Piping plover : endangered species

Abstract

"The Piping Plover's largest vulnerability comes from its nesting habits. Large, open sandy areas are the first places cities look when developing beaches. Unfortunately, Piping Plovers are also looking for this exact habitat to lay their eggs. They are a skittish species and will abandon their nests if they sense too much disturbance. The development of U.S. shorelines around the Great Lakes and the Missouri River has drastically diminished the choice of suitably secluded locations for breeding pairs and has led to a huge reduction in the amount of young that are hatched. ... Along with shoreline land development, Piping Plovers have also been affected by other human activities, like dams that regulate Missouri River flows. Before dams regulated the flow of the Missouri River, frequent flooding would clear sandbars of vegetation and create new habitats for Piping Plovers to build their nests. Now that there is less flooding, many sandbars along the Missouri River are overcome with vegetation, thus diminishing the available habitat for the Piping Plover. Agricultural land-use practices that stabilize river banks also reduce shallow water and sand shorelines critical for Piping Plover nesting. While Piping Plovers struggle in their Missouri River habitat, they are in the most danger in the Great Lakes region. A 2009 review of the Piping Plover population by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service found that the Atlantic Coast and Northern Great Plains (Missouri River) populations should maintain their threatened status and the Great Lakes population should maintain its endangered status."--Page 1-2.