Can river management improve the piping plover’s long-term survival on the Missouri River?

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“…Male Piping Plovers have relatively high site fidelity (Wilcox 1959, Haig and Oring 1988, Cohen and Gratto-Trevor 2011, which may be advantageous because of known foraging areas (Davies and Houston 1981) and predator locations (Yoder et al 2004) as well as established relationships with neighbors at a familiar site (Krebs 1982). Our results reinforce this idea because male Piping Plovers exhibited strong site fidelity in consecutive breeding seasons on the river, despite experiencing a significant reduction in nest site quality that mirrored the overall decline in plover habitat quality during the majority of the study period (Catlin et al 2011(Catlin et al , 2014. Reuniting is expected to benefit male Piping Plovers because they can abbreviate courtship and mate selection, which are time-and energy-consumptive activities (Schartz andZimmerman 1971, Real 1990), have coordinated breeding and defense with a familiar partner (Cooke et al 1981), and can potentially initiate a nest earlier (Choudhury and Black 1994).…”

“…Bet-hedging is a means for males to avoid the costs of delayed nesting or remaining unmated after waiting on a late-returning or non-returning former partner and is related to the chance of survival. The annual survival rate of Piping Plovers on our study site is~78% (Catlin et al 2014 in press), and 92% of surviving adults return to the study site (Catlin 2009). At these observed survival and fidelity rates, the chance of a male's former partner surviving and returning is~72%.…”

“…They are seasonally monogamous, and a pair shares incubation of a (typically) 4-egg clutch for 27-31 days after the last egg is laid (Wilcox 1959). The average annual true survival rate at our study site is~78% (Catlin et al 2014 in press), and the fidelity rate of surviving adults to the study area is .90% (Catlin 2009). Both values were established using Barker's (1997) capture-mark-recapture model for determining true survival and site fidelity.…”

Demographic response of Piping Plovers suggests that engineered habitat restoration is no match for natural riverine processes

“…As HY survival was calculated from hatching to the following breeding season, it is likely that some component of density-dependent HY survival was influenced by the importance of nesting density during the prefledging period. On the Missouri River, decreased nesting densities can result in increased availability of foraging habitat for individuals (Catlin et al , 2014, decreased predation , and decreased inter-and intra-species aggression (D. H. Catlin personal observation). Moreover, lower densities were related to a higher proportion of double brooding , which may also increase reproductive output.…”

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“…Among shorebirds, which typically exhibit nest site fidelity, plovers show a particularly high degree of nest site fidelity (.90% in our system; LeDee et al 2010, Cohen and Gratto-Trevor 2011, Friedrich et al 2015. In addition, their reproductive output and survival are positively related to foraging and nesting habitat quality (Catlin et al 2014.…”