Piping Plover Biology, Monitoring, and Management

Considerations for Management at Cape Hatteras National Seashore

Anne HechtU.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Northeast Region

September 26, 2016

Overview

• Desired future conditions - role of Cape Hatteras in the full life cycle of piping plovers

• Factors affecting breeding success • Tools under development• Experimental implementation of tools

(research opportunities)

Credit: Haig and Elliott-Smith(2004). The Birds of North America Online.

Charadrius melodusmelodus (Atlantic subspecies)

C. m. circumcinctus(Interior subspecies)

Northern Great Plains population

Great Lakes population

PIPING PLOVER

For each breeding population, percentage of individuals reported wintering along the eastern coast of the United States from the central Atlantic to southern Texas/Mexico up to December 2008. Each individual was counted only once. Grey circles represent Eastern Canada birds, Orange U.S. Great Lakes, Green U.S. Great Plains, and Black Prairie Canada. The size of the circle relative to others represents the percentage from a specific breeding area seen in that winter region.

From Gratto-Trevor et al. 2009, 2012

Desired Future Conditions of Migrating and Wintering Piping Plovers

• Concentration areas for each population

• Intra- and inter-annual fidelity

• Dependence on a mosaic of habitats

• Effects on survival and future productivity

Photo: Laurie MacIvor

Phot

o: Ji

m F

ento

n

Photo: Amanda Daisey

Factors Affecting Breeding Success

Factors Affecting Breeding Success

Photos: USFWS, MassWildlife, National Geographic

Maslo, Leu & Pover, in prep.

Factors Affecting Breeding Success: Role of Habitat and Beach Management

Patience and Perseverance

Parker River National Wildlife Refuge

April 2005April 2016

47 pairs1.60 chicks/pair

7 pairs1.86 ch/pr

Parker River NWR

Tools under Development: Decision Support Tool for Nest Exclosure Use

• Create tool to help managers decide whether to use exclosures

• Models informed by data collected in 2015 and 2016

• Beta test tool in 2017

Darrah and Cohen

UserInput

Internal Analyses Output

-or-

Nest Check DataYour site – current or previous year

Set of Defaults

Site Characteristics# pairs etc.

Bayesian Multinomial Nest Fate Analysis

Stochastic Population Projection Models

Pop. Growth with Exclosures

Pop. Growth w/out Exclosures

Growth Rate vs. Deaths

Decision

-and-

1.

2.

Estimates for your site:Abandonment ratePredation rateExclosure effects

From: Abby Darrah, SUNY ESF

Hypothetical Population Projection Results

Example using early-season data from a site with:• Average predation• Average abandonment

Example using default settings, choosing:

• High predation• High abandonment

From: Abby Darrah, SUNY ESF

Objective: predict influence ofsea-level rise � coastal morphology � plover

• Sea-level change (and other factors) drives coastal erosion• Erosion and sedimentation modify morphology• Large-scale and local morphology predicts plover success (and

vegetation, groundwater resources, wetland behavior, etc.)

Credit: R. Thieler, USGS

Tools under Development: Climate Change Forecasts

2016 Habitat Conservation Plan for Piping Plovers in Massachusetts

Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife 2016

Experimental Implementation of Tools:Effects of recreation on migrating and

wintering piping plovers

• Habitat selection• Abundance• Behavior• Energetics• Survival and future

reproduction

USFWS photo

Experimental Implementation of Tools:Factors affecting depredation of beach-nesting

birds, nests, and chicks

• Do anthropogenic landscape features affect predation rates? If so, how?

• Do anthropogenic food subsidies affect predation rates? If so, how?Ph

oto:

NJ D

FW

Recent and Ongoing Studies:• Behavioral ecology and

population characteristics of stripped skunks in plover habitat on Martha’s Vineyard, MA (Johnson)

• Understanding distribution of foxes in plover habitat in southern New Jersey (Stantialand Cohen)

• Movements, habitat selection, and demography of foxes on Fire Island, NY (Miles et al.)

Experimental Implementation of Tools:Habitat restoration

• USFWS summary of past and current efforts and recommendations – in development.

• Habitat enhancement projects implemented to date have, at best, produced benefits of limited scope and duration.

• Adaptive management may be a useful tool for improving the results of habitat enhancement projects if it is grounded in testable hypotheses, multiple performance criteria, and both spatial and temporal controls.

Recovery Challenges

• Wide-ranging, sparsely-distributed species• Persistent and pervasive threats• Labor-intensive protection activities photo: Jim Fenton

U.S. Atlantic Cooperators in 2002

73 agencies and organizations

• 5 federal agencies (includes 7 NPS units)

• 19 state agencies

• 24 local governments

• 25 NGOs

281 occupied breeding sites in 11 states

Hecht and Melvin 2009

Richard Kuzminski

On-site management (breeding)U.S. Atlantic, 1993 and 2002

0 20,000 40,000 60,000 80,000 100,000 120,000 140,000

On-site management andmonitoring by paid staff

On-site management andmonitoring by volunteers

Data compilation, reports,planning by paid staff

Off-site information,education by paid staff

Total hours

Act

ivity • 90+ hours per pair on

site management by paid staff per year

• Similar effort in Eastern Canada

Hecht and Melvin 2009

In thinking about how we can make a big difference, we must not ignore the small differences we can make which, over time, add up to the large differences that we often cannot foresee.

Sign on porch of The Nature Conservancy office, Charlottesville Virginia

Photo: Bill Byrne, MassWildlife