Metapopulation dynamics of piping plovers in the Northern Great Plains Active
NPWRC is leading a multi-agency study to understand metapopulation dynamics of piping plovers in the Northern Great Plains. Piping plovers are a federally listed species that nests on riverine sandbars and shorelines of wetlands and reservoirs. These habitats are dynamic in response to climate and water-management regimes of the Missouri River. The US Army Corps of Engineers manages the Missouri River for hydropower, recreation, water supply, navigation, flood control, and fish and wildlife. That management strategy can put plovers in jeopardy. Accordingly, the Corps is creating breeding habitat for plovers on the Missouri River. Additionally, other key areas where plovers breed, wetlands in the Prairie Pothole Region, are under threat from changing climate and land-use practices. NPWRC recently completed year 6 of an 8-year study that involves marking adults and chicks with alphanumeric color bands and resighting them at breeding areas throughout the Northern Great Plains. This study will provide population demographic and dispersal information that will greatly inform decisions about management, conservation, and recovery of this species.
Below are publications associated with this project.
Small high-definition video cameras as a tool to resight uniquely marked Interior Least Terns (Sternula antillarum athalassos)
Synchrony of Piping Plover breeding populations in the U.S. Northern Great Plains
Field‐readable alphanumeric flags are valuable markers for shorebirds: use of double‐marking to identify cases of misidentification
- Overview
NPWRC is leading a multi-agency study to understand metapopulation dynamics of piping plovers in the Northern Great Plains. Piping plovers are a federally listed species that nests on riverine sandbars and shorelines of wetlands and reservoirs. These habitats are dynamic in response to climate and water-management regimes of the Missouri River. The US Army Corps of Engineers manages the Missouri River for hydropower, recreation, water supply, navigation, flood control, and fish and wildlife. That management strategy can put plovers in jeopardy. Accordingly, the Corps is creating breeding habitat for plovers on the Missouri River. Additionally, other key areas where plovers breed, wetlands in the Prairie Pothole Region, are under threat from changing climate and land-use practices. NPWRC recently completed year 6 of an 8-year study that involves marking adults and chicks with alphanumeric color bands and resighting them at breeding areas throughout the Northern Great Plains. This study will provide population demographic and dispersal information that will greatly inform decisions about management, conservation, and recovery of this species.
- Publications
Below are publications associated with this project.
Small high-definition video cameras as a tool to resight uniquely marked Interior Least Terns (Sternula antillarum athalassos)
Many bird species of conservation concern have behavioral or morphological traits that make it difficult for researchers to determine if the birds have been uniquely marked. Those traits can also increase the difficulty for researchers to decipher those markers. As a result, it is a priority for field biologists to develop time- and cost-efficient methods to resight uniquely marked individuals, esAuthorsDustin L. Toy, Erin Roche, Colin M. DovichinSynchrony of Piping Plover breeding populations in the U.S. Northern Great Plains
Local populations that fluctuate synchronously are at a greater risk of extinction than those that do not. The closer the geographic proximity of populations, the more prone they are to synchronizing. Shorebird species select habitat broadly, and many breed across regions with diverse nesting habitat types. Under these conditions, nearby populations may experience conditions sufficiently differentAuthorsErin A. Roche, Terry L. Shaffer, Colin M. Dovichin, Mark H. Sherfy, Michael J. Anteau, Mark T. WiltermuthField‐readable alphanumeric flags are valuable markers for shorebirds: use of double‐marking to identify cases of misidentification
Implicit assumptions for most mark-recapture studies are that individuals do not lose their markers and all observed markers are correctly recorded. If these assumptions are violated, e.g., due to loss or extreme wear of markers, estimates of population size and vital rates will be biased. Double-marking experiments have been widely used to estimate rates of marker loss and adjust for associated bAuthorsErin A. Roche, Colin M. Dovichin, Todd W. Arnold