Managing coastal grasslands for an endangered wader species can give a positive result only when expanding the area of open landscape ...

• Main Authors: Kaasiku, Triin, Rannap, Riinu, Kaart, Tanel
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: DataDOI 2018
• Subjects: Boreal Baltic coastal meadow; breeding habitat selection; Charadrii; LiDAR data; reed bed; Southern Dunlin; wet grassland; reforestation; Calidris alpina; Dunlin; Vanellus vanellus
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.15155/re-32; http://datadoi.ee/handle/33/66

1) The rapid loss of wetlands has caused a severe decline in the biota associated with these habitats. In Europe, the loss of wet grasslands has seriously affected breeding waders, whose numbers have halved in past 50 years and remaining populations are facing fragmented, low quality habitats. To improve the remaining sites as breeding grounds for these birds, exact species’ habitat requirements need to be known. Our study was carried out in Boreal Baltic coastal meadows where the main reason behind waders’ population declines in the past decades has been land abandonment. Hence, we focus on partially overgrown meadows, aiming to ascertain habitat characteristics determining the breeding site selection of meadow birds, especially Southern Dunlin (Calidris alpina schinzii) – an endangered subspecies characteristic to Baltic coastal meadows. 2) We studied the breeding territory selection of four wader species (Southern Dunlin, Common Redshank (Tringa totanus), Northern Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus) and Common ...