Performing Department
Environmental & Forest Biology
Non Technical Summary
Use of predator exclosures (wire cages) has been key to past growth of the Atlantic Coast piping plover population. The benefits of exclosures, however, have been questioned as reproductive output has declined at many sites using exclosures, concurrent with increased observations of nest abandomnents at exclosed nests. Evidence that most nest abandomnents are caused by mortalities of incubating adults (Roche et al. 2010) makes evaluation of hatching benefits versus potential risk of elevated nest abandomnent rates a complicated and critical decision. This project will build on current efforts to develop a stochastic population projection model and user interface to support site- or nest-specific exclosure decisions that Atlantic Coast shorebird biologists make hundreds of times every year. Within the terms of authorizations from the State wildlife agencies, exclosure use is one of the few actions amenable to improved near-term management decisions that are almost entirely at the discretion of site biologists, and this project will place a valuable decision support tool directly into their hands.Piping plovers are a high visibility and sometimes controversial threatened species breeding in 11 states from Maine to North Carolina. Although the total Atlantic Coast piping plover breeding population has increased since listing, growth has been uneven and there is a continuing rangewide need to manage threats (including human-abetted predation pressure) that cannot be removed. In the New York-New Jersey recovery unit, abundance declined 36% between 2007 and 2014, and productivity in 2012 and 2013 was far below the replacement rate. Depredation of nests is not the only factor implicated in this decline, but it is a major human-abetted threat that is unlikely to diminish in the foreseeable future. Our rapidly changing climate, increasing popularity of beach recreation, and growth of coastal development create growing and somewhat unpredictable threats and demand that we use the best science to sustain piping plover populations. Furthermore, several recent projects (e.g., Fire Island, New York) and ongoing planning efforts (Massachusetts programmatic habitat conservation plan) are contemplating use of exclosures as conservation measures or mitigation. Analytic tools that quantify predicted and realized estimates of the demographic effect (i.e., changes in productivity, minus adult mortality) will support scientifically-credible evaluation of exclosure effects. However, such application will require intensive training and support for initial usage by site biologists.Awarded Start Date: 7/15/16Sponsor: US Fish and Wildlife Service
Animal Health Component
0%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
100%
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
The long-term goals of this project are to increase abundance of Atlantic Coast piping plovers, increase productivity without a demographic offset in reduced adult survival, and institutionalize the use of a decision support tool for nest exclosures and other management decisions. These goals will be served by ESF collaboration with the Service's Endangered Species and National Wildlife Refuge programs to (A) analyze data collected during the 2015 and 2016 breeding seasons to identify enviromnental factors affecting the overall benefits of exclosures that may be amenable to management; (B) conduct training webinars and provide user support for refuge biologists andbiological technicians on the use of the decision suppor tool; (C) define and document procedures for use of the tool to estimate the net demographic change when exclosures are used; (D) refine user instructions and training materials; and (E) assist the Service in developing methods it can use to monitor and evaluate future use of the decision support tool.
Project Methods
January 2017- March 2017: ESF researchers will incorporate data collected during the 2016 breeding season into development and validation of the stochastic population projection model and analyze variables affecting rates of piping plover hatching successand adult mmiality with and without exclosures. ESF and the Service will coordinate with contributing partners including national wildlife refuges, national seashores, State agencies, and non-governmental organizations that will be testing the decision-support tool. ESF will prepare written user instructions and conduct training webinars for biologists and biological technicians on the use of the decision support tool.April 2017 -August 201 7: Biologists and biological technicians will test the decision support tool. ESF will review use and application of the tool by field biologists and provide rapid responses to their questions and concerns. ESF will also conduct site visits to selected refuges and other sites to observe use of the tool in the field and identify oppmiunities for refinement of the user interface and training materials. ESF will provide training to select endangered species biologists so that they can support future use of the decision suppmi tool.September 2017- January 2018: Service and cooperator biologists will provide suggestions to improve the model, user instructions, and training materials to ESF. ESF will finalize user instructions and training materials. ESF will use data collected in 2016 and 2017 to define and document procedures for use of the tool to quantify the net demographic change when exclossures are used as mitigation in Habitat Conservation Plans or as conservation measures in projects evaluated in ESA section 7 biological opinions. ESF will train Ecological Services biologists on use of the model to predict and monitor the incremental benefits of exclosure use. ESF will discuss protocols and other products with the Service's Migratory Bird Program so that the latter can apply them (as appropriate) to best practices for coordinated predator monitoring and management being developed in accordance with the Atlantic Flyway Shorebird Initiative and assess the potential for adaptation of models to suppmi use of ex closures and other management options for reducing predation threats to breeding snowy plovers and Wilson's plovers.The Service and ESF will discuss methods the Service can use to monitor and evaluate post-project use of the decision support tool, and ESF will provide a written summary of its recommendations. Presentations and training will also be conducted during the January 2018 Atlantic Coast Piping Plover and Least Tern Workshop.