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Impact of human recreation along beaches on the reproductive success of Piping Plovers

(Charadrius melodus)

Kyle Smith

MARS-1100-003: Survey of Ocean Life

Instructor: Dana Christensen

December 2, 2021
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Abstract

The precipitous historical decline and slow rebound of piping plover (Charadrius

melodus) populations raises conservation concerns regarding the health of ecologically and

economically important coastal ecosystems. One of the most practical management pathways for

increasing the reproductive success of C. melodus is to reduce disturbances created by

nonessential human activities along beaches. The central question that this paper seeks to address

is: how do recreational activities along beaches affect the recovery efforts for this federally

threatened shorebird? By synthesizing findings gathered from scientific peer-reviewed literature,

it was determined that human recreation is a limiting factor to the reproductive success of C.

melodus primarily during the chick phase; indirectly by increasing parental abandonment and

inhibiting chick foraging opportunities, and directly through vehicle-caused mortality. To

promote the mutual success of C. melodus populations and shore economies, managers must

partition beaches in such a way that balances habitat protection and recreational use throughout

the entire C. melodus reproductive cycle.

Introduction

The piping plover (Charadrius melodus) is a migratory shorebird with distinct

populations that nest along sandy beaches of the Atlantic Coast, Great Lakes, and Northern Great

Plains. C. melodus is an important biological indicator of coastal ecosystem health at a regional

scale and controls invertebrate pest abundances along beaches at a local scale (Vinelli, 2000).

Since 1986, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has listed the Great Lakes population as

“Endangered” and the Atlantic Coast and Northern Great Plains populations as “Threatened.”

Population declines in the Great Lakes and Northern Great Plains regions have historically been
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attributed to water diversion practices that degrade breeding habitat by either flooding nests or

causing vegetation overgrowth. The population decline along the Atlantic Coast- which will be

the primary focus of this paper- has historically been attributed to coastal development, beach

raking practices, sea level rise, and predation rates that have all accelerated since the 1950s

(USFWS, 2019). By the early 1990s, a growing body of long-distance brood monitoring research

pioneered by S.P. Flemming, S.M. Melvin, and J. Burger suggested that disturbances caused by

human recreation near breeding habitats may also be contributing to the dramatic C. melodus

decline. In response to the concerns raised about recreationist-induced chick and egg mortality,

the USFWS has since ordered temporary beach closures to off-road vehicles (ORVs) during the

C. melodus breeding season at many popular recreation areas (Melvin et al., 1994). Due in part to

mandatory beach closures and other concerted conservation efforts (e.g., placing predator

exclosures around nests and fencing off nesting areas), C. melodus populations have gradually

increased in all regions and breeding ranges have expanded marginally. Still, the respective

conservation status of each regional population remains unchanged (USFWS, 2019). Recent

research by DeRose-Wilson et al. (2018) suggests that continued recreational pressure may still

be a major hindrance to C. melodus recovery efforts.

Research Question and Hypothesis

The central research question is: how does human recreation along beaches impact the

reproductive success of C. melodus? For recovery efforts to effectively enhance the reproductive

success of C. melodus, it is important to consider the possible effects of human recreational

activities at each phase of the C. melodus reproductive cycle (DeRose-Wilson et al., 2018).

Therefore, the purpose of this study is to evaluate the mechanisms by which common human
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recreational activities such as ORV use, surf fishing, sunbathing, and dog walking impact the

survival of C. melodus chicks from incubation through fledging. It is hypothesized that human

recreational activities have (1) an indirect negative impact on chick survival both during and

post-incubation by increasing the probability of parental abandonment, (2) an indirect negative

impact on chick survival post-incubation by limiting foraging ability, and (3) a direct negative

impact on chick survival post-incubation through vehicular collisions in ORV tracks.

Literature Results

Major Findings

The notion that human recreation has an indirect negative impact on C. melodus chick

survival during incubation by increasing the probability of parental nest abandonment is not

supported by scientific literature. Burger (1991) recorded considerably fewer recreationists

within 50m of plover breeding pairs during the incubation phase than during the chick phase, as

New Jersey beaches are far less popular for sunbathing in late May than in late June. Doherty

and Heath (2011) found that even though human activity (human + dog tracks) along Long

Island, New York beaches increased by 0.2 tracks/day during the C. melodus breeding season,

statistical models that accounted for recreational disturbance did not explain the variation in nest

abandonment rates. Instead, red fox (Vulpes vulpes) passive track indices (PTI) best explained

the variation in the daily survival rates (DSR) of plover nests, with increasing fox PTI leading to

a greater probability of adult abandonment and a lower nest DSR. Hatching success was also

higher for nests inside predator exclosures, though the fact that managers purposely did not

assign exclosures to sites with a prior history of nest abandonment may have skewed this result

(Doherty & Heath, 2011). Scientific literature does support the notion that human recreation has
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an indirect negative impact on chick survival post-incubation by increasing the probability of

parental abandonment. Burger (1991) documented a shift in habitat use by adult plovers from

ocean front to back bays as recreationist presence increased. When adult plovers are forced to

forage outside their territories, they are unable to observe their mate and chicks, thus their chicks

receive a lower quality of care and less protection from predators (Burger, 1991).

