CONSERVATION PLAN FOR THE MOUNTAIN PLOVER
The Mountain Plover (Charadrius montanus) is an uncommon terrestrial shorebird found in xeric shrublands, shortgrass prairies, and other sparsely vegetated plains (including agricultural fields) of the western Great Plains of the United States, southern Canada, and northern México. Over the last 150 years, changes in land use and in the grassland herbivore community have altered the abundance, habitat use, and distribution of Mountain Plovers. Precise and accurate information about the current population size of and trend in Mountain Plovers is lacking.
Bare ground, short vegetation, and flat topography are typical nest site characteristics for Mountain Plovers; they winter in similar habitats, primarily in California, northern México, and Texas. Although California is thought to support most wintering Mountain Plovers, little is known about their winter range use in other areas. Virtually nothing is known about how Mountain Plovers use spring and fall stopovers.
The most crucial conservation threats facing Mountain Plovers, not necessarily in priority order, include: 1) the inability to manage agricultural lands in the Imperial Valley, California, to provide consistent winter habitat, and the loss or inadequate management of other known wintering areas in California; 2) the lack of comprehensive information on the wintering distribution of Mountain Plovers and the threats plovers face in these areas; 3) information gaps on the factors responsible for apparent low Mountain Plover survival during migration and the ability to define and identify stopover habitat; 4) an historically reduced number of active blacktailed, Gunnison, and Mexican prairie dog colonies in the United States, México, and Canada, which results in less high-quality Mountain Plover habitat; 5) the inability to comprehensively mange landscape components (prairie dog colonies, native grasslands, and agricultural fields) that support breeding Mountain Plovers; and 6) the lack of understanding how large-scale landscape changes brought about by energy development and climate change will affect Mountain Plover habitats.
Some of the short-term conservation actions for Mountain Plovers include:
1) developing a functional Mountain Plover Working Group whose members are active in sharing information and finding collective solutions to plover conservation issues;
2) refining a preliminary demographic model to guide decisions about allocation of range-wide resources for Mountain Plover conservation actions and adjust suggested actions;
3) developing and implementing WHSRN – Mountain Plover Conservation Plan, May 2009 2 methods to map the abundance of wintering Mountain Plovers across their range, particularly in Texas and México;
4) developing specific land management strategies in the Imperial Valley to provide consistent wintering habitat;
5) expanding partnerships with Natural Resources Conservation Service to develop special incentives for private agriculture producers and ranchland owners;
6) continuing to secure easements and management plans on private lands that support prairie dog colonies,
7) determining brood survival among breeding habitat types, particularly determining if agricultural fields provide adequate food resources;
8) initiating research to understand how Mountain Plovers will be affected by energy development projects in the Intermountain West and western Great Plains, and
9) continuing to develop conservation and management agreements with ejidos, and other private land owners, to conserve grasslands in northern México.
Read full report here
Bare ground, short vegetation, and flat topography are typical nest site characteristics for Mountain Plovers; they winter in similar habitats, primarily in California, northern México, and Texas. Although California is thought to support most wintering Mountain Plovers, little is known about their winter range use in other areas. Virtually nothing is known about how Mountain Plovers use spring and fall stopovers.
The most crucial conservation threats facing Mountain Plovers, not necessarily in priority order, include: 1) the inability to manage agricultural lands in the Imperial Valley, California, to provide consistent winter habitat, and the loss or inadequate management of other known wintering areas in California; 2) the lack of comprehensive information on the wintering distribution of Mountain Plovers and the threats plovers face in these areas; 3) information gaps on the factors responsible for apparent low Mountain Plover survival during migration and the ability to define and identify stopover habitat; 4) an historically reduced number of active blacktailed, Gunnison, and Mexican prairie dog colonies in the United States, México, and Canada, which results in less high-quality Mountain Plover habitat; 5) the inability to comprehensively mange landscape components (prairie dog colonies, native grasslands, and agricultural fields) that support breeding Mountain Plovers; and 6) the lack of understanding how large-scale landscape changes brought about by energy development and climate change will affect Mountain Plover habitats.
Some of the short-term conservation actions for Mountain Plovers include:
1) developing a functional Mountain Plover Working Group whose members are active in sharing information and finding collective solutions to plover conservation issues;
2) refining a preliminary demographic model to guide decisions about allocation of range-wide resources for Mountain Plover conservation actions and adjust suggested actions;
3) developing and implementing WHSRN – Mountain Plover Conservation Plan, May 2009 2 methods to map the abundance of wintering Mountain Plovers across their range, particularly in Texas and México;
4) developing specific land management strategies in the Imperial Valley to provide consistent wintering habitat;
5) expanding partnerships with Natural Resources Conservation Service to develop special incentives for private agriculture producers and ranchland owners;
6) continuing to secure easements and management plans on private lands that support prairie dog colonies,
7) determining brood survival among breeding habitat types, particularly determining if agricultural fields provide adequate food resources;
8) initiating research to understand how Mountain Plovers will be affected by energy development projects in the Intermountain West and western Great Plains, and
9) continuing to develop conservation and management agreements with ejidos, and other private land owners, to conserve grasslands in northern México.
Read full report here
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