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In this theoretically grounded mixed-methods study, we explored the motivational values of voluntourists and examined the perceived impacts of voluntourism programmes. Surveys suggested that volunt...

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Halimubieke, Naerhulan et al., When individuals breed more than once, parents are faced with the choice of whether to re-mate with their old partner or divorce and select a new mate. Evolutionary theory predicts that, following successful reproduction with a given partner, that partner should be retained for future reproduction. However, recent work in a polygamous bird, has instead indicated that successful parents divorced more often than failed breeders (Halimubieke et al. in Ecol Evol 9:10734–10745, 2019), because one parent can beneft by mating with a new partner and reproducing shortly after divorce. Here we investigate whether successful breeding predicts divorce using data from 14 well-monitored populations of plovers (Charadrius spp.). We show that successful nesting leads to divorce, whereas nest failure leads to retention of the mate for follow-up breeding. Plovers that divorced their partners and simultaneously deserted their broods produced more ofspring within a season than parents that retained their mate. Our work provides a counterpoint to theoretical expectations that divorce is triggered by low reproductive success, and supports adaptive explanations of divorce as a strategy to improve individual reproductive success. In addition, we show that temperature may modulate these costs and benefts, and contribute to dynamic variation in patterns of divorce across plover breeding systems

Financial incentives may aid in conservation if they broaden the numbers and types of landowners who engage in protection and conservation management on private land. We examined the hypotheses that financial incentives (1) encourage participation of people with lower autonomous motivation towards conservation and lower self-transcendence (i.e. benevolence and universalism) values compared to participants in similar programmes without such incentives; (2) enable more on-ground works and activities; and (3) enhance feelings of competence and autonomy with respect to conservation actions. We surveyed 193 landowners in private land conservation programmes in Tasmania, only some of whom had received financial incentives. All of these landowners had high self-transcendence values, and autonomous motivation towards the environment. Owners of large properties and participants with higher self-enhancement values, lower self-transcendence values and lower autonomous motivation towards the environment were slightly more likely to engage in incentive programmes. However, people who received funding did not report more conservation actions than people in programmes without incentives. Owners of larger properties receiving incentives reported fewer conservation actions. Thus financial incentives probably recruited a few into nature conservation who may not have otherwise engaged, but did not result in a more intensive level of conservation management. Our results caution against the blanket-use of incentives amongst landowners who may already have values and motivations consistent with environmental action, and point to the need for further research on the socio-psychological characteristics of landowners, to examine the contextual factors that influence the effects of conservation payments.

In the 1980s, agricultural development organizations began promoting permaculture, an agroecological approach that emphasizes local autonomy, through training programmes in the developing world. Few assessments have measured the effectiveness of such projects. Here we surveyed and interviewed small-scale farmers to assess the perceived impacts of a Canadian permaculture non-governmental organization’s (NGO) project in Butula, Western Kenya. Two types of projects are evaluated and compared: community projects (CPs) at six primary schools, and an intensive two-week permaculture design certification (PDC) programme. Our results suggest that both PDC and CP participants felt that they had benefited from the projects. However, PDC participants developed a more comprehensive understanding of permaculture, felt empowered and frequently related permaculture to their own traditional cultural values whereas CP participants often misunderstood permaculture, felt frustrated by the limited immediate economic b...

We extended the research on autonomy-supportive teaching to universities and examined the relationships between autonomous motivation to teach and autonomy-supportive teaching. Autonomously motivated university instructors were more autonomy-supportive instructors. The freedom to make pedagogical decisions was negatively correlated with external motivation towards teaching. Participants indicated that large class sizes, high teaching loads, publication pressures, and a culture that undervalues effective undergraduate teaching undermined both student learning and their feelings of autonomy. Together these results presents a picture of a subset of university instructors who remained autonomously motivated to teach, irrespective of barriers they experienced from university administrators or policies. publishedVersion

