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Status, Distribution and Reproductive Rates of American Oystercatchers in Virginia

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Status, Distribution and Reproductive Rates of American Oystercatchers in Virginia W&M ScholarWorks Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects 2008 Status, Distribution and Reproductive Rates of American Oystercatchers in Virginia Alexandra Lee Wilke College of William & Mary - Arts & Sciences Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd Part of the Biostatistics Commons, and the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Commons Recommended Citation Wilke, Alexandra Lee, "Status, Distribution and Reproductive Rates of American Oystercatchers in Virginia" (2008). Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects. Paper 1539626871. https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.21220/s2-4nm3-6y60 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects at W&M ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects by an authorized administrator of W&M ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Status, Distribution and Reproductive Rates of American Oystercatchers Virginia Alexandra Lee Wilke Cape Charles, Virginia Bachelor of Science, Bates College, 1998 A Thesis presented to the Graduate Faculty of the College of William and Mary in Candidacy for the Degree of Master of Science Department of Biology The College of William and Mary January, 2008 APPROVAL PAGE This Thesis is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science Alexandra Lee Wilke Approved by the Committee, December, 2007 -------------- Committee Chair Research Professor, Bryan D. Watts, Center for Conservation Biology at The College of William and Mary ____ Associate Professor (retired), Ruth A. Beck, The College of William and Mary Associate^rofessor, Randy M. Chambers, The College of William and Mary ABSTRACT PAGE The conservation status of the American Oystercatcher (Haematopus palliatus palliatus) has received much attention in recent years. The American Oystercatcher is inherently intolerant to excessive levels of disturbance, has a small population size and a very restricted year-round range. These characteristics make the species particularly vulnerable to issues affecting all coastal shorebird species, such as habitat loss and alteration due to increasing development and recreation, pollution, human disturbance and expanding predator populations. Prior to the early 1980s, there was relatively little information in the literature regarding American Oystercatchers. Moreover, prior to the work presented here, information on the status and reproductive biology of oystercatchers in Virginia was lacking. The objectives of this study were to examine the status, distribution and reproductive rates of American Oystercatchers in Virginia and provide much needed information to guide conservation and management efforts. A comprehensive survey of breeding American Oystercatchers in coastal Virginia during the 2003 breeding season more than doubled previous estimates for the state and suggests that Virginia supports the largest number of breeding oystercatchers (588 pairs) on the Atlantic coast. Reproductive rates of American Oystercatchers breeding on barrier islands in Virginia were investigated between 2002 and 2006. Overall annual productivity estimates for pairs breeding in this system were well above what has been reported for this species in other parts of its breeding range and may be attributed to the conservation status of Virginia’s barrier islands and to ongoing mammalian predator management efforts. Given the comparatively high reproductive rates reported here, it seems possible that some of the barrier islands in Virginia may serve as important population sources for the American Oystercatcher. The American Oystercatcher will continue to be a focus of research interest, not only because of fundamental information gaps about the species’ biology, but also because of concern for the species’ conservation status range-wide and its potential to serve as a bioindicator our coastal ecosystems. T a b l e o f C o n t e n t s D e d ic a t io n ..........................................................................................................................................................hi A cknowledgements ...................................................................................................................................... iv Introduction .......................................................................................................................................................1 C h a p t e r 1 B r e e d in g S e a s o n S t a t u s o f t h e A m e r ic a n O ystercatcher in V ir g in ia , U S A 4 A b s t r a c t .....................................................................................................................................................5 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................6 M e t h o d s a n d s u r v e y a r e a s .............................................................................................................8 R e s u l t s ...................................................................................................................................................... 13 D is c u s s io n ................................................................................................................................................14 A cknowledgements ........................................................................................................................... 19 L it e r a t u r e c i t e d ................................................................................................................................. 20 C h a p t e r 2 Investigation o f A m e r ic a n O ystercatcher R eproductive R a t e s o n B a r r ie r Is l a n d s in V ir g in ia , U S A ......................................................................................................................28 A b s t r a c t .................................................................................................................................................. 29 Introduction .........................................................................................................................................30 S t u d y a r e a .............................................................................................................................................. 32 M e t h o d s ................................................................................................................................................... 32 R e s u l t s .................. 34 D is c u s s io n ................................................................................................................................................35 A cknowledgements ...........................................................................................................................40 L it e r a t u r e c i t e d ................................................................................................................................. 40 C h a p t e r 3 A m e r ic a n O ystercatchers in M a r y l a n d a n d V ir g in ia , U S A : S t a t u s a n d D istribution ....................... 50 B r e e d in g p o p u l a t io n ........................................................................................................................ 51 H is t o r ic a l D istribution .............................................................................................................51 C u r r e n t s t a t u s ...............................................................................................................................52 R eproductive R a t e s W in t e r in g P o p u l a t io n C u r r e n t t h r e a t s A cknowledgements L it e r a t u r e c it e d D e d ic a t io n Dedicated to my dear friend Benjamin Tassinari. A cknowledgements I sincerely hope that I do not omit anyone in these acknowledgements, and if I do, it is a reflection on my memory and not his or her contribution to increasing our understanding of American Oystercatchers in Virginia. So in addition to the folks listed in the individual acknowledgement sections of this thesis, I would like to thank: The many folks who provided assistance, logistical support, site access or just good company throughout these projects including Richard Ayers, Deniz Aygen, Chris Blake, Tom Bidrowski, Randy Carlson, Dan Chuquin, Gary Costanzo, Amanda Daisey, Adam DiNuovo, Kyle Doughty, Ray Dueser, Mike Erwin, Dot Field, Amanda Hackney, Toby Hairston, Heather Hollis, Emily Lassiter, Bob Leffel, Mark Luckenbach, Sue Rice, Jeanette Sabo, Eva Savage, Ashley Smith, Carissa Smith, John Snyder, John Weske and Jason Wood. Thanks also to the always helpful William and Mary faculty and staff who guided the logistics of this process: Wanda Carter, George Gilchrist, Paul Heideman and Peggy Manger. Mitchell Byrd, Catherine Markham, Bart Paxton, Fletcher Smith, Marian Watts, Bill Williams, Mike Wilson and everyone at the Center for Conservation Biology for your help and friendship since I came to William and Mary. Ruth Boettcher and Pam Denmon who were both vital in jump starting my initial field work on the shore and ultimately my career with The Nature Conservancy. I’m fortunate to work so closely with people as passionate about what we do as you two and more than that, I’m fortunate to have your friendship. Barry Truitt. What can I
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