Draft Baseline Report - Least Turn and Piping Plover Section

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the Nebraska population. A comparison of the 1996 Nebraska census total with the statewide ten year (1987 -1996) mean population of 447 (excluding Missouri River totals) indicates a decrease of 18% (81 adults) in the Nebraska piping plover population (Dinan 1997). The current breeding range for the Great Plains piping plover population extends from alkali wetlands in southeastern Alberta east to Lake of the Woods in southwestern Ontario, and south along major river systems of the plains such as the Yellowstone, Missouri, and Platte. Reservoirs in southeastern Colorado, and alkali wetlands in northeastern Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota are also used (Plissner and Haig 1997). Platte River System Least Terns and Piping Plovers In Nebraska, the Platte River has historically supported breeding populations of least tern and piping plover (Bent 1929). Least terns and piping plovers nest on exposed riverine sandbars or sandpits along the Platte River system as far west as Ogallala, including along the shore of Lake McConaughy (Sidle et al. 1991, Wilson 1991, Kirsch 1992, Lingle 1993a, Sidle and Kirsch 1993). Sandpits provide most of the nesting substrate for least terns and piping plovers between North Platte and Columbus (upper and central Platte) (Sidle et al. 1991, Kirsch and Lingle 1993a, Sidle and Kirsch 1993, Kirsch 1996). Known historic breeding locations are shown mq (# .Icl�e?c)• Kirsch (2001) reports that numbers of least terns and piping plovers (not nests or pairs) on the central Platte are declining significantly at sandpits, with an insignificant increase on sandbars based on census and productivity data provided by the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission (NGPC), Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD), Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District (CNPPID), Platte River Trust, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Grand Island field office, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Omaha office. From 1987 to 1998 the numbers of terns averaged 28 on sandbars and 119 on sandpits; and the numbers of plovers averaged 14 on sandbars and 43 on sandpits (Kirsch 2001). Models A population growth model (Ryan et al. 1993) projects the Great Plains piping plover population to decline 7 percent annually. Unchecked, this decline would result in the species extirpation in approximately 80 years. The model also indicates that with recent survival rates held constant, a 31 percent increase in fledging rates (from 0.86, presently, to 1.13 chicks per breeding pair) will be needed to stabilize the population. Annual population increases of 1 percent and 2 percent require fledging rates of 1.16 and 1.19 chicks per pair, respectively. A habitat characteristics model is also described by Armbruster 1986 Information from outside Central Platte Valley Draft Baseline Report, July 2002 4 -4