There exists a strong consensus among researchers that human recreation has an indirect

negative impact on C. melodus chick survival post-incubation by limiting foraging ability. Most

studies have appropriately sampled the foraging behavior of C. melodus using the non-intrusive

focal animal approach, monitoring the behavior of chicks from long distances to avoid researcher

interference and recording the number of humans in proximity to the focal chick. When

recreationist presence was the highest on summer weekends, chicks were observed to spend a

greater proportion of time in dunes and less time foraging in the intertidal zone, where

invertebrate prey is most abundant (Burger, 1991; DeRose-Wilson et al., 2018). Flemming et al.

(1988) observed that chicks on beaches in Nova Scotia devoted less time to feeding and more

time to vigilance when recreationists were within 160m. For all New Jersey beach sites studied,

Burger (1991) similarly found a positive correlation between the number of recreationists within

50m and the amount of time that foraging chicks spent running and flying away from people.

There was a negative correlation between human presence and the time chicks spent foraging on

all beaches except Brigantine, likely because fewer people at this site were walking and more

were sunbathing (Burger, 1991). Flemming et al. (1988) and DeRose-Wilson et al. (2018) both

found that chick peck rate and DSR tended to decrease as recreational use level increased.

Overall, the greater amount of time that plover chicks on more popular beaches for recreation

devote to vigilance of people reduces their feeding ability (Burger, 1991). This in turn reduces
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their energy reserves, as evidenced by the significantly lower pre-fledging mass of the single

chick recaptured on the high-use New York beach relative to recaptured chicks on low-use

beaches (DeRose-Wilson et al., 2018). Chicks with critically low energy reserves are more prone

to death by starvation, predation, and extreme weather events (Flemming et al., 1988).

Melvin et al. (1994) compiled USFWS data from New York and Massachusetts beaches

that describe the direct negative impact of human recreation on C. melodus chick survival post-

incubation through vehicular collisions in ORV tracks. C. melodus chicks moving from dunes to

feed in the intertidal zone are known to become stuck in deep ruts created by ORV tires and are

often unable to climb out. Melvin et al. (1994) found a total of 18 documented plover chick

deaths in ORV tracks between 1989-1993: 1 in the intertidal zone, 15 between the berm and

foredune, 1 at the base of the foredune, and 1 behind the foredune. Half of these chick deaths

occurred on beaches with low ORV traffic (≤ 20 passes/day). It is likely that this documented

number, which is based only on voluntarily reported incidents, severely underestimates the actual

number of C. melodus chicks killed by ORVs in this time period. ORV drivers may purposely

fail to report accidental chick deaths out of the fear of legal repercussions, may be unaware that

chicks were run over, or fail to find dead chicks due to sand-covering, tidal washout, or

scavengers. Overall, ORV use was determined to be a potential threat to pre-fledged plovers on

≥ 41% of Long Island, New York nesting beaches and ≤ 42% of Massachusetts nesting beaches

(Melvin et al., 1994).

Regional Effects

The lack of widespread public support for beach habitat protection efforts is an ongoing

barrier to C. melodus recovery. Restrictions to recreational activities associated with C. melodus

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protection efforts create great tension between stakeholder groups in each of the regional

breeding ranges. Based on a survey of more than 1,000 recreationists at Lake McConaughy,

Nebraska, Jorgensen and Brown (2015) found that more frequent visitors tended to feel that

Northern Great Plains piping plover protection efforts were being valued more by beach

managers than human recreational interests. In Sandy Hook, New Jersey, the discovery of an

Atlantic Coast piping plover nest prompted the cancellation of Gateway National Recreation

Area’s summer concert series in 2019, much to the dismay of patrons (Hermann, 2019). On

Montrose Beach of Lake Michigan in the same year, the Illinois Environmental Council

threatened to sue the organizer of “Mamby on the Beach” under the Endangered Species Act if

the music festival was not relocated inland after a breeding pair of Great Lakes piping plovers

were discovered. The organizer of the for-profit concert argued that it was a given right to use

the park space and claimed the site selection was a move to help usher economic improvement

into a neglected section of Chicago. Environmentalists argued that the disturbance created by up

to 20,000 concertgoers/day would be harmful to the safety of the breeding pair and the

surrounding ecosystem (Ballew, 2019). C. melodus is regarded by marine ornithologists to be a

coastal indicator species that is particularly sensitive to noise pollution and other perturbations to

the fragile ecosystem it inhabits that could result from such a concert (Vinelli, 2000).