Aim: Parental care improves the survival of offspring and therefore has a major impact on reproductive success. It is increasingly recognized that coordinated biparental care is necessary to ensure the survival of offspring in hostile environments, but little is known about the influence of environmental fluctuations on parental cooperation. Assessing the impacts of environmental stochasticity, however, is essential for understanding how populations will respond to climate change and the associated increasing frequencies of extreme weather events. Here we investigate the influence of environmental stochasticity on biparental incubation in a cosmopolitan ground-nesting avian genus. Location: Global. Methods: We assembled data on biparental care in 36 plover populations (Charadrius spp.) from six continents, collected between 1981 and 2012. Using a space-for-time approach we investigate how average temperature, temperature stochasticity (i.e. year-to-year variation) and seasonal temperature variation during the breeding season influence parental cooperation during incubation. Results: We show that both average ambient temperature and its fluctuations influence parental cooperation during incubation. Male care relative to female care increases with both mean ambient temperature and temperature stochasticity. Local climatic conditions explain within-species population differences in parental cooperation, probably reflecting phenotypic plasticity of behaviour. Main conclusions: The degree of flexibility in parental cooperation is likely to mediate the impacts of climate change on the demography and reproductive behaviour of wild animal populations.

In conservation projects in and around protected areas (PAs), a suite of policy instruments are used to promote conservation behavior in local people. Few studies have related psychological research on motivational values to conservation in PAs. We conducted a systematic review of 120 peer-reviewed articles to assess the relative frequencies of policy instruments that aimed to foster intrinsic versus extrinsic motivations to conserve. We examined how the type of motivation engendered by the instrument (i.e., intrinsic or extrinsic motivation and based on the description of how the project was designed and implemented) influenced the ecological, economic, and social success of the project. We assessed the success of the project in only the case studies that included a quantitative or qualitative analysis of success. Projects designed to foster at least one intrinsically motivating instrument were 3 times more likely to meet socioeconomic or ecological goals. Although certain types of instruments such as payments or fines tended to be based on extrinsic motivators more often than education or monitoring programs, several successful projects involving payments or fines were linked to intrinsic motivation in the local community. Thus, our results suggest that rather than debating the relative merits of specific types of policy instruments, conservationists may have more success by focusing on how different motivators, suited to specific contexts, can better empower local communities to conserve. Broadly, our results suggest the current emphasis on social justice and well-being of local communities is a positive step toward protecting the world's remaining biodiversity.

While the economic and ecological benefits of private land conservation (PLC) programmes are well known, their contribution to socio-psychological well-being is less understood. Thus we applied the concept of basic psychological needs (BPN) from self-determination theory (SDT) to document these well-being impacts and understand the experience of landowners engaged in PLC programmes in Tasmania, Australia. We developed and administered an online survey (n = 193) that adapted items from SDT scales and used SDT as a framework to code data derived from semi-structured landowner interviews (n = 60). The interviews explored the ways in which participation in PLC supported the three basic needs of autonomy (the need to act according to personal values and desires), competence (the need for perceived efficacy), and relatedness (caring relationships and social belonging). PLC programmes supported autonomy by helping landowners align private land management decisions with deeply held environmental values. These programmes fostered competence and relatedness by developing trust and shared purpose amongst the people engaged in PLC, enabling personal and social learning, and enhancing life purpose and belonging. The scale and longevity of PLC programmes, and thus, the ecological and economic benefits flowing from them, may be increased through attending to, documenting and communicating the well-being benefits of participation.

Private land conservation (PLC) programs often provide financial incentives to motivate and enable landowners to engage in conservation. However, few studies have explored the psychological and management impacts of these incentives. We interviewed 50 landowners in Tasmania, Australia who were engaged in incentivised or nonincentivised PLC programs. Landowners who received incentives were paid to either protect private land through creating a conservation covenant (a legal deed restricting land uses) or engage in a specific stewardship activity (e.g., planting trees). Most landowners who received payments to create covenants stated that they would not have done so without the payment. However, landowners, including those who have purchased or inherited covenanted properties, also indicated that neither these payments, nor the conservation covenant made any significant impact on how they managed the land. Covenant incentives did not improve attitudes towards conservation or conservationists. In contrast, most landowners receiving stewardship payments reported that these payments enabled the conservation actions they valued, helped build relationships and promoted favorable attitudes towards conservation. Contextual factors that influenced the impact of financial incentives on conservation action included the quality of relationship between landowners and stewardship officers, availability of private funds for conservation, and multigenerational aspirations. Our research identifies some of the intended and unintended impacts of financial incentives and describes how a fuller understanding of the motivations, identities, and aspirations of landowners may lead to the design of more socially resilient and ecologically effective PLC programs.

