Flight initiation distances of nesting Piping Plovers (Charadrius melodus) in response to human disturbance

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Birds frequently interact with people when they occur in coupled human-ecological or anthropogenic environments, which makes the protection of legally protected species a challenge. Flight initiation distances (FIDs) are often used to inform development of appropriate buffer distances required for human exclusion zones used to protect birds nesting in anthropogenic landscapes. Piping Plovers (Charadrius melodus) are protected by the Endangered Species Act in the United States and often nest in areas used by humans. Studies evaluating Piping Plover FIDs are limited and implementation of exclusion zones has been inconsistent across the species' range. We measured Piping Plover response and FIDs to naturally occurring stimuli on public beaches at Lake McConaughy, Nebraska, USA. Piping Plover FIDs differed most by stimulus class (vehicle, human, dog, human with dog), Julian day, and hour of day. Piping Plover FIDs were greatest for dog and human with dog compared to humans and vehicles. For all types of stimuli, Piping Plover FIDs decreased over time during the nesting season and increased slightly during each day. In the majority of instances in which Piping Plovers left their nests, return times to the nest were relatively short (less than three minutes). These results suggest Piping Plovers become habituated to the presence of human-related stimuli over the course of a nesting season, but other explanations such as parental investment and risk allocation cannot be excluded. Additional research and improved guidance regarding the implementation of exclusion zones is needed so managers can implement effective protection programs in anthropogenic landscapes. Distances de fuite de Pluviers siffleurs (Charadrius melodus) nicheurs en réaction au dérangement humainRÉSUMÉ. Souvent, les oiseaux interagissent avec les humains lorsqu'ils fréquentent des environnements mixtes anthropiques-naturels ou anthropiques, rendant difficile la protection d'espèces protégées légalement. On utilise couramment la distance de fuite (DF) afin de déterminer une distance sécuritaire appropriée pour des zones d'exclusion humaine nécessaires à la protection d'oiseaux qui nichent dans des paysages anthropiques. Les Pluviers siffleurs (Charadrius melodus) sont protégés en vertu de la Loi sur les espèces en péril (Endangered Species Act) aux États-Unis et nichent régulièrement dans des endroits aussi utilisés par les humains. Les recherches visant à évaluer les DF des Pluviers siffleurs sont peu nombreuses et la mise en place de zones d'exclusion humaine a été inégale dans l'ensemble de l'aire de répartition de cette espèce. Nous avons mesuré la réaction des pluviers et les DF en présence de stimuli naturels sur les plages publiques au lac McConaughy, au Nebraska, États-Unis. Les DF des pluviers ont surtout varié selon le type de stimuli (véhicule, humain, chien, humain avec chien), le jour julien et l'heure du jour. Les DF des pluviers étaient le plus élevées en présence de chiens et d'humains avec des chiens, comparativement à la pré...

Four‐legged foes: dogs disturb nesting plovers more than people do on tourist beaches

“…2011, Weston & Stankowich 2014, Faillace & Smith 2016, Jorgensen et al . 2016). This difference seems to be caused by the frequency with which pets chase birds and the fact that dogs are instinctively perceived as predators (Pfister et al .…”

“…In fact, the occurrence of predation of nests, adults and plover chicks by dogs has been documented in various breeding habitats (Nol & Brooks 1982, Fraga & Amat 1996, Sanders & Maloney 2002, Amat & Masero 2004a, Diniz et al 2016 and it is estimated that it may be an important mortality factor (Montalvo & Figuerola 2006, Baudains & Lloyd 2007. Dogs cause significant disturbance to birds when they approach them (Burger 1981, Klein 1993, and have a stronger effect on their behaviour than people do (Lord et al 2001, Glover et al 2011, Weston & Stankowich 2014, Faillace & Smith 2016, Jorgensen et al 2016. This difference seems to be caused by the frequency with which pets chase birds and the fact that dogs are instinctively perceived as predators (Pfister et al 1992, Burger 1994, Lima, 1998, Miller et al 2001, Lafferty 2001a.…”

Recreation effects on wildlife: a review of potential quantitative thresholds

“…Studies of plover species (genera Charadrius and Pluvialis) provided some of the clearest examples of minimum effect thresholds and were primarily identified between 50-100 m (Fig. 4) (Lafferty 2001; Jorgensen et al 2016). Ungulate species were the best represented mammalian group and had a broad distribution of effect distance thresholds from 40 to 1000 m (Borkowski et al 2006;Preisler et al 2006).…”

Flight initiation distances in relation to pedestrian and boat disturbance in five species of waders breeding in a Mediterranean Lagoon

“…After recommending set-back distances based on empirical observations, the effectiveness of these should be evaluated. Set-back distances rely on the attitudes of people and recognition of its importance (Glover et al, 2011); distances should be realistic for application, but also allow birds to carry out their normal behaviour (Jorgensen et al, 2016). Examples of successful adaptive management to reduce disturbance to coastal waterbirds are known (Burger et al, 2004).…”

“…As McLeod et al (2013) remarked, most of the papers regarding FID in waterbirds come from data that are relative to just one type of stimulus -usually the occurrence of pedestrians. Only 8 of 100 articles that they considered dealt with boat disturbance, and only 13 compared two or more stimuli (that is, pedestrians, boats, cars, and buses; see Rodgers & Smith, 1997;Koch & Paton, 2014;Mayo et al, 2015;Livezey et al, 2016;Jorgensen et al, 2016).…”