A monitoring framework for assessing threats to nonbreeding shorebirds on the Pacific Coast of the Americas
Many shorebirds (Order: Charadriiformes; Family: Charadriidae, Recurvirostridae, Scolopacidae, Haematopodidae, Jacanidae) are highly migratory, traversing thousands of kilometers between high latitude breeding and low latitude nonbreeding sites. In doing so, they are dependent on networks of coastal...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Resilience Alliance
2020-12-01
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| Series: | Avian Conservation and Ecology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.ace-eco.org/vol15/iss2/art7/ |
| _version_ | 1797968200300756992 |
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| author | Matthew E. Reiter Eduardo Palacios Diana Eusse-Gonzalez Richard Johnston González Pete Davidson David W. Bradley Rob Clay Khara M. Strum James Chu Blake A. Barbaree Catherine M. Hickey David B. Lank Mark Drever Ronald C. Ydenberg Robert Butler |
| author_facet | Matthew E. Reiter Eduardo Palacios Diana Eusse-Gonzalez Richard Johnston González Pete Davidson David W. Bradley Rob Clay Khara M. Strum James Chu Blake A. Barbaree Catherine M. Hickey David B. Lank Mark Drever Ronald C. Ydenberg Robert Butler |
| author_sort | Matthew E. Reiter |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Many shorebirds (Order: Charadriiformes; Family: Charadriidae, Recurvirostridae, Scolopacidae, Haematopodidae, Jacanidae) are highly migratory, traversing thousands of kilometers between high latitude breeding and low latitude nonbreeding sites. In doing so, they are dependent on networks of coastal and interior wetland ecosystems. To aid in the effective conservation and management of their populations, and to assess the impact of threats facing shorebirds, standardized data on shorebird abundance are needed from multiple sites representing a gradient of conditions across the hemisphere. Such data would provide insight on whether fluctuations at one location represent real changes in abundance because of some localized threat, or whether other factors acting across broader scales such as the redistribution of predators, are responsible. We designed the Migratory Shorebird Project (MSP), now implemented in 11 countries along the Pacific Coast of the Americas, to characterize spatial and temporal variation in shorebird abundance, to understand which factors (habitat, threats) most influence their populations across the flyway, and to increase capacity for integrated research, monitoring, and conservation. We used bird inventory data from historical surveys and spatial data on habitat distribution along with a set of hypotheses about important threats to guide the design of the project and to identify data requirements to test hypotheses. We counted birds one time per year at 84 nonbreeding sites (~1400 sampling units) between 15 November and 15 February, when shorebirds were relatively stationary. In each of the first three annual counts from 2013/14 to 2015/16, the Migratory Shorebird Project counted ~1M shorebirds representing 44 species, including five species for which > 20% of the estimated biogeographic population was recorded annually, and nine additional species with > 5% recorded annually. The magnitude of variability in estimates of shorebird abundance was inversely correlated with survey effort with the most uncertainty, and lowest survey effort, in the South Temperate region followed by the Neotropical region (southern Mexico to northern Peru) and then the North Temperate region. Evaluation of variance highlighted both among-site and among-unit ("units" are nested within sites) variation in bird abundance and cover types as well as threats such as potential disturbance and predator abundance. Overall, shorebird density was significantly, and positively, associated with the area (ha) of intertidal mudflats, beaches, and aquaculture. Survey units with intermediate levels of bare ground and flooding had the highest shorebird density. As for threats, we found, contrary to our hypothesis, that shorebird abundance was significantly, and positively, associated, with the density of Peregrine Falcons (Falco peregrinus); however we found no relationship between shorebird abundance and the amount of urban development, our index to potential human disturbance, in the surrounding landscape. The Migratory Shorebird Project is providing an essential data foundation and network for increased knowledge of the factors affecting shorebirds across the Pacific Coast of the Americas and identifying what and where conservation actions could have the greatest impact. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T02:43:10Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4a7995d1c130433abc47ba14787c887a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1712-6568 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T02:43:10Z |
| publishDate | 2020-12-01 |
| publisher | Resilience Alliance |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Avian Conservation and Ecology |
