Post-breeding traits and disturbance ecology of Kentish Plovers Charadrius alexandrinus at a moulting site in the German Wadden Sea
(2024) BION02 20231Degree Projects in Biology
- Abstract
- Like many waterfowl and wader species, Kentish Plovers Charadrius alexandrinus of both the north-west European and Wadden Sea populations perform a post-breeding moult before migrating to their southerly wintering grounds. They make use of specific moulting sites, e.g. in the Dutch Delta area, on Fanø in the Danish Wadden Sea and on the sandbars off St. Peter-Ording in the German Wadden Sea. In order to determine the importance of the sandbars off St. Peter-Ording for moulting Kentish Plovers, I conducted high-tide counts of roosting Kentish Plovers during the post-breeding season from June to October and analysed the spatiotemporal use of three sub-sites.
I also carried out ring readings of individually colour-ringed Kentish Plovers to... (More) - Like many waterfowl and wader species, Kentish Plovers Charadrius alexandrinus of both the north-west European and Wadden Sea populations perform a post-breeding moult before migrating to their southerly wintering grounds. They make use of specific moulting sites, e.g. in the Dutch Delta area, on Fanø in the Danish Wadden Sea and on the sandbars off St. Peter-Ording in the German Wadden Sea. In order to determine the importance of the sandbars off St. Peter-Ording for moulting Kentish Plovers, I conducted high-tide counts of roosting Kentish Plovers during the post-breeding season from June to October and analysed the spatiotemporal use of three sub-sites.
I also carried out ring readings of individually colour-ringed Kentish Plovers to assess the origin of the plovers moulting at the three sub-sites and calculated their stopover durations. With mark-recapture analysis I estimated the total number of individuals that used the moulting site over the season. I assessed the international importance of the sandbars off St. Peter-Ording in a Wadden Sea and North Sea wide context with an international synchronous count in Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands. Furthermore, I conducted disturbance observations at one sub-site that is frequently used by humans for recreational activities. Maximum numbers of roosting Kentish Plovers occurred in August and begin of September. Highest numbers were recorded on the 1st of September with in total 571 individuals at all three sub-sites. Most of the ringed individuals came from the nearby Beltringharder Koog nature reserve, the most important remaining breeding area for Kentish Plovers on the German North Sea coast. Adult Kentish Plovers had a minimum stopover duration of 47 days (median) and there was no significant difference in the duration between males and females. Juveniles stayed for a much shorter time. Based on the mark-recapture analysis, 1,132 individu-als (95 %-confidence interval: 1,056–1,249) used the sandbars off St. Peter-Ording over the post-breeding season. The international synchronous count highlighted the sand-bars off St. Peter-Ording as the most important moulting sites for Kentish Plovers in the Wadden Sea and the southern North Sea, as more than 50 % of all individuals were counted on the St. Peter-Ording sandbars. The disturbance observations showed that roosting Kentish Plovers were exposed to on average almost three disturbances per hour. Assuming that a large proportion of the Wadden Sea breeding populations make use of the moulting sites at the sandbars off St. Peter-Ording further underlines the need for protected roost sites during this sensitive time in the birds’ annual cycle. (Less) - Popular Abstract
- Post-breeding gathering of Kentish Plovers at a moulting site in the German Wadden Sea
After the breeding season, large parts of the Wadden Sea population(s) of Kentish Plovers Charadrius alexandrinus gather on a sandbar in the German Wadden Sea to moult their wing feathers before the start of the autumn migration. In the post-breeding season of 2023, I investigated how long the plovers used the sandbar, how many individuals visited the sandbar during the season and what human disturbance they were exposed to.
Like many waterfowl and wader species, Kentish Plovers Charadrius alexandrinus of both the north-west European and Wadden Sea populations moult their wing feathers after the breeding season before migrating to their southerly... (More) - Post-breeding gathering of Kentish Plovers at a moulting site in the German Wadden Sea
After the breeding season, large parts of the Wadden Sea population(s) of Kentish Plovers Charadrius alexandrinus gather on a sandbar in the German Wadden Sea to moult their wing feathers before the start of the autumn migration. In the post-breeding season of 2023, I investigated how long the plovers used the sandbar, how many individuals visited the sandbar during the season and what human disturbance they were exposed to.
Like many waterfowl and wader species, Kentish Plovers Charadrius alexandrinus of both the north-west European and Wadden Sea populations moult their wing feathers after the breeding season before migrating to their southerly wintering areas. Hereby, they make use of specific moulting sites, e.g. in the Dutch Delta area, on Fanø in the Danish Wadden Sea and on the sandbar off St. Peter-Ording in the German Wadden Sea. In order to determine the importance of the sandbar off St. Peter-Ording in the German Wadden Sea for moulting Kentish Plovers, I conducted high-tide counts of roosting Kentish Plovers during the post-breeding season from June to October and analysed how intensively and in which period the plovers used the different subsites. I performed ring readings of individually colour-ringed Kentish Plovers to assess the origin of the plovers and calculated for how many days they were staying at the sandbar. Based on the (re)sightings of the colour-ringed individuals, I estimated the total number of individuals that used the moulting site over the season. I assessed the international importance of the sand-bar off St. Peter-Ording in a Wadden Sea and North Sea wide context with an international syn-chronous count in Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands. Furthermore, I conducted distur-bance observations at one sub-site that is frequently used by humans for recreational activities.
