Shorebird populations worldwide are declining because of habitat loss from sea‐level rise, accelerated erosion, development, and recreational land use. To better understand the consequences of human recreational activity, we monitored survival, habitat use, condition, and behavior of pre‐fledged piping plover (Charadrius melodus) chicks on Fire Island and Westhampton Island, New York, 2013–2015. Broods experienced varying levels of recreational land use (low‐use, moderate‐use, high‐use, and high off‐road vehicle‐use), and recreational use was higher on weekends (Friday–Sunday) than weekdays. Chick daily survival rates were lowest on weekends and increased with time since weekend. Chicks that hatched in areas with low recreational use were more likely to survive to fledging (25 days; truex¯ = 0.82 ± 0.08 SE) than those that hatched in areas of high recreational use (truex¯ = 0.19 ± 0.05). In addition, chicks hatched in areas of high recreational use fledged at a later age than those hatched in areas of low or moderate recreational use. On weekends, chicks spent less time in foraging habitat (with higher prey abundance), less time foraging, and made fewer foraging attempts per minute than they did on weekdays. These results suggest that recreational activity on beaches pushed foraging plover chicks into habitats with lower food availability, resulting in lower feeding rates, slower growth, and decreased survival. Recreational use of coastal areas can limit the functional availability of shorebird foraging habitat, particularly intertidal foraging habitat, resulting in demographic consequences. © 2018 The Wildlife Society.

The intensity of Atlantic Ocean hurricanes is predicted to increase, and although disturbance is recognized as a fundamental driver of ecological processes, the benefits of hurricanes to ecological systems are seldom acknowledged. In October 2012, Hurricane Sandy overwashed Fire Island and Westhampton Island, New York. The storm flattened dunes, buried vegetation, and breached the barrier islands in several places. To reduce future overwashing, engineers attempted to stabilize the islands. We studied nest-site selection, suitable habitat, and abundance of a threatened shorebird, the piping plover (Charadrius melodus), before and after Hurricane Sandy. Prior to the hurricane, piping plovers selected nest sites (n = 62) farther from the ocean ( x least-cost distance = 82.8 m) and bay ( x Euclidean distance = 697.7 m; x least-cost distance = 24,160.6 m) than would be expected if they were selecting nest sites at random. Following the hurricane, piping plovers selected nest sites (n = 45) predominantly in or near storm overwash habitat, which was close to, and had unobstructed walking access to, the ocean ( x least-cost distance = 123.4 m) and newly created bayside foraging habitats ( x Euclidean distance = 468.0 m; x least-cost distance = 728.9 m). Areas overwashed by the hurricane contained the most suitable piping plover habitat across all new habitat types. Piping plover abundance increased 93% by 2018 from pre-Hurricane Sandy abundances, with most pairs nesting in new habitats. However, only 58% of suitable piping plover habitat was protected from recreational use and few piping plovers used unprotected habitats for nesting. Our results suggest that the ecological benefits of increased storminess may be maximized by coupling coastal stabilization with targeted conservation of storm-created habitats.

Impacts of ecological mismatches should be most pronounced at points of the annual cycle when populations depend on a predictable, abundant, and aggregated food resource that changes in timing or distribution. The degree to which species specialize on a key prey item, therefore, should determine their sensitivity to mismatches. We evaluated the hypothesis that the effects of ecological mismatch during migratory stopover are mediated by a species’ foraging ecology by comparing two similar long‐distance migratory species that differ in their foraging strategies during stopover. We predicted that a specialist foraging strategy would make species more sensitive to effects of mismatch with a historically abundant prey, while an active, generalist foraging strategy should help buffer against changing local conditions. We estimated arrival times, start of mass gain, and rate of mass gain during spring stopover in Delaware Bay, USA. At this site, shorebirds feed on a temporally aggregated food resource (horseshoe crab Limulus polyphemus eggs), the timing of which is linked to water temperature; red knot (Calidris canutus rufa) specializes on these while the ruddy turnstone (Arenaria interpres) feeds more generally. We used a hierarchical nonlinear model to estimate the effect of mismatch between shorebird arrivals and timing of crab spawning on the timing and rate of mass gain over 22 yr. In years with cooler water temperature, crabs spawned later, which was associated with later and faster mass gain for the knots. Turnstones exhibited less inter‐annual variation in the timing and rate of mass gain than knots, and we found no relationship between mass gain dynamics and the availability of horseshoe crab eggs for this generalist species. Long‐distance migrants rely on predictable resources en route and even when these linkages are simple and predictable, populations can be vulnerable to change; these results suggest that generalist foraging strategies may buffer migratory species against phenological mismatch. We provide a framework to evaluate population responses to changes in prey phenology at sites vulnerable to climatic change.

Evaluating population-level responses to conservation action following large-scale disturbance can improve the efficacy of future habitat conservation measures. In October 2012, Hurricane Sandy storm surges cleared vegetation and opened inlets through the barrier islands, Fire Island and Westhampton Island, New York, creating Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus) habitat. Storm effects prompted an island-wide stabilization project, which had the potential to negatively affect novel Piping Plover habitat. Certain sections of Fire Island were designed to create and/or improve habitat (hereafter, restoration areas) to mitigate possible habitat loss or degradation. Since Piping Plovers in New York appear to be habitat-limited, we anticipated positive population growth following habitat creation. From 2013 to 2018, we captured and banded 152 adults and 353 chicks, and monitored 279 nests and 160 broods. We developed an integrated population model to assess demographic processes in response to hurricane created-habitat (2013–2018) and the creation of restoration areas (2015–2018). We observed positive population growth in 3 of 5 yr, and overall growth throughout the period (λ¯ = 1.13). Immigration and reproductive output were correlated with population growth (r = 0.92 [95% CI: 0.22 to 0.98] and 0.84 [95% CI: –0.47 to 0.95], respectively). Compared with the rest of the study area, restoration areas had higher chick survival, and lower nest survival and after second-year site fidelity. The result was population growth in restoration areas (λ¯= 1.14) similar to the whole study area. In the short term, restoration areas seemed to mimic natural Piping Plover habitat. Vegetation removal, an important process in renewing natural Piping Plover habitat, likely will be necessary to maintain habitat suitability. Efforts to increase immigration of new breeding adults into the system, and to improve reproductive output, primarily by habitat creation or maintenance, are likely to have the greatest local effect on population growth.