Priorities for Future Research

Owing to continued degradation of this species’ habitat, especially in the coastal portion of its breeding range, annual surveys of population size, such as those currently conducted for the U.S Pacific coast, would be desirable for coastal Florida, Texas, West Indies, and Mexico. Obtaining detection rates for plovers would increase the value of all broad-scale breeding and wintering coastal surveys (Elliott-Smith et al. 2004). Study of the migration and winter destinations of Snowy Plovers in the southeast U.S and Mexico are needed to clarify where interior and coastal populations spend the non-breeding season (Himes et al. 2006). For this region, studies are also needed on adult and juvenile survival rates, adult and juvenile dispersal, levels of reproductive success required for population stability, and population sources and sinks. Determination of levels of sequential polygamy in interior and Gulf coast populations would also be valuable for comparison with the Pacific coast population.

Particularly in coastal regions, where recreational use of plover habitat is growing, comprehensive management plans are needed to check the potential for further declines in populations of this vulnerable shorebird. Applied research on methods to restore, enhance, and create suitable habitat across the species’ range would also be valuable and should be accompanied by careful study to document the response of plovers to these conservation actions. The limitations, if any, of food availability on breeding success also deserves further study.

For the Pacific coast population, recently published information on adult and juvenile survival and dispersal should be used to revise the USFWS population viability analysis; in particular, a revised estimate of the level of productivity required for population stability is needed. Identification of sources and sinks and causes of winter mortality are two other important research areas to pursue.