For many small-scale, tropical reef fisheries, landed catch may be the only data that can be monitored to assess the impacts of management. This is true for seahorses Hippocampus comes that are obtained as part of a multi-species fishery in the Philippines. Here, because sea- horses are locally rare and depleted, it is difficult to attain large enough sample sizes to detect changes over time using underwater surveys. We assessed changes in seahorse sales at 2 sites, from 1996 and 2005 respectively to 2010. The study period covered local and national conserva- tion initiatives that could affect seahorses and dependent fisheries: establishment of marine reserves (1998 onwards), a community-led minimum size limit (MSL: 2002 to 2004) and a national ban on seahorse fishing (from 2004). The MSL appeared to lead to increased sizes of seahorses in trade, as hoped, while the national ban led, perversely, to more fishers selling seahorses. Declines in overall take after 2004 or 2007 (depending on the site) is likely linked to declining seahorse pop- ulations rather than reduced effort, especially when one considers the increased number of fishers and the price per seahorse. It is notable that communities decided on the MSL, whereas the gov- ernment imposed the ban on capturing seahorses. In this small-scale, multi-species fishery, moni- toring a wide range of variables intensively over a relatively long time scale allowed us to identify key differences between small-scale and industrial fisheries management, and also to document the biological and social consequences of management action for a depleted, threatened species.

Concerns regarding the sustainability of the seahorseHippocampusspp. trade led to their listing on CITES Appendix II in 2002, with implementation in 2004. In 2007 we interviewed wholesale traders of seahorses in Hong Kong, China, seeking indications of the effects of the CITES listing on the seahorse trade. We cross-validated traders’ perspectives with government trade statistics (1998–2007) from Hong Kong and Taiwan. We also compared these data with trade statistics for pipefish, which are related species with similar medicinal uses but are not CITES-listed. Both the interviews and government statistics indicated reduced volumes of seahorses traded through Hong Kong, changes in source countries, and price increases post-implementation. Traders suggested that these changes were largely a result of the CITES listing. However, data indicate that other factors such as shifts in domestic policies and local demand may also have affected the trade. By cross-validating the perspectives of local stakeholders with trade statistics in a wildlife trading hub we were able to explore hypotheses on the local and global impacts of CITES. Such approaches are especially important for CITES-listed species because often there is no single data source that is complete and wholly reliable.

SUMMARYIn marine environments, charismatic or economically valued taxa have been used as flagships to garner local support or international funds for the establishment and management of marine protected areas (MPAs). Seahorses (Hippocampusspp.) are frequently used as flagship species to help engender support for the creation of small community-managed no-take MPAs in the central Philippines. It is thus vital to determine whether such MPAs actually have an effect on seahorse abundance, reproductive status and size. A survey of seahorses inside and immediately adjacent to eight MPAs, and in four distant unprotected fishing areas, showed these MPAs had no significant effect on seahorse densities; although densities in and near MPAs were higher than in the distant fished sites, seahorse densities did not change over time. Seahorse size did show a marginal reserve effect, with slightly larger seahorses being found inside MPAs as compared to the distant unprotected fishing areas, but, in general, MPAs had little impact on seahorse size. Although MPAs may eliminate local fishing pressure, they may not reduce other threats such as pollution or destructive fishing outside the reserves. Other recovery tools, such as ecosystem-based management, habitat restoration and limits on destructive fishing outside of MPAs, may be necessary to rebuild seahorse populations. The effects of MPAs depend on species, as well as conditions outside the reserve boundaries. MPA management objectives must thus be clearly and realistically articulated to the communities, especially if support for an MPA was derived at least partly to conserve a particular flagship species.

Systematic approaches to site selection for marine protected areas (MPAs) are often favored over opportunistic approaches as a means to meet conservation objectives efficiently. In this study, we compared analytically the conservation value of these two approaches. We locate this study in Danajon Bank, central Philippines, where many MPAs were established opportunistically based on community preference, with few if any contributions from biophysical data. We began by identifying the biophysical data that would have been available when the first MPA was created in Danajon Bank (1995). We next used these data with the reserve selection software Marxan to identify MPAs that covered the same area as is protected under the current set of MPAs (0.32% of the total study area) and that would protect the greatest number of conservation targets at the lowest cost. We finally compared the conservation value of the current MPAs to the value of those selected by Marxan. Because of the dearth of biophysical data available in 1995 and the small area currently under protection, Marxan identified multiple configurations of MPAs that would protect the same percentage of conservation targets, with little differentiation among sites. Further, we discovered that the costs of obtaining and analyzing these data to be used for conservation planning would have been large relative to resources typically available to conservation planners in developing countries. Finally, we found that the current set of MPAs protected more ecological features than would be expected by chance, although not as many as could be protected using a systematic approach. Our results suggest that an opportunistic approach can be a valuable component of conservation planning, especially when biophysical data are sparse and community acceptance is a critical factor affecting the success of an MPA.

