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Information exists regarding least tern and piping plover biology, reproduction, and <br />habitat needs in areas outside of the central Platte River Valley. Some of the more <br />pertinent citations include: <br />Kirsch, E. M. 1990. Ecology of least terns and piping plovers on the lower Platte River, <br />Nebraska. Final report submitted to Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, <br />Lincoln. 81 pp. <br />Kirsch, E. M. 1992. Habitat selection and productivity of least terns on the lower Platte <br />River, Nebraska Ph.D. Dissertation. University of Montana, Missoula. <br />Kirsch, E. M. 1996. Habitat selection and productivity of least terns on the lower Platte <br />River, Nebraska. Wildlife Monograph No. 132. 48 pp. <br />Schwalbach, M.J. 1988. Conservation of least terns and piping plovers along the <br />Missouri River and its major western tributaries in South Dakota. M.S. Thesis. <br />South Dakota State University, Brookings. <br />Data /Methods <br />Least Tern and Piping Plover census information <br />Information for least tern and piping plover nesting along the central Platte River is <br />compiled by the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission (NGPC). Two types of records <br />are maintained by NGPC. The first type is an annual census of the adult breeding plovers <br />and terns. Records from the breeding census are maintained in a computer database <br />managed by the State Non -game Bird Biologist and by the Nebraska Natural Heritage <br />Program, Wildlife Division, at Lincoln, Nebraska. A geographic database of nesting <br />locations, based on the Commission's records, is being prepared by the Department of the <br />Interior, Platte River EIS team (REFERENCE OF THE DATABASE). <br />The second database maintained by NGPC contains records from repeated nest site visits <br />at individual colonies throughout the nesting season. This database is managed by the <br />State Non -game Bird Biologist. <br />Records of the breeding census contain the following information: 1) site name; 2) site <br />classification (riverine or sandpit); 3) location, by river mile, latitude /longitude, and /or <br />legal description; 4) source of information (surveyor name or affiliation); 5) survey date; <br />6) number of observed adults; and 7) number of observed nests, eggs and chicks. <br />Census Methodology <br />The procedures that are used to census least tern and piping plover breeding populations <br />have been generally consistent since 1987. Survey participants describe the general <br />procedure as follows: The number and distribution of adult birds is determined by <br />conducting site - visits to known or suspected nesting areas during the peak of the nesting <br />season, in mid -June. Surveys of least tern and piping plover nesting are made together. <br />Draft Baseline Report, July 2002 <br />4 -5 <br />