Piping Plover response to coastal storms occurring during the nonbreeding season

• Published in: Avian conservation and ecology 2015-06, Vol.10 (1), p.12, Article art12
• Main Authors: Bourque, Nadine R., Villard, Marc-André, Mazerolle, Marc J., Amirault-Langlais, Diane, Tremblay, Eric, Jolicoeur, Serge
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Charadrius melodus; Charadrius melodus melodus; coastal storms; natural disturbance; nesting habitat; New Brunswick; population trends; species at risk
• ISSN: 1712-6568; 1712-6568
• DOI: 10.5751/ACE-00734-100112

The increase in coastal storm frequency and intensity expected under most climate change scenarios is likely to substantially modify beach configuration and associated habitats. This study aimed to analyze the impact of coastal storms on a nesting population of the endangered Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus melodus) in southeastern New Brunswick, Canada. Previous studies have shown that numbers of nesting Piping Plovers may increase following storms that create new nesting habitat at individual beaches. However, to our knowledge, no test of this pattern has been conducted over a regional scale. We hypothesized that Piping Plover abundance would increase after large coastal storms occurring during the nonbreeding season. However, we expected a delay in the colonization of newly created habitat owing to low-density populations, combined with high site fidelity of adults and high variability in survival rate of subadults. We tested this hypothesis using a 27-year (1986-2012) data set of Piping Plover abundance and productivity (nesting pairs and fledged young) collected at five sites in eastern New Brunswick. We identified 11 major storms that could potentially have modified Piping Plover habitat over the study period. The number of fledged young increased three years after a major storm, but the relationship was much weaker for the number of nesting pairs. These findings are consistent with the hypothesized increase in suitable habitat after coastal storms. Including storm occurrence with other factors influencing habitat quality will enhance Piping Plover conservation strategies.Original Abstract: L'augmentation de la frequence et de l'intensite des tempetes cotieres prevue dans la plupart des scenarios de changements climatiques modifiera vraisemblablement la configuration des plages et les milieux associes de facon substantielle. L'objectif de la presente etude etait d'analyser l'impact des tempetes cotieres sur une population nicheuse du Pluvier siffleur (Charadrius melodus melodus), espece en voie de disparition, dans le sud-est du Nouveau-Brunswick, au Canada. Des recherches anterieures ont montre que le nombre de Pluviers siffleurs nicheurs pourrait augmenter a la suite de tempetes susceptibles de creer de nouveaux milieux de nidification sur certaines plages. Toutefois, selon nos connaissances, il n'y a eu aucun test de cette tendance a l'echelle regionale. Nous avons teste l'hypothese selon laquelle l'abondance de ce pluvier augmenterait a la suit