Draft Revised Recovery Plan for the Breeding Range of the Northern Great Plains Piping Plover

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Recovery Plan are met (Environment Canada 2006), we anticipate that approximately 15 percent of the population will likely be located in Canada. Criterion 2: A minimum amount of suitable nesting and foraging habitat is available on a Regional Basis, as described below. a. 1,630 ha (4,030 ac) in Southern Rivers (Missouri River system from Fort Randall Dam, South Dakota to Ponca, Nebraska, the Niobrara River, the Loup River system and the Platte River system) b. 1,320 ha (3,270 ac) in Northern Rivers (Missouri River system on Fort Peck Lake,Montana to Pierre, South Dakota) c. 1,460 ha (3,600 ac) in the U.S. Alkaline Lakes d. 1,460 ha (3,610 ac) in Prairie Canada (Provided for information only. We defer to the Prairie Canada Recovery Plan. See discussion about Canadian recovery criteria below.) Habitat is cyclical on the Northern Great Plains, so the habitat should be available, on average, a minimum of three-out-of-four years. For example, the criteria would be met if there were habitat available for a six year period in a region, followed by two years of high water when most of the habitat was flooded. This criterion should be met for a minimum of 12 years prior to initiating delisting. Purpose: To ensure that there is sufficient habitat broadly distributed on the breeding grounds to support a stable population. The major threat facing the species on the breeding grounds is a lack of sufficient habitat available frequently enough to support the population at recovery levels. Many of the other threats facing the species (e.g., increased predation, inadequate forage, human disturbance) are directly or indirectly related to insufficient habitat on the breeding grounds. We recognize that piping plover habitat is by nature ephemeral, with good habitat available for several years after a high water event before becoming vegetated or eroded until it is flooded, starting the cycle again. Using the natural cycle and piping plover life history as a guide, we designed this criterion so that recovery can be achieved even if habitat is available on average in three years out of four. For example, habitat may be available for six years in an eight year period and still meet the recovery criterion even if habitat were limited in the remaining two years. Habitat should be measured on a regional basis; it does not necessarily need to be available in every location within the region at this frequency. For example, as long as there is 1,080 ha(2,670 ac) available overall in three out of four years in the Southern Rivers region, the criterion would still be met even if the Platte River system did not meet the requirement. Twelve years was selected as the time period for the criterion to be met to encompass approximately three-to-four plover generation times. Also, as discussed below in the Frequency 65 VOLUME I: Draft Revised Recovery Plan for the Breeding Range of the Northern Great Plains Piping Plover(Charadrius melodus)