Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Trends and population estimate of the threatened Buff-breasted Sandpiper Calidris subruficollis wintering in coastal grasslands of southern Brazil

Trends and population estimate of the threatened Buff-breasted Sandpiper Calidris subruficollis... Summary Information about population sizes, trends, and habitat use is key for species conservation and management. The Buff-breasted Sandpiper Calidris subruficollis (BBSA) is a long-distance migratory shorebird that breeds in the Arctic and migrates to south-eastern South America, wintering in the grasslands of southern Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina. Most studies of Nearctic migratory species occur in the Northern Hemisphere, but monitoring these species at non-breeding areas is crucial for conservation during this phase of the annual cycle. Our first objective was to estimate trends of BBSA at four key areas in southern Brazil during the non-breeding season. We surveyed for BBSA and measured vegetation height in most years from 2008/09 to 2019/20. We used hierarchical distance sampling models in which BBSA abundance and density were modelled as a function of vegetation height and corrected for detectability. Next, we used on-the-ground surveys combined with satellite imagery and habitat classification models to estimate BBSA population size in 2019/20 at two major non-breeding areas. We found that abundance and density were negatively affected by increasing vegetation height. Abundance fluctuated five- to eight-fold over the study period, with peaks in the middle of the study (2014/15). We estimated the BBSA wintering population size as 1,201 (95% credible interval [CI]: 637–1,946) birds in Torotama Island and 2,232 (95% CI: 1,199–3,584) in Lagoa do Peixe National Park during the 2019/20 austral summer. Although no pronounced trend was detected, BBSA abundance fluctuated greatly from year to year. Our results demonstrate that only two of the four key areas hold high densities of BBSA and highlight the positive effect of short grass on BBSA numbers. Short-grass coastal habitats used by BBSA are strongly influenced by livestock grazing and climate, and are expected to shrink in size with future development and climatic changes. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Bird Conservation International Cambridge University Press

Trends and population estimate of the threatened Buff-breasted Sandpiper Calidris subruficollis wintering in coastal grasslands of southern Brazil

Download PDF
12 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/cambridge-university-press/trends-and-population-estimate-of-the-threatened-buff-breasted-03MZESqkYY
Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of BirdLife International
ISSN
0959-2709
eISSN
1474-0001
DOI
10.1017/S0959270923000138
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Summary Information about population sizes, trends, and habitat use is key for species conservation and management. The Buff-breasted Sandpiper Calidris subruficollis (BBSA) is a long-distance migratory shorebird that breeds in the Arctic and migrates to south-eastern South America, wintering in the grasslands of southern Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina. Most studies of Nearctic migratory species occur in the Northern Hemisphere, but monitoring these species at non-breeding areas is crucial for conservation during this phase of the annual cycle. Our first objective was to estimate trends of BBSA at four key areas in southern Brazil during the non-breeding season. We surveyed for BBSA and measured vegetation height in most years from 2008/09 to 2019/20. We used hierarchical distance sampling models in which BBSA abundance and density were modelled as a function of vegetation height and corrected for detectability. Next, we used on-the-ground surveys combined with satellite imagery and habitat classification models to estimate BBSA population size in 2019/20 at two major non-breeding areas. We found that abundance and density were negatively affected by increasing vegetation height. Abundance fluctuated five- to eight-fold over the study period, with peaks in the middle of the study (2014/15). We estimated the BBSA wintering population size as 1,201 (95% credible interval [CI]: 637–1,946) birds in Torotama Island and 2,232 (95% CI: 1,199–3,584) in Lagoa do Peixe National Park during the 2019/20 austral summer. Although no pronounced trend was detected, BBSA abundance fluctuated greatly from year to year. Our results demonstrate that only two of the four key areas hold high densities of BBSA and highlight the positive effect of short grass on BBSA numbers. Short-grass coastal habitats used by BBSA are strongly influenced by livestock grazing and climate, and are expected to shrink in size with future development and climatic changes.

