Open Access
How to translate text using browser tools
1 March 2009 Population Trends of Atlantic Coast Piping Plovers, 1986–2006
Anne Hecht, Scott M. Melvin
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

The Atlantic Coast population of Piping Plovers (Charadrius melodus) has been the focus of rangewide monitoring and recovery efforts since it was listed as Threatened in 1986 pursuant to the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Breeding pairs in the U.S. and Eastern Canada were censused annually from 1986 through 2006, and productivity (chicks fledged per breeding pair) was reported annually for varying proportions of the population. Census totals more than doubled, from 790 pairs in 1986 to 1,749 pairs in 2006, concomitant with sustained intensive management. Population growth was greatest and most rapid in the New England and New York-New Jersey recovery units, while increases were more modest in the Southern and Eastern Canada units. Periodic rapid declines in the Southern and Eastern Canada units raise concerns about long-term risks of extirpation. The Atlantic Coast population became less evenly distributed between 1989 and 2006, with the percentage of the population breeding in New England increasing from 21.5% to 36.2% while declining proportionately in the other three recovery units. Overall productivity for the Atlantic Coast population 1989–2006 was 1.35 chicks fledged per pair (annual range = 1.16–1.54), and overall productivity within recovery units decreased with decreasing latitude: Eastern Canada = 1.61, New England = 1.44, New York-New Jersey = 1.18, and Southern = 1.19. Within recovery units, annual productivity was variable and showed no sustained trends. There were significant, positive relationships between productivity and population growth in the subsequent year for each of the three U.S. recovery units, but not for Eastern Canada. There was a latitudinal trend in predictions of annual productivity needed to support stationary populations (λ = 1.0) within recovery units, increasing from 0.93 chicks fledged per pair in the Southern unit to 1.44 in Eastern Canada. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that survival rates of Atlantic Coast Piping Plovers decline with increasing latitude of breeding sites, and suggest that modified productivity objectives that are specific to individual recovery units may be appropriate.

Anne Hecht and Scott M. Melvin "Population Trends of Atlantic Coast Piping Plovers, 1986–2006," Waterbirds 32(1), 64-72, (1 March 2009). https://doi.org/10.1675/063.032.0107
Received: 11 October 2007; Accepted: 1 September 2008; Published: 1 March 2009
KEYWORDS
Atlantic Coast
census
Charadrius melodus
conservation
demographics
endangered species
Piping Plover
Back to Top