Understanding the state of management of human disturbances to shorebirds across the Atlantic Flyway of the U.S. and Canada

Comber, Carolyn; Dayer, Ashley A.

doi:10.18194/ws.00249

Cited by 1 publication

(9 citation statements)

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“…While such managerial or biologist knowledge is sometimes considered expert opinion (e.g. Comber & Dayer, 2021b), in line with Cook et al, we consider this local knowledge instead because these individuals often do not necessarily have relevant formal education or publication records, but they do have extensive relevant experience with shorebirds, coastal environments, management decisions, outcomes and recreationists' responses (Cook et al, 2014). Specifically, we explored managers' and biologists' (hereafter, managers) thoughts on to what extent enforcement (both detection and citation) effectively contributed to compliance, and what enforcement issues, if any, existed.…”

Section: Covid-19 Impactsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Human activities that are potentially disturbing are widely present at sites across the U.S. portion of the Atlantic Flyway (Comber & Dayer, 2021b). Managers use various techniques to reduce disturbance, but despite best efforts, non-compliance with restrictions for some activities, such as dog walking, continues to be problematic (Comber & Dayer, 2021b).…”

Section: Me Thodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Compliance is defined as ‘adherence to rules related to natural resource use and conservation…the term compliance refers to whether a person or system adheres to rules or not’ (Arias, 2015, p. 134). Managers in the U.S. and Canada portions of the Atlantic Flyway believe there are non‐compliance issues with dog regulations, more so than other human activities that are regulated to restrict disturbance to shorebirds (Comber & Dayer, 2021b). Similarly in the Midcontinent Flyway of the U.S. and the East Asian‐Australasian Flyway, researchers have documented non‐compliance issues with regulations for dogs on beaches (Jorgensen & Brown, 2014, 2016; Maguire et al, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Ecological research on disturbance to shorebirds from dogs often calls for more stringent enforcement (e.g. Baudains & Lloyd, 2007; Burger, 1986); yet, it is also acknowledged that enforcement alone may not be effective at achieving conservation outcomes (Bowes et al, 2017; Comber & Dayer, 2021b). Enforcement applies a regulatory approach, sometimes referred to as ‘coerced compliance’, whereby non‐compliers are penalized (Arias, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this approach, offences must be detected and arrests or citations given with penalties implemented (Arias, 2015). In the case of shorebird disturbance, some managers along the Atlantic Flyway of the U.S. and Canada believe that law enforcement is less effective than other management strategies (Comber & Dayer, 2021b). This may be due in part to law enforcement authorities and programs tending to be strapped for time and resources (Eliason, 2011; Moreto, 2016; Rizzolo et al, 2021) and having to make tough decisions about where to focus enforcement activities (Dhanjal‐Adams et al, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Managers and shorebird biologists' perceptions of enforcement and voluntary compliance techniques to increase compliance with dog regulations on beaches

et al. 2022

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1. Disturbance to shorebirds by domestic dogs can cause direct and indirect bird mortality. Dog regulations to minimize disturbance are only effective if people comply with them.2. Non-compliance is a universal problem in biodiversity conservation, with an associated body of applicable social science from the field of conservation criminology. We apply the lens of this literature to better understand non-compliance with dog regulations on beaches along the Atlantic Flyway of the U.S. and the role of law enforcement and voluntary compliance techniques (e.g. persuasive communications, behavioural alternatives) in fostering compliance.3. Through in-depth interviews with 27 land managers and shorebird biologists experienced in creating and/or implementing regulations to reduce disturbance to shorebirds, we found that non-compliance is a challenge that law enforcement alone is inadequate to address.4. Managers are working to overcome these challenges with law enforcement through training law enforcement officers, as well as voluntary compliance approaches, such as conducting on-site stewardship programs led largely by volunteers, placing educational signage at sites, and highlighting alternative areas to walk dogs.5. The early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S. increased dog walking on beaches and exacerbated the issue of non-compliance and lack of enforcement, while the capacity for educational and stewardship programs was also limited.6. We conclude by recommending that managers and biologists tackle noncompliance with multiple and concurrent strategies along a spectrum from enforcement to voluntary compliance techniques, while also better studying the efficacy of these approaches. We also highlight the importance of continuing to track the ongoing challenges to compliance with biodiversity conservation regulations due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Section: Covid-19 Impactsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Me Thodsmentioning

confidence: 99%