Evaluating if abundance and behavior of shorebird species are related to restoration and habitat at Whiskey Island and Caminada Headland, Louisiana from 2012 to 2020 ...

• Main Authors: Zenzal, Theodore TJ J, Anderson, Amanda N, LeBlanc, Delaina
• Format: Dataset
• Language: unknown
• Published: U.S. Geological Survey 2023
• Subjects: Ecology, Wildlife Biology; Calidris canutus; Red Knot
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5066/p93mvs0s; https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/64934cd1d34ef77fcb01388b

Barrier islands provide resources and ecological services that are integral to economic and environmental interests, such as protection of coastal infrastructure and providing habitat for wildlife. Over time, barrier islands may become eroded and experience land loss, which require management actions to restore island integrity. The process of restoring barrier islands can create new habitats but also alter existing habitats, which can impact the organisms depending on coastal habitats, such as the Endangered Species Act-listed (ESA) Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus) and Red Knot (Calidris canutus). Consequently, we aimed to understand the abundance and behavioral responses from a suite of shorebird species, including American Oystercatcher (Haematopus palliatus), Red Knot, Piping Plover, Snowy Plover (Charadrius nivosus), and Wilson’s Plover (Charadrius wilsonia), to restoration and habitat factors at two restored sites in coastal Louisiana, Whiskey Island and Caminada Headland, from 2012 to 2020. We ...