebrates.

The endemic Seychelles Scops-owl Otus insularis is a Critically Endangered restricted range species currently only recorded in the upland forest of Mahé, the largest (152 km2) and highest (903 m) island in the granitic Seychelles. We studied the response of colour-ringed individuals to playback of conspecific calls, to determine factors affecting playback reaction, to monitor behaviour and to assess the reliability of current monitoring techniques. Playback of the territorial waugh call was conducted at fixed points (c. 200 m apart) every month along a total transect length of 8.4 km between April 1999 and May 2001. On the basis of responses and movements of marked individuals we identified 12 territories and noted their boundaries. Mean territory length was 2.92 points (approximately 400 m), equivalent to a conservative estimated territory size of c. 12–16 ha. Males were more frequently detected than females/pairs. The probability of detection (males vs. females/pairs) was 0.87 vs. 0.50 on territory; 0.65 vs. 0.26 at fixed points within territories; and 0.58 vs. 0.22 at fixed points along the transect. There was some significant seasonal variation in detection rates at fixed points within territories for both males and pairs, and in general there was a low probability of detecting individuals around June-August and a high probability of detection around April and, to a lesser degree, October. Response times and owl-recorder distances were not influenced by moon phase or time of playback. This study provides the first baseline data on individual responses to the systematic repeated use of playback in Seychelles Scops-owl. We discuss the implications for current monitoring and its application to other similar Otus species.

In 2013, retired Park Ranger Mike Hill proposed writing the administrative history of the National Park Service (NPS) on San Miguel Island. An administrative history is the agency history of the NPS at a particular park, or in this case, on a particular island. Toward that end, 5 of the park rangers who have served as San Miguel Island Ranger gathered on that island in November 2013, along with former Superintendent Bill Ehorn and Chief of Cultural Resources Ann Huston. They reflected on years spent on San Miguel and recorded oral history interviews about those times. This paper traces the history of the National Park Service on San Miguel Island. A written agreement with the Navy in 1963 initiated NPS involvement in research and management on the island. That agreement opened the way for a further agreement in 1976 which placed park rangers on the island and opened the island to public visitation. Park facilities, visitor services, and resource management activities expanded over the following years. Visitor use came to an abrupt halt in 2014 when the U.S. Navy closed the island due to concerns over unexploded ordnance from practice bombing and missile tests. In 2016 the island was reopened. This paper draws upon 40 years of ranger station logbooks, oral history interviews from the 2013 San Miguel Ranger Reunion, and other NPS records.

Chu Yang Sin Nature Reserve, Dak Lak Province, Vietnam, is within an area of high bird endemism and supports a number of globally threatened and restricted-range species. Data were collected on the bird communities of the Reserve and their habitat in 1995, to ascertain habitat associations of some of the endemic and threatened taxa. Birds were surveyed in circular plots around a recording point. Habitat associations were investigated using Discriminant Function analysis, and populations estimated using DISTANCE.Seven restricted-range species and 38 restricted-range subspecies were recorded in the survey. The number of contacts with some of the endemic species was low, which limited the statistical investigation of the habitat require ments of these species. When analysis was possible, altitude was the most important of the factors measured determining species distributions, while measures of forest architecture seemed less important. The area appears to support important populations of several restricted-range taxa and, provided that protection and management of the protected area can be enhanced, it remains one of the most important areas for bird conservation in southern Vietnam. Some drawbacks of the techniques used in the survey are discussed.