Breeding success of waders in salt-pans: impacts of anthropogenic disturbance

• Autor(a) principal: Alves, Eduardo Freitas
• Data de Publicação: 2021
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10773/30854
• topic: Black-winged stilt; Kentish plover; Hatching success; Parental behaviour; Anthropogenic disturbance

Salt-pans are often considered good breeding sites for some wader species, despite being an artificial habitat. However, increasing human disturbance on these areas could have a negative effect on breeding success. This study aims to establish the levels of hatching success of black-winged stilts (Himantopus himantopus) and Kentish plovers (Charadrius alexandrinus), and associated behavioural investment on brood care of black-winged stilts in salt-pans with varying levels of disturbance in Ria de Aveiro. We monitored nests of both species and conducted parental care observations in six salt-pans, three with low human presence and three with higher human disturbance due to visitors. We did not find differences between hatching success on both species across salt pan varying in disturbance level, although a high number of unknown nests fates may have masked the results. During brood care, black-winged stilts on salt-pans with higher levels of human presence showed more human related disturbance behaviours and were overall more distant from their chicks than in salt-pans with lower levels of human presence. Increased human presence could have negative effects on chick survival rates on disturbed salt-pans, and more studies are necessary to properly assess anthropogenic disturbance effects, particularly focusing on fledging success (productivity).