Sanderling Plan - Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network

• Obtain commitments/agreements from key decision-makers at important sites to change
practices (e.g,. human disturbance management, pollution control) to benefit shorebirds.
By 2013
• Put strategies in place for purchasing or otherwise permanently protecting specific North
or South American sites identified as being important (but currently unprotected).
EVALUATION
Although much remains unknown about Sanderling ecology and population dynamics,
we must act to protect this species before all questions are answered; otherwise, conservation
may become unattainable. However, actions taken with insufficient knowledge may result in an
inefficient investment of resources for the amount of conservation gained. Therefore, it is
essential that conservation and management actions have well-defined, measureable objectives
and are implemented in a hypothesis-driven, adaptive framework to allow for iterative evaluation
and adjustment (Schulte and Brown 2006). As specific research questions are addressed, their
results will help steer resource and land managers towards the most effective strategies for
conservation.
Across the Sanderling’s range, the organizations and agencies responsible for managing
Sanderling habitat should set objectives to increase or maintain the number of Sanderlings using
their managed lands. Specific goals will vary by location. Hypotheses should be generated to test
specific management actions (such as habitat restoration, beach closures, etc.), and management
actions should be implemented in a way that enables testing of additional hypotheses. Such an
approach is an iterative process, in which management and conservation actions are continually
re-evaluated and adapted, so that explicit objectives may be met most efficiently (Schulte and
Brown 2006). This process should be applied to quantify the effects of beach closures, habitat
restoration, habitat alteration, and other actions. Although in many cases this approach remains
an ideal rather than standard practice, it is nevertheless a crucial investment tool for
understanding how to manage efficiently and effectively. Meanwhile, the continued commitment
to multiple case studies can provide some insights into the apparent responses of wildlife to
certain management actions.
WHSRN – Sanderling Conservation Plan, February 2010, v1.1 68