Although research has explored how in-class pedagogical practices and narrative feedback affect student engagement and motivation, questions remain on the impact of grading systems (i.e. multi-inte...

1. Well-enforced partial or total no-fishing zones (collectively known as marine protected areas, or MPAs) can help restore degraded coral reefs and enhance fish populations. 2. A comparison was made of community perceptions of ecological changes in an MPA with concurrent scientific data on these changes in the same MPA. Such analyses are particularly important in community-based MPAs where local support is a key determinant of ecological success. 3. The no-take MPA in question was initially launched in partnership with the community in 1995 and formalized in 1998. The perceptions data come from interviews with community members in 1999 and 2004, the biological data come from underwater visual censuses of the MPA from 1998 to 2004. 4. Community members perceived more fish within the MPA and slight increases in catch outside the MPA. In contrast, fish censuses showed a high degree of stochastic variation and only minor increases in fish abundance, size and diversity in and around the MPA between 1998 and 2004. 5. Possible explanations for these discrepancies include different temporal, spatial or species frames of reference and/or limitations to the biological survey technique. Other options include wishful thinking, external influences, a desire to please, or confounding with other benefits. 6. This study demonstrates some of the strengths and weaknesses of community perceptions and biological data. In order to improve our understanding about the changes that occur over time in an MPA and engender community support for the long-term viability of MPAs, it is important to develop diverse and efficient monitoring schemes. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

During the last decade, forest certification has gained momentum as a market-based conservation strategy in tropical forest countries. Certification has been promoted to enhance forest management in countries where governance capacities are insufficient to adequately manage natural resources and enforce pertinent regulations, given that certification relies largely on non-governmental organisations and private businesses. However, at present there are few tropical countries with large areas of certified forests. In this study, we conducted semi-structured stakeholder interviews in Ecuador and Bolivia to identify key framework conditions that influence the costs and benefits for companies to switch from conventional to certified forestry operations. Bolivia has a much greater relative area under certified forest management than Ecuador and also significantly more certified producers. The difference in the success of certification between both countries is particularly notable because Bolivia is a poorer country with more widespread corruption, and is landlocked with less access to export routes. Despite these factors, several characteristics of the Bolivian forest industry contribute to lower additional costs of certified forest management compared to Ecuador. Bolivia has stronger government enforcement of forestry regulations a fact that increases the cost of illegal logging, management units are larger, and vertical integration in the process chain from timber extraction to markets is higher. Moreover, forestry laws in Bolivia are highly compatible with certification requirements, and the government provides significant tax benefits to certified producers. Results from this study suggest that certification can be successful in countries where governments have limited governance capacity. However, the economic incentives for certification do not only arise from favourable market conditions. Certification is likely to be more successful where governments enforce forestry laws, provide financial incentives for certified forestry, and provide land tenure security, and where large-scale and vertically integrated forestry operations are commercially feasible. For this reason, at present, there are few developing countries where forest certification is likely to achieve widespread success.

Beach tourism can lead to increased levels of human disturbance and cause changes in habitat structure that may affect wildlife. This article reviews the range of impacts of beach tourism on wildlife, describes the expansion of tourism in Thailand, and summarizes the results and management recommendations from a study on Malaysian plovers (Charadrius peronii) breeding in the Gulf of Thailand. This region has experienced tremendous growth in beach tourism over the last decade. The results suggest that human disturbance, tourism-related changes in vegetation behind beaches, and narrowing of beaches influence habitat availability and breeding success. The article concludes with recommendations to assess and mitigate the impacts of tourism development on breeding tropical shorebirds.

