(The Real) Plovers of New York

Beaches, bagels, and ’burbs: the three B’s of Long Island. If you haven’t been to the island—like me, prior to this week—you probably associate the area with some of these trademarks. But do you know about one of the tiniest but most important ‘B’s on the island—birds?

Outreach coordinator Bret Serbin’s first trip to Long Island with Long Island field biologists, USFWS.

Long Island is a crucial habitat for many birds, including a number of terns, skimmers, and even a few bald eagles. Only if you look very closely in the right places will you see one of the most important birds on Long Island: the piping plover, a tiny shorebird unique to North America that has been considered threatened since 1986.

Atlantic Coast Piping Plovers

Piping plovers are small migratory shorebirds with white and sandy coloring that nearly camouflages them in their beach surroundings. The Atlantic Coast breeding population was listed as a federally threatened species in 1986 and are considered endangered within the state of New York. Their entire Atlantic Coast New York population is concentrated on Long Island beaches, where they make their nests for the spring and summer and fortify themselves for their long journey south. As you’re reading this, hundreds of plovers are preparing for their imminent migration to their wintering grounds in far-off tropical destinations like the Bahamas and Cuba.

Here you see an adult and chick plover blend in with their surroundings, USFWS.

Piping plovers love sandy open spaces for their summer homes and thrive on the tiny invertebrates that colonize decaying vegetation known as wrack. But due to major habitat loss and disturbance from beach recreation, plover populations have grown precarious.

Long Island is a crucial site for plover protection and recovery.

Arverne, for instance, is a community on the very western part of the island where there was once no hope for plover reproduction. Now, this site is on track to support the Service’s recovery goal of 575 breeding pairs for the New York-New Jersey area. This success comes after years of dedicated efforts by community members, legislators, and scientists to protect the birds and their environment.

A beach in Arverne, a success story for piping plover recovery, USFWS.

Piping Plovers of the Great Lakes

 And while Long Island habitats like these have become hotspots for the plovers, the Long Island gang is not alone in the state of New York.

There is a Great Lakes piping plover population (say that 5 times fast) that is listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. The majority of Great Lakes birds nest in Michigan, but scattered pairs occur in other Great Lakes states including New York. This population went from a low of 12 pairs in 1990 to a high of 75 pairs in 2015, but it remains small enough to be vulnerable to shoreline development, public recreation, predators, human disturbance and extreme weather events.

In 2015, after a 30-year hiatus, Great Lakes piping plovers returned to nest in New York State on the eastern shore of Lake Ontario.

Assessing the health of the piping plover chicks on Sandy Island Beach State Park, USFWS.

This year there was another documented successful breeding pair that took up residence at Sandy Island Beach State Park in Pulaski, New York. Four plover chicks were reared and fledged while being closely monitored by conservation scientists. The New York State Office of Parks Recreation and Historic Preservation (Parks) designated a protected bird nesting area which allowed these plovers to have a safe place to nest and forage for food. Parks hired full time staff to educate beach goers as well as protect the plovers out on Sandy Island Beach.

Ways to Protect Plovers

 Ways we can help protect all populations of piping plovers is to continue to protect and conserve habitat. If carefully and thoughtfully planned, development can occur on shorelines without affecting nesting plovers or landowner enjoyment or access to the shoreline.

Keeping our distance from the chicks by walking in the water during a health survey, USFWS.

Invasive plants such as spotted knapweed, lime grass and phragmites rapidly take over and alter habitat along the shorelines and dunes, making it less desirable for nesting plovers. Removal of invasive plants each season will help maintain plover habitat.

As a beach goer there are some simple ways we can share the beach with piping plover adults and chicks and help them survive:

• Follow the guidance on signs and respect all areas fenced or posted for protection of wildlife.
• Watch these entertaining birds from a distance.
• If pets are permitted on beaches, keep them leashed and away from birds.
• Remove trash and food scraps, which attract animals that might eat piping plovers and their eggs.
• Do not feed animals on or near the beach. Keep your cats indoors.
• Volunteer as a piping plover monitor, ambassador, or educator on your local beach. Tell your friends and family how to help.

