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Population biology: Between 1986 -1987, <br />total pair counts <br />for Piping Plovers throughout North America ranged between 2,020 <br />- 2,088 (Table 2). Seventeen pairs bred on the Great Lakes, <br />while 1,258 -1,326 pairs bred on the Northern Great Plains (Table <br />3). There are no comprehensive historic numbers to compare with <br />these figures, although major sites and regions (i.e. the Great <br />Lakes) have suffered a decline in plover numbers (Haig and Oring <br />1985, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1985). Increased censusing <br />efforts over the past three years may account for some <br />discrepancies in population estimates cited in 1985 (Haig and <br />Oring 1985, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1985). <br />Electrophoretic analysis of Piping Plover populations across <br />North America <br />between major <br />Furthermore, <br />equilibrium. <br />at some loci, <br />significant. <br />did not indicate <br />breeding regions <br />Local populations <br />Lack of variabil, <br />but coefficients <br />a quantifiable genetic difference <br />(Haig and Oring 1988b). <br />appeared to be in Hardy- Weinberg <br />Lty occurred for some populations <br />of inbreeding were not <br />At the individual level, Wilcox (1959) reported that 13% of <br />females and 28% of male Piping Plovers lived to be five years or <br />older, and implied they were still reproductively active at an <br />advanced age. Data on adult mortality, population sex ratios, <br />and turnover rates scarce. During a single year, most adults <br />raise only one brood of up to four chicks, although one pair in <br />Nebraska raised two broods (G. Lingle, Platte River Whooping <br />Crane Habitat Maintenance Trust). When nests are destroyed, <br />19 <br />