Globally, riparian ecosystems are in decline due to anthropogenic modifications including damming, channelization and the conversion of the floodplain for human use.
These changes can profoundly affect riparian species as many have adapted to the historical dynamism of these ecosystems. On the managed Missouri River, an imperiled shorebird, the piping plover (Charadrius melodus) uses riverine sandbars to breed. From 2004 to 2009, due to limited breeding habitat and low population numbers, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers constructed 255 ha of sandbar habitat to benefit piping plovers and least terns (Sternula antillarum). During the breeding seasons of 2010 and 2011, historically high flows resulted in the creation of 1,887 ha of suitable sandbar habitat. Our study compared the demographic response and the condition of piping plovers to these anthropogenic and natural habitat creation events.
From 2005–2014 we monitored 1,071 nests, and from those nests we uniquely banded 968 adults and 2,021 piping plover chicks. We obtained 405 egg (clutch) mass measurements, 1,285 mass measurements from 633 adults, and 7,093 mass measurements from 1,996 plover chicks resulting in 3,175 mass measurements from 654 broods of chicks. We also collected 3,347 invertebrate prey samples. We used a random effects logistic exposure model to estimate nest success, a random effects Cormack-Jolly-Seber model in RMARK to estimate pre-fledge chick survival and the
Barker model in RMARK to estimate hatch-year (HY) and after hatch-year (AHY) survival and fidelity to our study area. We then used estimates from these analyses to calculate reproductive output, reproductive output necessary for a stationary population, and population growth (λ). For adult condition and egg (clutch) mass we used generalized linear mixed regression, and for pre-fledge chick growth rates we used a modified Richard's model to estimate the effects of habitat type (pre- vs. post-flood). We also tested for differences in invertebrate prey abundance between habitat types using negative binomial regression.
Our results indicated that AHY survival varied throughout our study and was lowest during the flood (2010 and 2011). We found that nest success, pre-fledge chick survival, reproductive output, and HY survival and fidelity were consistently higher on the flood-created habitat than engineered habitat, leading to sustained population growth after the flooding, as compared to just one year of population growth prior to the flood. Unlike pre-flood engineered habitat, the demographic parameters we measured did not decrease as the post-flood habitat aged. These differences were related to increased sandbar habitat, low nesting densities, and decreased nest and chick predation on the post-flood habitat. Although we hypothesized that increased demographic rates would be reflected by increased piping plover condition following the flood, we found that our measured condition variables (adult mass, clutch mass, and pre-fledge chick growth rates) remained unchanged following the flood. We also found evidence that clutch mass, chick growth rates and invertebrate prey abundance decreased as the post-flood sandbar habitat aged. As the condition of individuals did not appear to contribute directly to the increased demographic rates following the flood, we suggest that the change in density-dependent predation pressure may explain the discrepancy. As many ecosystems have previously been altered, it's rare that ecologists have the opportunity to compare management practices with natural ecosystem processes. Results from this study suggest that management intervention may not be an equivalent substitute for natural ecosystem processes and provide insight on future management of riparian ecosystem. / Master of Science / Worldwide, riverine ecosystems are declining, which has had a negative effect on many species. On the managed Missouri River, a threatened shorebird, the piping plover (<i>Charadrius melodus</i>), likes to nest on unvegetated sandbars with saturated, or ‘muddy’ areas where they, and their chicks can feed on insects. Historically, flooding of the river created new sandbar habitat and scoured vegetation off of existing sandbars. However, the current river management regime, including dams and channelization, means that the river floods less, and over time sandbars become vegetated and eventually erode away.
From 2004 to 2009 the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built sandbars for piping plovers to use for nesting and raising their chicks. In 2011, the Missouri River flooded as a result of increased mountain snow and spring precipitation. Although devastating at the time, the flood created an abundance of new sandbar habitat for piping plovers to use, nearly ten times more habitat than was available before. To understand what effect the flood and the newly created sandbars had on piping plovers, we collected data on the Missouri River from 2005–2014. We monitored nests to figure out how many hatched, and used color bands on both adults and chicks to see how many survived throughout the season and over the years. We also weighed piping plover eggs, chicks, and adults and collected insect prey samples.
Following the flood, more nests hatched, more chicks survived to fledging, and more chicks survived from one year to the next than during any of the years prior. This success led to the population of piping plovers nearly doubling each year. Because the flood created so much habitat, piping plovers were still able to successfully hatch nests and raise their chicks, even with the sandbars eroding and vegetating over time. Although we thought that the increase in rates such as survival and population growth, would be reflected by increased egg masses, adult masses, and chick masses, we found that they remained unchanged following the flood. We also found evidence that egg masses and chick masses were related to the amount of insect prey.
Following the flood, less nests and chicks were eaten by predators such as, mink, crow, and great-horned owls, and we think this is a result of decreases in nesting densities which may have made nests and chicks harder to locate. These results indicate that the amount of habitat available to nesting piping plovers is an incredibly important factor in the population growth of this imperiled species.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/73480 |
| Date | 17 November 2016 |
| Creators | Hunt, Kelsi L. |
| Contributors | Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences, Catlin, Daniel H., Karpanty, Sarah M., Fraser, James D. |
| Publisher | Virginia Tech |
| Source Sets | Virginia Tech Theses and Dissertation |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | ETD, application/pdf |
| Rights | In Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
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