Many waterbird species utilize a diversity of aquatic habitats; however, with increasing anthropogenic needs tomanage water regimes there is global concern over impacts to waterbird populations. The federally threatened pipingplover (Charadrius melodus; hereafter plovers) is a shorebird that breeds in three habitat types in the Prairie PotholeRegion of North Dakota, South Dakota, and Canada: riverine sandbars; reservoir shorelines; and prairie wetlands. Watersurface areas of these habitats fluctuate in response to wet–dry periods; decreasing water surface areas exposeshorelines that plovers utilize for nesting. Climate varies across the region so when other habitats are unavailable forplover nesting because of flooding, prairie wetlands may periodically provide habitat. Over the last century, many ofthe wetlands used by plovers in the Prairie Pothole Region have been modified to receive water from consolidationdrainage (drainage of smaller wetlands into another wetland), which could eliminate shoreline nesting habitat. Weevaluated whether consolidation drainage and fuller wetlands have decreased plover presence in 32 wetlandshistorically used by plovers. We found that wetlands with more consolidation drainage in their catchment andwetlands that were fuller had a lower probability of plover presence. These results suggest that plovers could havehistorically used prairie wetlands during the breeding season but consolidation drainage, climate change, or both havereduced available shoreline habitat for plovers through increased water levels. Prairie wetlands, outside of some alkaliwetlands in the western portion of the region, are less studied as habitat for plovers when compared with river andreservoir shorelines. Our study suggests that these wetlands may have played a larger role in plover ecology thanpreviously thought. Wetland restoration and conservation, through the restoration of natural hydrology, may berequired to ensure that adequate habitat exists among the three habitat types in the face of existing or changingclimate and to ensure long-term plover conservation.
