Monitoring Effectiveness of an Operational Project on Two Threatened Landbirds: Applying a Before–After Threat Analysis and Threat Reduction Assessment

Human activities are at the origin of anthropogenic threats altering ecosystems at any hierarchical level. To mitigate them, environmental managers develop projects to obtain effective outcomes on biological targets of conservation concern. Here, we carried out two new approaches (TAN = Threat Analysis and TRA = Threat Reduction Assessment) aimed at assessing the effectiveness of conservation actions on two threatened beach-nesting landbird species, the Kentish Plover (Charadrius alexandrinus) and the Little Ringed Plover (C. dubius), breeding along a coastal beach of central Italy. Using a score-based evaluation (TAN approach), a panel of experts assessed the extent, intensity, and magnitude of a set of species-specific threats, ranking them from more to less impacting. Domestic dogs, dune trampling, and synanthropic predators appeared as the threats with the most significant magnitudes. Using the TRA approach, experts obtained a rank of threats that were more urgent to solve: i.e., domestic dogs and dune trampling. To contrast with these threats, in 2021, we carried out a conservation project with specific measures that were aimed at reducing the threat magnitude on birds. They included: dune borders demarcation, anti-predatory cages on plover nests, the removal of beach-stranded fishing lines and hooks, field surveillance by volunteers, dog control, social- and mass-media communication, and alliances with stakeholders and institutions. After the project, mechanical beach grooming (>80%), dune trampling, and synanthropic predators (both >60%) showed the highest percentage of impact reduction. The project showed a medium–high level of effectiveness in reducing the total threat magnitude (TRA-I index = 63.08%). The Threat Analysis should be routinely used to arrange a causal chain that is useful for defining the relationships among human-induced threats and ecological targets, selecting the threats with the highest magnitudes. After the projects, the Threat Reduction Assessment may assess the level of threat reduction, suggesting measures for adaptive management. © 2023 by the authors

Cages Mitigate Predation on Eggs of Threatened Shorebirds: A Manipulative-Control Study

Beach-nesting birds (plovers; Aves; Charadridae) are impacted by many natural and human-induced threats (e.g., people trampling, dogs, and natural predators). In this regard, the use of anti-predator cages on their nests is effective in order to mitigate some of these pressures (i.e., predation). To evaluate the efficacy of anti-predator cages and the causes of nest failure in a breeding site of two species (Charadrius alexandrinus and C. dubius), we carried out a control-experimental design, comparing false nests (n = 69) in cages (experiment; n = 30) with false nests without cages (control; n = 39). We carried out the study in three seasonal periods (May, June, and July), controlling predations after three periods (three, six, and nine days) since positioning, recording the frequency of eggs still present and evidencing any predation event. The percentage of residual eggs was significantly higher in experimental nests when compared to control nests in all recording periods. Considering 59 predation events on false nests, the most important predators were: in experimental nests (n = 21) the fox, Vulpes vulpes (47.6%), and in control nests (n = 38), the hooded crow, Corvus cornix (50%). Our data suggest that the use of anti-predator cages significantly limits predation on eggs and therefore is likely to increase the hatching success in these ground-nesting birds independently in the seasonal period. However, also in the presence of a cage, the fox is a relevant egg predator