How To

International Piping Plover Census
by Susan Haig, U.S. Geological Survey

Monitoring progress towards species recovery goals is often difficult, particularly across a species' range. It is most problematic for endangered species that are mobile and widely distributed. However, in a remarkable feat of international cooperation, piping plover range-wide censuses have been carried out every 5 years since 1991. Reflection on the benefits gained from the census may be useful for other programs.

Piping plovers are Federally listed, migratory shorebirds, whose broad North American distribution illustrates the need, difficulty, and utility of conducting periodic, comprehensive monitoring of progress toward recovery. The species breeds in 22 U.S. states and 9 Canadian provinces on isolated sand beaches, river sandbars, and alkali lake shores, and winters along the coasts of nine southern states, northeastern Mexico, and the Greater Antilles.

When initial recovery plans were drawn up, sometime around 1988, U.S. and Canadian recovery teams were stymied by the lack of information regarding distribution, abundance, and population trends. Hesitant to commit to unreasonable or unattainable recovery goals, the teams stated down-listing criteria based on goals being verified over a 15-year period and three international censuses. This helped to assure that appropriate goals would be reached and maintained.

Often species assessments are carried out via a survey protocol that samples representative parts of their range. However, piping plovers are not equally distributed, so indices would not render accurate information. The daunting task of counting every bird was first undertaken in 1991. During specified weeks of the breeding and wintering seasons, simultaneous censuses were conducted across the species' range. Because piping plovers can be quite mobile, simultaneous censusing eliminated the potential to double count birds, and because they are fairly visible on open stretches of known nesting beaches, all the birds can be counted.

Participants in the international censuses include federal, state, university, and non-governmental organization biologists. Censuses are concatenated by a census coordinator, recovery teams, and state/provincial coordinators. Aside from minimal funds for coordination, there are no specific funds set aside for the census. It is carried out as part of routine work, and as such, it is a cost-effective, efficient means to collect data for an entire species. In 1996, 1,200 biologists and volunteers participated in the second International Piping Plover Census; for the 2001 census, 1,400 biologists counted birds.

The International Piping Plover Census is the largest endangered species census effort in North America. The information collected represents the only range-wide census data for a North American shorebird. The success of this work has spilled over into other recovery programs. For example, wintering Gulf Coast and Atlantic Coast snowy plovers also were counted during the 2001 piping plover census. While the species ranges do not completely overlap, regional information collected for snowy plovers was instrumental in identifying critical habitats.

A range-wide census will not be possible for every listed species, but when it is, the comprehensive data collected are invaluable for designing recovery goals, monitoring progress toward recovery, diagnosing problem areas, determining the species range, and designating critical habitat.

For more information, contact Susan Haig, U.S. Geological Survey, Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center, 3200 SW Jefferson Way, Corvallis, Oregon 97331, (541) 750-7482, susan_haig@usgs.gov.

A New Image for Kansas
by Tim Christian, Kansas Wetlands and Riparian Areas Alliance

Ever since The Wizard of Oz made it to the silver screen, when people hear the word "Kansas," images of violent tornadoes bullying their way through wheat fields—leaving wide swaths of destruction behind—often come to people's minds. But there is a movement afoot to dispel that reaction. The partners of the Kansas Wetlands and Riparian Areas Alliance (Alliance) would like people to hear the word "Kansas" and think of quiet marshes and gently flowing streams bounded by lush riparian habitats filled with the soothing songs of birds.

The Alliance's dream began in 1996 when more than 50 interested businesses, organizations, agencies, and individuals gathered to discuss the means by which they could better provide wetland and riparian education, create a climate for sharing information, and encourage people to implement conservation projects. Six years later, the Alliance consists of more than 100 member organizations and nearly 200 individuals. Their mission: "Ensure the future of wetlands and streams and their adjacent riparian areas as an integral part of the Kansas heritage and landscape."

"Building local partnerships to educate people and to get wetland and riparian area conservation projects completed is the thrust of the Alliance," said Executive Committee Chairman Bob Atchison.

Seven Alliance chapters currently exist in northeast, southeast, and western Kansas—the result of holding seven 1-day stakeholder seminars. The chapters will take responsibility for delivering the Alliance message across more than half of the State's counties. Other seminars are scheduled in coming months in targeted watersheds to establish an even greater level of local involvement in wetland and riparian issues and to broaden the effects of the Alliance's mission across Kansas.

Excitement is high within chapters as they create synergy, secure funding for educational activities, and procure money for projects that will improve critical wildlife habitat and water quality. Each chapter develops a plan of action and a list of priority projects. Dozens of projects have been initiated ranging from small, 1- to 2-acre wetland or riparian-buffer plantings to large, watershed-scale, multiple-landowner efforts affecting miles of stream reach.

The Prairie Wetlands Chapter, for example, recently received funding from the Playa Lakes Joint Venture to support the acquisition of conservation leases on playas in the western third of the State. This project will pay landowners not to farm in playas and to establish permanent buffers around these seasonal wetlands. Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks has committed to helping to finance these leases as well—hundreds of playas could be affected.

"We have yet to fully see the benefits derived from the chapters' efforts," said Atchison. "However, interest in wetlands and riparian areas has elevated to heights we hadn't dreamed of 6 years ago. With the support and funding from groups like the joint venture, we expect to radically improve the Kansas landscape by restoring, enhancing, and protecting these valuable natural resource areas to levels not seen for decades."

Be prepared Dorothy and Toto. Kansas is not as you left it and bigger changes are on the way.

For more information, contact Bob Atchison, Rural Forestry Coordinator, Kansas Forest Service, 2610 Claflin Road, Manhattan, Kansas 67506, (785) 532-3310, ratchiso@oz.oznet.ksu.edu, or Tim Christian, Coordinator, Kansas Wetlands and Riparian Areas Alliance, P.O. Box 236, McPherson, Kansas 67460, (620) 241-6921, tchristian@kscable.com.

Kansas Department of Health and Environment
Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks
Kansas Farm Bureau
Kansas Forest Service
Pheasants Forever, Inc.
State Conservation Commission
Tetra Tech EM, Inc.
USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service