Study highlights the North Sea wide importance of the investigated moulting site
Maximum numbers of Kentish Plovers during the high-tide counts occurred in August and begin of September. Highest numbers were recorded on the 1st of September with in total 571 individ-uals at all three sub-sites. Most of the ringed individuals came from the nearby Beltringharder Koog nature reserve, the most important remaining breeding area for Kentish Plovers on the German North Sea coast. Adult Kentish Plovers stayed for at least 47 days (median) and there was no significant difference in the duration between males and females. Juveniles stayed for a much shorter time. I estimated that 1,132 individuals – a large part of the Wadden Sea / North Sea population(s) – visited the sandbar off St. Peter-Ording over the post-breeding season. The international synchronous count highlighted the sandbar off St. Peter-Ording as the most important moulting sites for Kentish Plovers in the Wadden Sea and the southern North Sea, as more than 50 % of all individuals were counted on the St. Peter-Ording sandbar. The disturbance observations showed that roosting Kentish Plovers were exposed to on average almost three disturbances per hour. Assuming that a large proportion of the Wadden Sea breeding populations make use of the moulting site at the sandbar off St. Peter-Ording further underlines the need for protected roost sites during this sensitive time in the birds’ annual cycle, especially considering that the Kentish Plover is on the Red List in Germany with only around 300 breeding pairs.
Master’s Degree Project in Conservation Biology, 45 credits, May 2024
Department of Biology, Lund University
Advisors:
Åke Lindström, Department of Biology, Lund University; Dominic Cimiotti, Michael-Otto-Institut im NABU, Germany. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9175582
- author
- Blüm, Sebastian
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- BION02 20231
- year
- 2024
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- language
- English
- id
- 9175582
- date added to LUP
- 2024-09-27 13:56:40
- date last changed
- 2024-09-27 13:56:40
@misc{9175582,
abstract = {{Like many waterfowl and wader species, Kentish Plovers Charadrius alexandrinus of both the north-west European and Wadden Sea populations perform a post-breeding moult before migrating to their southerly wintering grounds. They make use of specific moulting sites, e.g. in the Dutch Delta area, on Fanø in the Danish Wadden Sea and on the sandbars off St. Peter-Ording in the German Wadden Sea. In order to determine the importance of the sandbars off St. Peter-Ording for moulting Kentish Plovers, I conducted high-tide counts of roosting Kentish Plovers during the post-breeding season from June to October and analysed the spatiotemporal use of three sub-sites.
I also carried out ring readings of individually colour-ringed Kentish Plovers to assess the origin of the plovers moulting at the three sub-sites and calculated their stopover durations. With mark-recapture analysis I estimated the total number of individuals that used the moulting site over the season. I assessed the international importance of the sandbars off St. Peter-Ording in a Wadden Sea and North Sea wide context with an international synchronous count in Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands. Furthermore, I conducted disturbance observations at one sub-site that is frequently used by humans for recreational activities. Maximum numbers of roosting Kentish Plovers occurred in August and begin of September. Highest numbers were recorded on the 1st of September with in total 571 individuals at all three sub-sites. Most of the ringed individuals came from the nearby Beltringharder Koog nature reserve, the most important remaining breeding area for Kentish Plovers on the German North Sea coast. Adult Kentish Plovers had a minimum stopover duration of 47 days (median) and there was no significant difference in the duration between males and females. Juveniles stayed for a much shorter time. Based on the mark-recapture analysis, 1,132 individu-als (95 %-confidence interval: 1,056–1,249) used the sandbars off St. Peter-Ording over the post-breeding season. The international synchronous count highlighted the sand-bars off St. Peter-Ording as the most important moulting sites for Kentish Plovers in the Wadden Sea and the southern North Sea, as more than 50 % of all individuals were counted on the St. Peter-Ording sandbars. The disturbance observations showed that roosting Kentish Plovers were exposed to on average almost three disturbances per hour. Assuming that a large proportion of the Wadden Sea breeding populations make use of the moulting sites at the sandbars off St. Peter-Ording further underlines the need for protected roost sites during this sensitive time in the birds’ annual cycle.}},
author = {{Blüm, Sebastian}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Post-breeding traits and disturbance ecology of Kentish Plovers Charadrius alexandrinus at a moulting site in the German Wadden Sea}},
year = {{2024}},
}