Starting in April, sites with proper nesting habitat are surveyed to locate nesting piping plovers. Once a nest is found it is protected by placing a wire enclosure over the nest. This provides protection from predators, while allowing the adult plovers to come and go for feeding. The entire nesting site is posted to inform people to keep their distance.

You can take initiative to help keep piping plovers safe and continue to allow this amazing migratory species to not only survive, but thrive.

This blog was written in partnership with Bret Serbin from the Long Island Field Office

 

We are what we eat: Scientists probe the potential effects of emerging contaminants

When contaminants get into the water system, some people might assume that standard water treatment techniques would make that water free from potential contamination.

The truth is, it is not that simple.

What happens when detergents, flavors, fragrances, hormones, medications, new pesticides, veterinary medicines, and other chemicals make their way into waterways of the Great Lakes Basin? Researchers are exploring these contaminants of emerging concern, or CECs, to help us better understand the potential impacts on wildlife and people.

For example, consider a commonly used over-the-counter pain reliever. Sunlight, temperature, pH or microbial activity will naturally break it down into different smaller compounds. Those smaller compounds, and the medication itself, are collectively termed “contaminants of emerging concern.”

Between the years of 2010 and 2014, our agency, the U.S Geologic Survey, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) set out to characterize emerging contaminants present in Great Lakes Tributaries.  From 2015 to the present investigations have focused on assessing hazards and impacts these contaminants have on fish and wildlife species.

Daniel Gefell, biologist for the USFWS, holding a Bowfin at one of the sampling sites, USFWS.

Funded by the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, collaborators sampled water, sediment, and fish populations from a variety of different Great Lakes field sites. In New York, field efforts were primarily focused in the Rochester area and in the North Country in the St. Lawrence river drainage.

The most consistently studied organism is fish, with few studies directed toward the toxic effects in freshwater mussels, freshwater aquatic plants, or other native aquatic species. Four approaches were taken to evaluate fish populations and the effects of emerging contaminants.

1)         Biologists measured over 200 sampling sites and found that many of these emerging contaminants are consistently present in the water and sediment within the Great Lakes Tributaries.  From this information, biologists determined which chemicals are most often detected and at what levels so they could mimic environmental conditions with laboratory studies.

2)         In the same places where CECs were found, wild fish populations were evaluated for indicators of poor health including changes in physical appearance and reproductive health.

Drawing blood from a fish to send in for CEC analysis, USFWS.

3)         Unexposed hatchery raised fish were caged and placed in the same areas where CECs were found and where wild fish were evaluated.  Hatchery fish were used because they were unexposed to CECs before the evaluation.  Biologists then compared hatchery fish to the wild fish to help determine the impacts of CECs on their health.

4)         Biologists looked at previous scientific publications of field and laboratory studies to take advantage of all the information we know about individual chemicals and their effects on fish. Biologists used the lab information to infer hazards to fish due to exposure of CECs.

So far, lab studies are confirming that many of the CECs have negative impacts on fish including mortality, developmental effects, and reduced reproductive capacity. Many studies have also confirmed that some CECs accumulate in fish.

Tumor on the mouth of a bullhead – Photo Credit Jo Ann Banda, USFWS.

What does it mean when other animals–or even people–eat those fish?

Not enough information is known yet to say for sure how eating fish living in a CEC rich environment could impact humans, but a study published in 2015 evaluated a large group of northeastern bats to determine if CECs could be found within those bat populations.

Have you ever heard of the phrase “you are what you eat”? That’s essentially what’s happening here.

Northeastern bats have a high metabolism, meaning they have to eat a lot of food! The bats are eating bugs, which may have lived in contaminated environments. In turn, eating a lot of insects could mean they have a higher likelihood of exposure to chemicals in the environment. The bugs are incorporating the contaminants into themselves from eating or living with exposure to these contaminants, and when the bats eat the bugs, the contaminants within the bugs are being incorporated into bat tissues.

The results of the 2015 study showed that CECs could be detected within the bats themselves. The CECs detected most frequently in samples were PBDEs (compounds used in flame retardants), salicylic acid, thiabendazole(a fungicide), and caffeine. Other compounds detected in at least 15% of bat samples were digoxigenin, ibuprofen, warfarin, penicillin V, testosterone, and N,N-diethyl-meta-toluamide (DEET), all of which are commonly used.