| spelling | doaj.art-4a7995d1c130433abc47ba14787c887a2023-01-02T18:34:27ZengResilience AllianceAvian Conservation and Ecology1712-65682020-12-0115271620A monitoring framework for assessing threats to nonbreeding shorebirds on the Pacific Coast of the AmericasMatthew E. Reiter0Eduardo Palacios1Diana Eusse-Gonzalez2Richard Johnston González3Pete Davidson4David W. Bradley5Rob Clay6Khara M. Strum7James Chu8Blake A. Barbaree9Catherine M. Hickey10David B. Lank11Mark Drever12Ronald C. Ydenberg13Robert Butler14Point Blue Conservation ScienceCentro de Investigación Científica y de Educación Superior de Ensenada, Baja California, Unidad La PazAsociación para el estudio y la conservación de las aves Acuáticas en Colombia - CalidrisAsociación para el estudio y la conservación de las aves Acuáticas en Colombia - CalidrisBirds CanadaBirds CanadaWHSRN Executive Office, ManometAudubon CaliforniaUnited States Forest Service International ProgramsPoint Blue Conservation SciencePoint Blue Conservation ScienceCentre for Wildlife Ecology, Simon Fraser UniversityEnvironment and Climate Change CanadaCentre for Wildlife Ecology, Simon Fraser UniversityPacific WildLife FoundationMany shorebirds (Order: Charadriiformes; Family: Charadriidae, Recurvirostridae, Scolopacidae, Haematopodidae, Jacanidae) are highly migratory, traversing thousands of kilometers between high latitude breeding and low latitude nonbreeding sites. In doing so, they are dependent on networks of coastal and interior wetland ecosystems. To aid in the effective conservation and management of their populations, and to assess the impact of threats facing shorebirds, standardized data on shorebird abundance are needed from multiple sites representing a gradient of conditions across the hemisphere. Such data would provide insight on whether fluctuations at one location represent real changes in abundance because of some localized threat, or whether other factors acting across broader scales such as the redistribution of predators, are responsible. We designed the Migratory Shorebird Project (MSP), now implemented in 11 countries along the Pacific Coast of the Americas, to characterize spatial and temporal variation in shorebird abundance, to understand which factors (habitat, threats) most influence their populations across the flyway, and to increase capacity for integrated research, monitoring, and conservation. We used bird inventory data from historical surveys and spatial data on habitat distribution along with a set of hypotheses about important threats to guide the design of the project and to identify data requirements to test hypotheses. We counted birds one time per year at 84 nonbreeding sites (~1400 sampling units) between 15 November and 15 February, when shorebirds were relatively stationary. In each of the first three annual counts from 2013/14 to 2015/16, the Migratory Shorebird Project counted ~1M shorebirds representing 44 species, including five species for which > 20% of the estimated biogeographic population was recorded annually, and nine additional species with > 5% recorded annually. The magnitude of variability in estimates of shorebird abundance was inversely correlated with survey effort with the most uncertainty, and lowest survey effort, in the South Temperate region followed by the Neotropical region (southern Mexico to northern Peru) and then the North Temperate region. Evaluation of variance highlighted both among-site and among-unit ("units" are nested within sites) variation in bird abundance and cover types as well as threats such as potential disturbance and predator abundance. Overall, shorebird density was significantly, and positively, associated with the area (ha) of intertidal mudflats, beaches, and aquaculture. Survey units with intermediate levels of bare ground and flooding had the highest shorebird density. As for threats, we found, contrary to our hypothesis, that shorebird abundance was significantly, and positively, associated, with the density of Peregrine Falcons (Falco peregrinus); however we found no relationship between shorebird abundance and the amount of urban development, our index to potential human disturbance, in the surrounding landscape. The Migratory Shorebird Project is providing an essential data foundation and network for increased knowledge of the factors affecting shorebirds across the Pacific Coast of the Americas and identifying what and where conservation actions could have the greatest impact.https://www.ace-eco.org/vol15/iss2/art7/conservationhabitat associationshypothesized threatsmonitoring networkpacific americas flywayshorebirds |
| spellingShingle | Matthew E. Reiter Eduardo Palacios Diana Eusse-Gonzalez Richard Johnston González Pete Davidson David W. Bradley Rob Clay Khara M. Strum James Chu Blake A. Barbaree Catherine M. Hickey David B. Lank Mark Drever Ronald C. Ydenberg Robert Butler A monitoring framework for assessing threats to nonbreeding shorebirds on the Pacific Coast of the Americas Avian Conservation and Ecology conservation habitat associations hypothesized threats monitoring network pacific americas flyway shorebirds |
| title | A monitoring framework for assessing threats to nonbreeding shorebirds on the Pacific Coast of the Americas |
| title_full | A monitoring framework for assessing threats to nonbreeding shorebirds on the Pacific Coast of the Americas |
| title_fullStr | A monitoring framework for assessing threats to nonbreeding shorebirds on the Pacific Coast of the Americas |
| title_full_unstemmed | A monitoring framework for assessing threats to nonbreeding shorebirds on the Pacific Coast of the Americas |
| title_short | A monitoring framework for assessing threats to nonbreeding shorebirds on the Pacific Coast of the Americas |
| title_sort | monitoring framework for assessing threats to nonbreeding shorebirds on the pacific coast of the americas |
| topic | conservation habitat associations hypothesized threats monitoring network pacific americas flyway shorebirds |
| url | https://www.ace-eco.org/vol15/iss2/art7/ |
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