A Rocha Portugal Observatory Report 2009-2010

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22 A Rocha Portugal Observatory Report 2009-2010 List of species (Bivalvia) + found just once; o - occasional (2-10); c - common (11-100); n - numerous (>100) Site 4a 5a 5b 6a 6b Species Month I II III I II III I II III I II III I II III 1. Abra alba o 2. Abra tenuis n n n c c c o c c o o o c c 3. Acanthocardium aculeata o o + 4. Anomia ephippium + o o o + o 5. Cardita calyculata o + 6. Cardium edule n c c n n n n c n o n o n n n 7. Chamelea gallina c o c c o c c c c o o o c 8. Chlamys varia o o o 9. Clausinella fasciata 10. Corbulla gibba + o 11. Digitaria digitaria o o o o o o 12. Donacilla cornea o o o o c o o o 13. Donax trunculus o o o o o 14. Donax vittatus o o + o o o 15. Ervilla castanea c c c c c n n c c c 16. Gastrana fragilis c + + + 17. Glycymeris glycymeris o o o o o 18. Irus irus o o 19. Laevicardium crassum + 20. Loripes lacteus n c c o c o c c c o o + o 21. Lucinella divaricata o 22. Lutraria lutraria o 23. Mytilus edulis o o + + 24. Mytilus galloprovincialis o + 25. Nucula nucleus + o 26. Nucula sp. o o 27. Nuculana pella + 28. Ostrea edulis o o o o 29. Paphia aurea + o o c o + c 30. Paphia rhomboides + o c c 31. Parvicardium exiguum o 32. Scrobicularia plana c o c o o + o o c o o c 33. Solen marginatus o 34. Spisula solida o o o c o o + 35. Spisula subtruncata + o o + 36. Striarca lactea c o o o o o o 37. Tapes decussatus c o o o c c c c c o o c c c 38. Tellina tenuis o + c o c c n n c c o 39. Venerupis senegaliensis + o o +
A Rocha Portugal Observatory Report 2009-2010 23 A STUDY OF THE KENTISH PLOVER, CHARADRIUS ALEXANDRINUS, IN THE RIA DE ALVOR Andrew Cole Introduction The Kentish Plover, Charadrius alexandrinus, is a geographically widespread wader which breeds in a range of different habitats (Cramp & Simmons, 1983). In Portugal there are an estimated 1,500 to 5,000 breeding pairs with 1,000 to 4,400 individuals over-wintering (Burfield, et al., 2004). There have been recent declines in Kentish Plover populations thought to be due to habitat changes and human disturbance. The declines have caused some small subpopulations to disappear, such as in Northern Spain (Norte & Ramos, 2004; Cramp & Simmons, 1983). The breeding of the Kentish Plover has been studied in many different habitats; inland saline lakes, alkaline grasslands, marshes and sandy beaches, although this last habitat has been studied less extensively (Norte & Ramos, 2004). In Portugal, however, sandy beaches are the most important natural habitat for breeding Kentish Plover, while salinas and fish farms are important man made habitats (Norte & Ramos, 2004; Rufino, et al., 1984). An important proportion of Kentish Plovers in Portugal are also found in non-estuarine habitats (Mendes, et al., 2008). Different techniques have been used when estimating the number of Kentish Plovers in a given area, ranging from the number of individuals to the number of pairs (Burfield, et al., 2004; Lorenzo & Emmerson, 1995). Because Kentish Plovers nest close together, territorial behaviour can be used to aid in the estimation of the number of territories in an area (Cramp & Simmons, 1983). Territories can be counted in addition to counting the number of individuals, juveniles and nests. This study was carried out on the Alvor Estuary in southern Portugal and studied Kentish Plovers in three distinct habitats; sand dunes, salinas and salt marshes. The study was undertaken during the 2010 breeding season and repeated the same methodology carried out in 2004 and 2005 (Hayden & Heleno, 2004; Hayden & Heleno, 2005; Sousa, et al., 2007). This facilitates across year comparisons, showing any long term trends in Kentish Plover numbers. Methods The research was carried out on the Alvor Estuary (37°07’57N 08°37’03W), a Natura 2000 site and the location of many studies carried out by A Rocha Portugal. Observations were carried out in five locations covering one marshland (Western Marsh, WM), two salt pans (Western Marsh Salinas, WMS; Odiaxere Salinas, OS) and two dune systems (Meia Praia, MP; Alvor Praia, AP). These five sites had been previously identified as encompassing the main habitat types of the estuary and the majority of known Kentish Plover breeding areas (Hayden & Heleno, 2005; Sousa, et al., 2007). Fieldwork was carried out in the breeding season in 2004, 2005 and 2010 following, as closely as possible, the same methodology (Hayden & Heleno, 2004). Each of the five sites was visited every three weeks from 30 March to 13 July; a total of five visits in both 2004 and 2005, and six visits in 2010. From a number of fixed observation points the location of every individual was recorded and the type of behaviour observed, with behaviour grouped into: ‘apparently non-territorial’, ‘territorial’, ‘sitting on a nest’, an ‘adult with juveniles’ and ‘juveniles’ on their own. ‘Juveniles’ or chicks were classified as very young, medium age and close to fledging, based on size and moult progress as classified by Hayden and
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A Rocha Portugal Observatory Report 2009-2010

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