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Reproductive Success Of Piping Plovers On Alkali Lakes In North Dakota And Montana, Robert K. Murphy, Michael J. Rabenberg, Marriah L. Sondreal, Bruce R. Casler, Debra A. Guenther

United States Fish and Wildlife: Staff Publications

Low reproductive success is thought to be a chief cause of the steady decline in numbers of piping plover (Charadrius melodus) that nest in the northern Great Plains. Surprisingly, few reproductive success data are published from alkali lakes in the region, where most breeding pairs of piping plover nest. During 1994 to 1997 we measured nest success and fledging rates of piping plovers at 32 alkali lakes across northwestern North Dakota and northeastern Montana, at the center of the species' breeding range in the Great Plains. Annual nest success and fledging rates averaged 38% (Mayfield estimate; 20 to …