Managing a breeding population of the hooded plover Thinornis rubricollis in a high-use recreational environment
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Published source details
Dowling B. & Weston M.A. (1999) Managing a breeding population of the hooded plover Thinornis rubricollis in a high-use recreational environment. Bird Conservation International, 9, 255-270.
Published source details Dowling B. & Weston M.A. (1999) Managing a breeding population of the hooded plover Thinornis rubricollis in a high-use recreational environment. Bird Conservation International, 9, 255-270.
Actions
This study is summarised as evidence for the following.
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Use signs and access restrictions to reduce disturbance at nest sites Action Link |
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Use signs and access restrictions to reduce disturbance at nest sites
A replicated controlled study on a 28 km stretch of coast in a heavily-visited national park in Victoria, Australia (Dowling & Weston 1999), found that hooded plovers Thinornis rubricollis had significantly higher reproductive success in 1991-8 under three restricted-access regimes, compared to two regimes that allowed dogs on the beach (0.55 fledglings/clutch for 40 restricted access clutches vs. 0.10 fledglings/clutch for 131 open-access clutches). Hatching success was 31-40% and fledging success 31-68% for the 40 clutches in areas with no access for dogs; both dogs and people or under a ‘Plover Watch’ scheme, where volunteers ask people to avoid nests and control dogs. This compared with hatching and fledging success of 0-12% and 0-16% for 131 clutches in areas where dogs were prohibited from 0900–1700 each day or where there was unrestricted access to people and dogs. Overall, the average number of fledglings increased over the study period.
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