| Summary: | Anthropogenic habitat change is the most important factor contributing to global losses in biodiversity. Ecological research can help identify the mechanisms that cause these declines by relating environmental characteristics to wildlife habitat use and productivity. Such studies can contribute to the design of land-use practices that enhance wildlife populations in conservation areas and promote efficient compromises between human use and conservation. The conflicts between human-use and conservation are particularly evident in coastal areas, which have enormous economic value and are thus coveted areas for development. Human-use can alter the habitat quality and affect coastal taxa, such as shorebirds. iv In this study I examine the breeding ecology and conservation biology of a beach-nesting, near-threatened shorebird, the Malaysian plover Charadrius peronii, which breeds on coastal areas throughout Southeast Asia. Although nearly half of the threatened shorebird species breed in tropical areas, little research has been conducted on the conservation and ecology of these species. My study is the first detailed research conducted on the Malaysian plover. It contributes to a better understanding of the environmental factors constraining breeding strategies in the tropics and identifies key mechanisms linking anthropogenic habitat change and wildlife populations. I used behavioural approaches to collect a wide range of data over a short-time period in order to describe the breeding ecology of Malaysian plovers, evaluate different types of constraints, identify anthropogenic impacts and provide recommendations on management approaches to mitigate the impacts of habitat change. Malaysian plovers have long breeding seasons, high site fidelity, complete biparental care and can nest multiple times in a single year. In contrast to shorebirds in Arctic environments, where fecundity is limited by the brief pulses of high seasonal productivity, Malaysian plover fecundity appeared to be constrained more by habitat ...
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