Journal

Bird Conservation International – Cambridge University Press

Published: May 8, 2023

Keywords: Calidris subruficollis; Coastal rangelands; Conservation; Hierarchical distance sampling; Shorebirds

References

  • Multiple environmental factors and prey depletion determine declines in abundance and timing of departure in migratory shorebirds in the west coast of India
    Aarif, K. M.; Nefla, A.; Nasser, M.; Prasadan, P. K.; Athira, T. R.; Muzaffar, S. B.
  • Managing grasslands to maximize migratory shorebird use and livestock production
    Aldabe, J.; Lanctot, R. B.; Blanco, D.; Rocca, P.; Inchausti, P.
  • Population estimates of North American shorebirds, 2012
    Andres, B. A.; Smith, P. A.; Morrison, R. I. G.; Gratto-Trevor, C. L.; Brown, S. C.; Friis, C. A.
  • Banco de dados espacial de precipitação do estado do Rio Grande do Sul
    Brubacher, J. P.; Oliveira, G. G.; Guasselli, L. A.
  • Estimating bird abundance: making methods work
    Buckland, S. T.; Marsden, S. J.; Green, R. E.
  • Sandpipers go with the flow: correlations between estuarine conditions and shorebird abundance at an important stopover on the Pacific Flyway
    Canham, R.; Flemming, S. A.; Hope, D. D.; Drever, M. C.
  • Freshwater outflow and Subtropical Convergence influence on phytoplankton biomass on the southern Brazilian continental shelf
    Ciotti, A. M.; Odebrecht, C.; Fillmann, G.; Möller, O.
  • Density, habitat use, and opportunities for conservation of shorebirds in rice fields in southeastern South America
    Dias, R. A.; Blanco, D. E.; Goijman, A. P.; Zaccagnini, M. E.
  • A assembléia de aves de áreas úmidas em dois sistemas de cultivo de arroz irrigado no extremo sul do Brasil
    Dias, R. A.; Burger, M. I.
  • Perils of life on the edge: climatic threats to global diversity patterns of wetland macroinvertebrates
    Epele, L. B.; Grech, M. G.; Williams-Subiza, E. A.; Stenert, C.; McLean, K.; Greig, H. S.; Maltchik, L.
  • Trophic niches and feeding relationships of shorebirds in southern Brazil
    Faria, F. A.; Albertoni, E. F.; Bugoni, L.
  • Breeding habitats, phenology and size of a resident population of Two-banded Plover (Charadrius falklandicus) at the northern edge of its distribution
    Faria, F. A.; Repenning, M.; Nunes, G. T.; Senner, N. R.; Bugoni, L.
  • Predicting vulnerabilities of North American shorebirds to climate change
    Galbraith, H.; DesRochers, D. W.; Brown, S.; Reed, M.
  • Global climate change and sea level rise: potential losses of intertidal habitat for shorebirds
    Galbraith, H.; Jones, R.; Park, R.; Clough, J.; Herrod-Julius, S.; Harrington, B.; Page, G.
  • Precipitation anomalies in southern Brazil associated with El Niño and La Niña events
    Grimm, A. M.; Ferraz, S. E. T.; Gomes, J.
  • Application of Sentinel-2 multispectral data for habitat mapping of Pacific Islands: Palau Republic (Micronesia, Pacific Ocean)
    Immordino, F.; Barsanti, M.; Candigliota, E.; Cocito, S.; Delbono, I.; Peirano, A.
  • Habitat use by non-breeding shorebirds in flooding Pampas grasslands of Argentina
    Isacch, J. P.; Martínez, M. M.
  • Trend estimation in populations with imperfect detection
    Kéry, M.; Dorazio, R. M.; Soldaat, L.; van Strien, A.; Zuiderwijk, A.; Royle, J. A.
  • Monitoring programs need to take into account imperfect species detectability
    Kéry, M.; Schmid, H.
  • Key conservation issues for migratory land- and waterbird species on the world’s major flyways
    Kirby, J. S.; Stattersfield, A. J.; Butchart, S. H. M.; Evans, M. I.; Grimmet, R. F. A.; Jones, V. R.; O’Sullivan, J.
  • Conservation status of the Buff-breasted Sandpiper: historic and contemporary distribution and abundance in South America
    Lanctot, R. B.; Blanco, D. E.; Dias, R. A.; Isacch, J. P.; Verena, A. G.; Almeida, J. A.; Delhey, K.
  • Light-level geolocation reveals migration patterns of the Buff-breasted Sandpiper
    Lanctot, R. B.; Yezerinac, S.; Aldabe, J.; Almeida, J. B.; Castresana, G.; Brown, S.; Rocca, P.
  • Range-wide conservation genetics of Buff-breasted Sandpipers (Tryngites subruficollis)
