The role of environmental variability in breeding success of piping plovers in eastern Canada
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Date
2018
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Publisher
University of New Brunswick
Abstract
Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus) populations in Eastern Canada have been on a continual decline. I analyzed 20 years of weather and breeding success data on Piping Plover for the Southern Nova Scotia region to determine if there is a correlation between population decline and weather in the area. No individual weather patterns influenced breeding success of Piping Plover in Nova Scotia but North Atlantic Oscillation had a positive correlation with breeding success. This suggests that large-scale climate change may impact Piping Plover populations in Eastern Canada indirectly by altering the condition of breeding adults outside of the breeding season.