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Status of the Interior Least Tern and Piping Plover in Nebraska
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Status of the Interior Least Tern and Piping Plover in Nebraska
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2/22/2013 10:59:20 AM
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Water Supply Protection
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Prepared for Interstate Task Force on Endangered Species (related to the Platte River Recovery Implementation Program or PRRIP), Colorado Water Congress, Nebraska Water Resources Association, Wyoming Water Development Association Tom Pitts, P.E. Task Force Coordinator
State
CO
WY
NE
Basin
South Platte
Water Division
1
Date
9/1/1988
Author
EA Engineering, Science, and Technology, Inc.
Title
Status of the Interior Least Tern and Piping Plover in Nebraska (Period of Record through 1986)
Water Supply Pro - Doc Type
Report/Study
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are not bordered by water on all sides. Studies by other researchers (e.g., <br />Schulenberg and Schulenberg 1982) have found that flooding, which primarily <br />affects colonies on river sandbars as opposed to off -river sandpits, can <br />actually increase the incidence of predation. As rising water levels cause <br />adult birds to abandon their nests, the unprotected eggs and chicks become more <br />vulnerable to predation. <br />HABITAT USE CONSIDERATIONS RELATIVE TO THE CENTRAL PLATTE RIVER <br />Three lines of evidence support the conclusion that the central Platte River <br />from Overton to Grand Island, Nebraska (commonly referred to as the Big Bend <br />reach), did not play a significant role in the maintenance of least tern or <br />piping plover populations prior to the activation of upstream water projects in <br />1941 (i.e., Kingsley Dam and the Tri County Canal system). First, peak flows <br />historically occurred during the species' nest selection and /or nest initiation <br />period (i.e., early May -early June). Given the original pattern of high flows <br />from mountain snowmelt commencing in late April or early May and peaking in <br />June, it follows that during most years potentially suitable sandbar habitat <br />would have been largely inundated at the time of arrival and nest selection. <br />Nests initiated before the period of peak flow, in years of delayed snowpack <br />thaw, would have been subject to flooding. Second, extended no -flow episodes <br />occurred during the nesting season. The historical tendency of the central <br />Platte reach to go dry during summer months was not conducive to successful <br />nesting. Dry riverbed conditions would have eliminated adjacent feeding areas <br />and exposed nest sites to predation. Third, despite regular observations of <br />least terns and piping plovers in Nebraska since the turn of the century, <br />historical sighting records contain no reference to the occurrence of these <br />species along the Platte River from east of the confluence of the North and <br />South Platte rivers to the Loup fork until after 1941. It therefore seems more <br />than coincidental that the first record of least terns nesting along the <br />central Platte was in 1942 near Lexington- -the very year perennial flow was <br />established in this reach by water project operation - -and that the first report <br />of piping plovers in this same area was in 1950. <br />These considerations instead indicate that regular use of the Platte River <br />above the Loup confluence (and including the Big Bend reach) by least terns and <br />piping plovers is a recent phenomenon occasioned by the onset of permanent, <br />moderate flow conditions resulting from water project operation. Water storage <br />along the Platte has reduced dramatic, natural water -level changes from floods <br />or droughts that historically acted to limit utilization and /or nesting success <br />through inundation of potential or active nest sites, elimination of adjacent <br />food supplies, and exposure of nest sites to predation. Paradoxically, the <br />progressive shift to perennial flow that created suitable nesting habitat for <br />these species has sustained the growth and perpetuation of woody vegetation. <br />Optimum conditions (in terms of the maximum quantity and quality of suitable <br />riverine habitat) should therefore be viewed as transitory, though the future <br />situation appears more favorable than the past. In addition, sand and gravel <br />operations near the river have also created substantial additional nesting <br />habitat which has been used extensively by these species. As previously noted, <br />these sites are.particularly important during years when high river flows limit <br />or preclude the use of mid - stream sandbars (e.g., 1983 and 1984). Because <br />sandpit colonies are less susceptible to flooding (a dominant source of <br />mortality at sandbar colonies), they have significant potential for successful <br />production, especially if active steps can be taken to control human <br />ix <br />
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