In shorebirds, the prevalence of successive clutching and types of associated breeding strategies differ among species, environments and individuals. Although several studies have examined successive clutching behaviour in holarctic species, little research has been conducted in the tropics. To assess the full range of reproductive strategies and better understand breeding constraints in tropical environments, we characterised successive clutching behaviour in 54 and 79 colour-banded Malaysian Plovers Charadrius peronii over two years in the Gulf of Thailand. We also examined monthly changes in clutch size, clutch volume, prey availability and breeding success because temporal variability in breeding conditions can affect the prevalence, timing of, and parental role-division between successive clutches. Short intervals between clutches, successive monogamy, high within-season site fidelity, double-brooding, and complete biparental care were general characteristic of successive clutching behaviour. We did not detect any declines in clutch size, clutch volume, prey availability and reproductive success during the course of the breeding season. For Malaysian Plovers, the stable and progressively favourable prey supply and weather conditions, lack of migration, and intense competition for breeding habitats may have contributed to a breeding system constrained more by habitat availability than by time. In these environments, pairs may retain mates and breed multiple times during the long breeding season.

Recent proposals to compensate developing countries for reducing emissions from deforestation (RED) under forthcoming climate change mitigation regimes are receiving increasing attention. Here we demonstrate that if RED credits were traded on international carbon markets, even moderate decreases in deforestation rates could generate billions of Euros annually for tropical forest conservation. We also discuss the main challenges for a RED mechanism that delivers real climatic benefits. These include providing sufficient incentives while only rewarding deforestation reductions beyond business-as-usual scenarios, addressing risks arising from forest degradation and international leakage, and ensuring permanence of emission reductions. Governance may become a formidable challenge for RED because some countries with the highest RED potentials score poorly on governance indices. In addition to climate mitigation, RED funds could help achieve substantial co-benefits for biodiversity conservation and human development. However, this will probably require targeted additional support because the highest biodiversity threats and human development needs may exist in countries that have limited income potentials from RED. In conclusion, how successfully a market-based RED mechanism can contribute to climate change mitigation, conservation and development will strongly depend on accompanying measures and carefully designed incentive structures involving governments, business, as well as the conservation and development communities.

Resort development and coastal beach erosion have led to declines in beach breeding habitat for the near-threatened Malaysian Plover (Charadrius peronii) in the Gulf of Thailand. Semi-natural saltflats may provide supplementary nesting areas. We compared the environmental conditions, incubation behaviour and nesting success of plovers breeding on sandy beaches and saltflats in Thailand. In total we monitored 21 and nine nesting attempts in 2004 (beaches and saltflats, respectively) and 26 and 22 nesting attempts in 2005. Despite higher air temperatures in the saltflats (P < 0.0001), we detected no significant differences in nest attendance (P = 0.542 and P = 0.885 for 2004 and 2005, respectively), number of incubator changes between parents (P = 0.776 and P = 0.823) or number of parental nest departures (P = 0.087 and P = 0.712) during 120 incubation observations on 55 nests. There was also no difference in hatching success between beaches in 2004 (beach = 0.65, saltflat = 0.55; P = 0.692, n = 26) and 2005 (beach = 0.46, saltflat = 0.35; P = 0.539, n = 41). These results suggest that saltflats may provide nesting habitat for Malaysian Plovers and could help enhance overall hatching success rates by reducing nesting densities on beaches. Although there are few remaining intact saltflats in coastal Thailand, there are currently vast areas of abandoned tiger prawn aquaculture ponds that could be rehabilitated into saltflats at relatively low cost. Given the large area of disused aquaculture ponds throughout Thailand and South-East Asia and the substantial human pressure on coastal habitats, there could be considerable conservation benefits to the restoration of aquaculture ponds.

Shorebirds show high variability in parental care strategies among species, populations, and environments. Research on shorebird parental sex roles can help to understand the selective pressures that shape avian breeding strategies. Although several studies have examined parental care strategies in holarctic shorebirds, very little research has been conducted in the tropics. Here we examined parental sex roles during territorial defence, incubation, and chick-rearing in Malaysian plovers Charadrius peronii in the Gulf of Thailand. The costs and gains of particular parental behaviour may vary between the sexes and can be affected differently by environmental factors and chick age. Thus we also examined how temperature, prey availability, chick or embryo age, and time of day affected parental sex roles. Males spent more time defending territories and were further away from chicks whereas females spent more time incubating eggs. Both adults contributed to chick defence during disturbances throughout the entire chick-rearing period. Total nest attendance (sum of both sexes) was affected by the modelled temperature of an unincubated egg. Prey availability, embryo age, and time of day had no effect on total nest attendance. Males adjusted incubation effort in response to temperature only at high temperatures (>36°C) whereas females adjusted nest attendance at high and low temperatures. Chick age had no effect on the proportion of time adults spent defending territories or responding to disturbance. Pairs were more likely to fledge chicks if both the male and female spent more time defending territories. For Malaysian plovers, high cooperation between the sexes during parental care may help to achieve high quality breeding territories, maintain body conditions during hot days, protect offspring from predators and attacking conspecifics, and contribute to high lifetime reproductive success.