Local Effects

Many of the studies that address the correlation between C. melodus chick survival and

beach recreation are concentrated on the barrier islands of New York and New Jersey, as these

areas represent the interface of prime plover nesting habitat and local economies that are

intimately linked to summer beach tourism. In New York and New Jersey, C. melodus is
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currently listed as an endangered species (NYSDEC, n.d.). The C. melodus population in New

Jersey is especially vulnerable to disturbances created by recreationists, as the Jersey Shore

hosted an estimated 48 million beach visitors in 2018 (Petenko, 2019). Locally, this is

problematic because C. melodus provides a valuable service to New Jersey beaches by limiting

the number of invertebrate pests through its natural feeding habits, which in turn makes beach

recreation more desirable. When already depleted C. melodus populations are subjected to high

levels of recreational disturbance during their breeding season, the beach cleaning service they

provide- which indirectly supports New Jersey’s $38 billion/year leisure economy- may become

further diminished (Vinelli, 2000; NJBIA, 2017).

In addition to the large magnitude of disturbance created by millions of recreationists

annually, local attitudes toward beach recreation rules also seem to be a barrier to plover

protection efforts. According to the maintenance supervisor of Island Beach State Park in

Berkley, New Jersey, the temporary closure of Gillikins Mobile Sport Fishing Access during the

C. melodus breeding season creates considerable tension every year with fishermen who perceive

this conservation effort as an inconvenience to the longstanding tradition of beach buggy use for

surf fishing that dates back to the late 1940s. D. Brown (personal communication, November 29,

2021) also claimed that the park experiences a persistent issue with recreationists and unleashed

dogs crossing the symbolic string fencing that delineates C. melodus nesting areas, despite easily

visible signage. However, it should be noted that Doherty and Heath (2011) found that similar

string fencing around plover nesting areas on Long Island, New York was generally effective at

limiting any potential negative effects of human disturbance on hatching success at a variety of

human-use densities. The discrepancy between personal observations and a published study
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shows that the general compliance level of recreationists to implemented plover protection

measures can vary greatly by beach site.

Conclusion

It is well known that ORV use can have a directly negative impact on C. melodus chick

survival at all zones of coastal beaches and even at low traffic levels. Therefore, Melvin et al.

(1994) recommended that beach managers should prohibit all recreational ORV use at sections

of beach in proximity to nesting sites from incubation until all known plover chicks have

fledged. Monitoring of plover chicks to determine when beaches may be reopened to recreational

ORV use should take place on foot and be conducted from a distance to prevent any chick

mortality or disturbance that could be caused by administrative ORVs (Melvin et al., 1994). The

statistical finding that models of human activity could not be used to explain nest abandonment

rates on Long Island, New York provides evidence of the effectiveness of the aforementioned

recreation management suggestions that have since been implemented. V. vulpes had a much

stronger disturbance effect on plover hatching success than humans did when beaches restricted

or prohibited ORV use during the entire C. melodus reproductive cycle and when symbolic

fencing was placed around plover nesting areas (Doherty & Heath, 2011). Still, the latter part of

this finding conflicts with the personal observations of maintenance staff at Island Beach State

Park in New Jersey. Future studies should examine how public compliance or non-compliance

with nesting area boundaries, dog walking restrictions, and temporary beach closures to ORV

use impacts the reproductive success of C. melodus.

The knowledge gleaned from this study advances the science of recreational management

for shorebird protection. It is now known that disturbances created by human recreation have an
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equivalent or greater effect on the reproductive success of C. melodus during the chick phase of

the reproductive cycle as during the incubation phase. To promote the reproductive success of C.

melodus, future management efforts must place greater emphasis on enhancing the chick survival

rate to fledging. To reduce the probability of parental abandonment and chick malnourishment,

productive foraging habitat should be protected throughout the entire reproductive cycle.

Additionally, management plans should aim to protect prime foraging habitat in the intertidal

zone even when holidays and fair-weather summer weekends draw enormous crowds of

sunbathers (DeRose-Wilson et al., 2018). As an alternative strategy, protecting back bays on

barrier islands would also allow plovers to forage undisturbed in exposed tidal flats when the

ocean front is crowded with recreationists (Burger, 1991). Beach managers, wildlife management

agencies, and recreationists must collaborate to design future C. melodus protection plans that

strike a balance between the habitat needs of plovers at each phase of the reproductive cycle and

the want of humans to use beaches for recreational purposes.

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References Cited

Ballew, J. (2019). Bird lovers beg park district to move Mamby on the Beach and threaten

lawsuit, but the show will go on, organizers say. Block Club Chicago. Retrieved

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district-to-move-mamby-on-the-beach-and-threaten-lawsuit-but-the-show-will-go-on-

organizers-say/.

Burger, J. (1991). Foraging behavior and the effect of human disturbance on the Piping Plover

(Charadrius melodus). Journal of Coastal Research, 7(1), 39-52.

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& Fraser, J.D. (2018). Piping Plover chick survival negatively correlated with beach

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