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RESEARCH <br />In addition to implementation of the Program's surveillance monitoring protocol, conservation <br />monitoring and directed research will be conducted during the course of the Program's First <br />Increment to provide data to evaluate the Program's management objectives and priority <br />hypotheses. Over the next several years, activities will include research on interior least tern and <br />piping plover nest -site selection and comparisons of use and reproductive success on riverine <br />versus off - channel sand and water habitat. Design and implementation of this research will be <br />guided by the ED Office, the TAC, and Program partners and will be reviewed by the Program's <br />Independent Scientific Advisory Committee (ISAC). Future editions of this report will include <br />an explanation of all interior least tern and piping plover research conducted by the Program and <br />analyses and summaries of annual findings. <br />The first directed research project related to interior least terns and piping plovers on the central <br />Platte River began in 2009 with Year -One implementation of the Program's foraging habits <br />study. A contract to conduct this study over two field seasons (2009 -2010) was awarded to <br />personnel from the USGS - NPWRC. The research is being jointly funded by the Program and the <br />USGS - NPWRC. This section provides a summary of activities conducted for the foraging habits <br />study in 2009; more details can be found in the Annual Research Report generated by the USGS- <br />NPWRC. The range of dates for field work was 1 May — 31 July, 2009. This research was <br />designed to quantify various measures of foraging habitat used by interior least terns and piping <br />plovers at sandpits and river -island sandbars with a goal of addressing four specific objectives <br />that collectively contribute to the understanding of foraging habits of adult interior least terns and <br />piping plovers within Program Associated Habitats: <br />1. Movements <br />Quantify frequency and distance of movements away from nesting colonies for least terns <br />and piping plovers nesting in sandpit and riverine sandbar habitats. <br />2. Time Allocation <br />Quantify time allocation to foraging and foraging success rate for adult least terns and piping <br />plovers in sandpit and riverine habitats. <br />3. Foraging Habitat <br />Quantify features of foraging habitats used by adult least terns and piping plovers during <br />nesting and brood rearing in sandpit and riverine habitats. <br />4. Productivity <br />Evaluate linkages between indices of productivity and measures of foraging effort for adult <br />least terns and piping plovers nesting in sandpit and riverine sandbar habitats. <br />ADULT CAPTURE AND BANDING <br />Adult interior least terns and piping plovers were trapped and banded so that they were uniquely <br />identifiable. Techniques outlined in this section support all 4 objectives outlined above. Interior <br />least tern and piping plover adults were trapped on nests using wire mesh box traps, hoop nets, or <br />potter -style fall traps. Trapping took place when air temperature was between 60 °F and 90 °F, <br />wind was minimal, and there was no precipitation. Trapping occurred >_ 1 week after nest <br />initiation and prior to pipping. Observers were positioned in blinds to quickly process captured <br />piping plovers and to abort trapping attempts if the adult was disrupted from its nest for >_20 <br />minutes. Prior to trap deployment, eggs from targeted nests were exchanged with artificial eggs <br />PRRIP 2008 -2009 Tern /Plover Report Page 26 of 42 <br />