The Plover's Plight
Author: Julia Currier
Faculty Supervisor: Jaime A. Chaves
Department: Biology
Located on the west end of Crissy Field Beach in San Francisco, the Crissy Field Wildlife Protection Area acts as an important safe haven for many seabird and shorebird species including the threatened Western Snowy Plover (Charadrius alexandrinus nivosus). The Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA) established this fenced-in protection zone to reduce repeated disturbances that negatively impact the C. nivosus’s energy stores such as off-leash dogs and kites. Among other marine invertebrate species, juvenile Pacific mole crabs (Emerita analoga) are a large part of the Western Snowy Plover’s diet. There has been a notable decline in E. analoga populations in addition to a decline in snowy plover populations on Crissy Field Beach. This study seeks to discover if there is a correlation between the decline in E. analoga and C. nivosus populations on the west end of Crissy Field Beach in San Francisco by comparing historical population data from resources such as iNaturalist, eBird, and the Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary LIMPETS program. This work could help steer future conservation efforts of the Western Snowy Plover by improving Pacific mole crab populations to directly increase snowy plover populations.