    Lounsberry, Z. T.; Almeida, J. B.; Grace, T.; Lanctot, R. B.; Liebezeit, J.; Sandercock, B. K.; Strum, K. M.
  • Museum collections reveal that Buff-breasted Sandpipers (Calidris subruficollis) maintained mtDNA variability despite large population declines during the past 135 years
    Lounsberry, Z. T.; Almeida, J. B.; Lanctot, R. B.; Liebezeit, J. R.; Sandercock, B. K.; Strum, K. M.; Zack, S.
  • Quantification of extinction risk: IUCN’s system for classifying threatened species
    Mace, G. M.; Collar, N. J.; Gaston, K. J.; Hilton-Taylor, C.; Akçakaya, H. R.; Leader-Williams, N.; Milner-Gulland, E. J.
  • Diagnóstico ambiental das marismas no estuário da Lagoa dos Patos - RS
    Marangoni, J. C.; Costa, C. S. B.
  • Predator-mediated interactions between lemmings and shorebirds: a test of the alternative prey hypothesis
    McKinnon, L.; Bertreaux, D.; Bêty, J.
  • Decline of the North American avifauna
    Rosenberg, K. V.; Dokter, A. M.; Blancher, P. J.; Sauer, J. R.; Smith, A. C.; Smith, P. A.; Stanton, J. C.
  • Modelling abundance effects in Distance Sampling
    Royle, J. A.; Dawson, D. K.; Bates, S.
  • Modeling the influence of changing storm patterns on the ability of a salt marsh to keep pace with sea level rise
    Schuerch, M.; Vafeidis, A.; Slawig, T.; Temmerman, S.
  • Declines in migrant shorebird populations from a winter-quarter perspective
    Simmons, R. E.; Kolberg, H.; Braby, R.; Erni, B.
  • Hierarchical distance-sampling models to estimate population size and habitat-specific abundance of an island endemic
    Sillett, T. S.; Chandler, R. B.; Royle, J. A.; Kéry, M.; Morrison, S. A.
  • Status and trends of tundra birds across the circumpolar Arctic
    Smith, P. A.; McKinnon, L.; Meltofte, H.; Lanctot, R. L.; Fox, A. D.; Leafloor, J. O.; Soloviev, M.
  • Reconstructing three decades of land use and land cover changes in Brazilian biomes with Landsat Archive and Earth Engine
    Souza, C. M.; Shimbo, J. Z.; Rosa, M. R.; Parente, L. L.; Alencar, A. A.; Rudorff, B. F. T.; Hasenack, H.
  • Evaluating Sentinel-2 for lakeshore habitat mapping based on airborne hyperspectral data
    Stratoulias, D.; Balzter, H.; Sykioti, O.; Zlinszky, A.; Tóth, V. R.
  • Bird and bat species’ global vulnerability to collision mortality at wind farms revealed through a trait-based assessment
    Thaxter, C. B.; Buchanan, G. M.; Carr, J.; Butchart, S. H. M.; Newbold, T.; Green, R. E.; Tobias, J. A.
  • Distance software: design and analysis of distance sampling surveys for estimating population size
    Thomas, L.; Buckland, S. T.; Rexstad, E. A.; Laake, J. L.; Strindberg, S.; Hedley, S. L.; Bishop, J. R. B.
  • Late Quaternary geological history of Rio Grande do Sul coastal plain, southern Brazil
    Tomazelli, L. J.; Dillenburg, S. R.; Villwock, J. A.
  • Breeding of waders (Charadrii) and Brent Geese Branta bernicla bernicla at Pronchishcheva Lake, Northeastern Taimyr, Russia, in a peak and a decreasing lemming year
    Underhill, L. G.; Prys-Jones, R. P.; Syroechkovski, E. E.; Groen, N. M.; Karpov, V.; Lappo, H. G.; Vanroomer, M. W. J.
  • Impacts of habitat loss on migratory shorebird populations and communities at stopover sites in the Yellow Sea
    Wang, X.; Chen, Y.; Melville, D. S.; Chi-Yeung, C.; Kun, T.; Liu, J.; Li, J.
  • Declining wintering shorebird populations at a temperate estuary in California: a 30-year perspective
    Warnock, N.; Jennings, S.; Kelly, J. P.; Condeso, T. E.; Limpkin, D.
  • Annual adult survival drives trends in Arctic-breeding shorebirds but knowledge gaps in other vital rates remain
    Weiser, E. L.; Lanctot, R. B.; Brown, S. C.; Gates, H. R.; Bêty, J.; Boldenow, M. L.; Brook, R. W.
  • Population estimates for tidal marsh birds of high conservation concern in the northeastern USA from a design-based survey
    Wiest, W. A.; Correll, M. D.; Olsen, B. J.; Elphick, C. S.; Hodgman, T. P.; Curson, D. R.; Shriver, W. G.
  • Modelling edge effects of mature forest plantations on peatland waders informs landscape-scale conservation
    Wilson, J. D.; Anderson, R.; Bailey, S.; Chetcuti, J.; Cowie, N. R.; Hancock, M. H.; Quine, C. P.