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Human Activity and Habitat Characteristics Influence Shorebird Habitat Use and Behavior at a Vancouver Island Migratory Stopover Site

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Abstract

Pacific Rim National Park Reserve on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, has 16 km of coastal beaches that attract many thousands of people and shorebirds (S.O. Charadrii) every year. To identify locations where shorebirds concentrate and to determine the impact of human activity and habitat characteristics on shorebirds, we conducted shorebird and visitor surveys at 20 beach sectors (across 20 total km of beach) during fall migration in 2011–2014 and spring migration in 2012 and 2013. Using zero-inflated negative binomial regression and a model selection approach, we found that beach width and number of people influenced shorebird use of beach sectors (Bayesian information criterion weight of top model = 0.69). Shorebird absence from beaches was associated with increasing number of people (parameter estimate from top model: 0.38; 95 % CI 0.19, 0.57) and decreasing beach width (parameter estimate: −0.32; 95 % CI −0.47, −0.17). Shorebirds spent more time at wider beaches (parameter estimate: 0.68; 95 % CI 0.49, 0.87). Close proximity to people increased the proportion of time shorebirds spent moving, while shorebirds spent more time moving and less time foraging on wider beaches than on narrower ones. Shorebird disturbance increased with proximity of people, activity speed, and presence of dogs. Based on our findings, management options, for reducing shorebird disturbance at Pacific Rim National Park Reserve and similar shorebird stopover areas, include mandatory buffer distances between people and shorebirds, restrictions on fast-moving activities (e.g., running, biking), prohibiting dogs, and seasonal closures of wide beach sections.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the staff at Pacific Rim National Park Reserve, Danielle Gough, Christine Anderson, and Angus Smith for logistical and field assistance. For funding, we thank the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), Parks Canada, the Government of Ontario, and Trent University.

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Author notes

  1. Colleen R. Murchison

    Present address: Nunavut Field Unit, Parks Canada, Box 278, Iqaluit, NU, X0A 0H0, Canada

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental and Life Sciences Graduate Program, Trent University, 1600 West Bank Drive, Peterborough, ON, K9J 7B8, Canada

    Colleen R. Murchison

  2. Pacific Rim National Park Reserve, Box 280, Ucluelet, BC, V0R 3A0, Canada

    Yuri Zharikov

  3. Biology Department and Environmental and Life Sciences Graduate Program, Trent University, 2140 East Bank Drive, Peterborough, ON, K9L 0G2, Canada

    Erica Nol

Authors
  1. Colleen R. Murchison
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Colleen R. Murchison.

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Ethical Approval

The study was approved by the Parks Canada Research Ethics Committee (Parks Canada Research and Collection Permit No. PRN-2013-13773).

Appendix

Appendix

See Tables 6 and 7.

Table 6 Total counts of shorebirds observed during 524 survey hours across 20 beach sectors in the Long Beach Unit of Pacific Rim National Park Reserve during spring and fall migration from late April until the end of May, in 2012 (50 survey hours) and 2013 (59.5 survey hours), and July through October in 2011 (142 survey hours), 2012 (91.5 survey hours), 2013 (101.5 survey hours), and 2014 (79.5 survey hours)
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Table 7 Abundance of macroinvertebrates sampled at shorebird monitoring sites along the Long Beach Unit of Pacific Rim National Park Reserve, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, from April to August 2013
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Murchison, C.R., Zharikov, Y. & Nol, E. Human Activity and Habitat Characteristics Influence Shorebird Habitat Use and Behavior at a Vancouver Island Migratory Stopover Site. Environmental Management 58, 386–398 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-016-0727-x

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