Waterbird Monitoring Protocol for Cape Cod National Seashore and Other Coastal Parks, Refuges, and Protected Areas
Erwin RM, Conway CJ, Hadden SW, Hatfield JS, Melvin SM. 2003. Waterbird Monitoring Protocol for Cape Cod National Seashore and Other Coastal Parks, Refuges, and Protected Areas. Cape Cod National Seashore. Wellfleet, MA
The National Park Service (hereafter NPS) and other land management agencies should be actively concerned and involved in monitoring and managing waterbird resources because: (1) these species have strong Federal and State mandates for management and protection, especially the species that are considered Federally Threatened or Endangered such as Piping Plovers (Charadrius melodus) and Roseate Terns (Sterna dougallii) or State Endangered, Threatened, or Species of Special Concern (e.g. Least Tern, Sterna antillarum, Least Bittern, Ixobrychus exilis, or Northern Harrier, Circus cyaneus); (2) they provide major recreational and aesthetic benefits to the public; (3) some species may be effective as biomonitors of habitat quality and change (for example, their tissues, eggs, or young can be used as contaminant bioassays); and (4) there is historical significance to certain waterbird resources. Some of the earliest American conservation and bird monitoring efforts focused on Cape Cod's Common Tern (Sterna hirundo) populations, a landmark effort headed by the Austins (lands that are now within the national seashore boundaries) beginning in the late 1920s.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Erwin, R; Conway, Courtney; Hadden, Steven; Hatfield, Jeff; Melvin, Scott
- Date of Issue
- 2003-01
- Publisher
- Cape Cod National Seashore
- Units
- CACO
- Keywords
- Birds, Cape Cod National Seashore MA, Monitoring, Protocols, Waterbirds