How do these contaminants make their way to bats? Well, we have some clues. When we dispose of household or personal items, or apply substances to our properties, they can make their way to streams. Insects accumulate them because they live in those areas, and then the bats feed on the insects.

Many of the CECs we are most concerned about were made to be biologically active in the human body (i.e. medications) and we know they work well because they made it into the marketplace. That information coupled with the fact that we know very little about the broader scope of CECs, besides lab studies, is troubling.

What this means for human health….we don’t know. A large number of people get their drinking water from the Great Lakes. Emerging contaminants have been found in some Great Lakes drinking water supplies.

These are complicated issues that warrant deeper exploration to determine the potential human and environmental health impacts as well as ways to help prevent the continued contamination of our environment.

We live in a world where these types of far-reaching health concerns have become prominent in our day to day lives. It is a stark reminder of the finite resources our world possesses and that the actions we take greatly impact not only our direct health and well-being, but the global health of all who inhabit the earth.

A plan of attack on invasive species

Kelly McDonald is a biological technician at the Lower Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office in New York. Photo credit: USFWS

Invasive species awareness and education is a critical part of fighting these foreign invaders. This week we are highlighting the intense work our biologists take on each day in their efforts to control the deadly spread of invasive species. Today we hear from Kelly McDonald, a biological technician with the aquatic invasive species team at the Lower Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office in New York.

 

In the quest to fight invasive species, timing can make all the difference in the world. If discovered too late, as many invasive species have already proven, their impact on ecological balance is devastating. But aquatic invasive species (AIS) crews at the Lower Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office are on the front lines to battle new invaders, executing a plan that would stop this trend before they have the chance get out of control.

Biologists pull a paired fyke net out of the upper Niagara River. The nets are set overnight in sample locations. Photo credit: USFWS

In partnership with other federal, state and non-government agencies, Service biologists have developed a system called Early Detection and Monitoring, or EDM, in an effort to prevent the ecological suffering that invasive species often cause when they spread unchecked. We are now using the EDM program as part of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative to keep invasive species from taking over the Great Lakes. Previously introduced invasive species such as zebra mussel and round goby have plagued the Great Lakes, causing negative biological impacts and hurting local economies.

One of the AIS crew members takes environmental DNA samples out in the field.  Environmental DNA uses genetics to look for invasive species in water samples. Photo credit: USFWS

 

So what is so special about this EDM program? While most invasive species control programs have focused on reacting to already established species, the EDM program takes a pro-active approach in its mission to seek out and detect new invaders before they take over. The earlier an infestation is discovered, the more feasible it is to eradicate and manage the species, preventing catastrophic damage.

The program, while still relatively young, is evolving and growing to best detect several different types of aquatic invasive species. The techniques we use in the program include a variety of field methods and cutting edge technology in order to cover as much biological ground as possible. We use sampling methods for invertebrates and fish, while also applying innovative genetics and GIS technology to search for invasive species.

Lab work is an important aspect of fighting invasive species. Here, we measure and count ichthyoplankton in preparation for genetic analysis. Photo credit: USFWS

While practicing the best sound-science possible, the team uses an ecosystem-based approach to determine where to collect samples. We take into consideration the populations of native species in the area, the proximity of human populations, types of aquatic habitats, and possible means of invasive species introduction. But all this data is not limited to just finding invasive species. The information we gather also provides needed baseline data for more in-depth projects down the road. For example, one aspect of the EDM program is mapping habitat using side-scan sonar to image the bottom of potential sample areas. Once complete, we then “ground truth” that data by bringing an underwater camera and a bottom sampler, called a Ponar, to confirm that the bottom habitat is mapped correctly. This information can be invaluable for native species spawning studies or potential restoration projects.

After spending time on the water, staff rinse down ichthyoplankton nets. They skim the top of the water to catch larval fish at night, when they rise to the top. Photo credit: USFWS

So far, we have not discovered any new invaders using the EDM program. But if we do, a rapid response could make all the difference between eradication and control, or trying to fight a losing battle. Typically these quick actions include a large coordinated effort between many partners to thoroughly sample the areas to determine the extent of the infestation, and plan an adaptive management strategy to best attack the species before it becomes a serious and harmful issue.