In conservation projects in and around protected areas (PAs), a suite of policy instruments are used to promote conservation behavior in local people. Few studies have related psychological research on motivational values to conservation in PAs. We conducted a systematic review of 120 peer-reviewed articles to assess the relative frequencies of policy instruments that aimed to foster intrinsic versus extrinsic motivations to conserve. We examined how the type of motivation engendered by the instrument (i.e., intrinsic or extrinsic motivation and based on the description of how the project was designed and implemented) influenced the ecological, economic, and social success of the project. We assessed the success of the project in only the case studies that included a quantitative or qualitative analysis of success. Projects designed to foster at least one intrinsically motivating instrument were 3 times more likely to meet socioeconomic or ecological goals. Although certain types of instruments such as payments or fines tended to be based on extrinsic motivators more often than education or monitoring programs, several successful projects involving payments or fines were linked to intrinsic motivation in the local community. Thus, our results suggest that rather than debating the relative merits of specific types of policy instruments, conservationists may have more success by focusing on how different motivators, suited to specific contexts, can better empower local communities to conserve. Broadly, our results suggest the current emphasis on social justice and well-being of local communities is a positive step toward protecting the world's remaining biodiversity.

Waders leave nests and conduct distractive displays when approached by people. The time taken for waders to return to nests depends on numerous factors that affect the costs and benefits of incubation and anti-predator behavior. Understanding this trade-off may help assess the reproductive consequences of different nest return times and identify variables to consider in breeding disturbance studies. We subjected 73 Malaysian plover ( Charadrius peronii ) nests to standardized human disturbances and an analysis of covariance was used to determine how weather, time of day, embryonic age, weeks into breeding season and nest attendance (proportion of time adults incubated nests) influence nest return times. Egg temperatures were estimated using a regression model that predicted the temperature inside unshaded eggs from air temperature, cloud cover and time of day ( r 2 = 0.88). We assessed the relationship between nest return times and hatch success. Plovers returned to nests faster at higher modeled egg temperature ( P = 0.010), in the morning ( P = 0.003), if they had younger clutches ( P = 0.038), and if they had high nest attendance prior to the disturbance ( P = 0.015). Pairs that returned to nests faster had lower hatch success ( P = 0.021). This may be because pairs that spend more time distracting humans may also do so for predators. These results suggest that short nest return times may not indicate low fitness costs of disturbance. The thermal and predation environment in addition to nest return times should be taken into account when assessing the deleterious effects of human disturbance.

Summary 1 Increased human pressure on coastal habitats has contributed to the global population decline in waders. Although coastal development can be particularly rapid and poorly regulated in tropical countries, very little research has been conducted to assess the extent of these impacts in the tropics. 2 We examined the potential effects of human disturbance and tourism-related habitat changes on Malaysian plovers breeding on sandy tropical beaches. 3 In 2004 and 2005, we monitored 54 and 79 pairs of Malaysian plovers in the Gulf of Thailand, and used logistic habitat models to identify factors influencing habitat selection and breeding success. These models included variables affected by anthropogenic changes such as human disturbance and vegetation structure, as well as other natural factors such as prey availability and predator densities. We also assessed causes of nest failure and conducted 372 h of behavioural observations to identify mechanisms that relate important habitat variables to plover productivity. 4 Plovers selected wide beaches with low levels of human disturbance that had a low percentage cover of tall trees backing the beach. The likelihood of hatching clutches and fledging chicks was greater in territories with low levels of human disturbance, low conspecific density and high percentage cover of 0·5–5 m tall vegetation backing the beach. 5 Nest monitoring and behavioural observations suggested that heightened vulnerability to tidal inundation, trampling, heat stress, predators and territorial conflicts may have contributed to the results from the habitat models. 6 We conclude that tourism development on Thai beaches affects both habitat availability and productivity of Malaysian plovers by enhancing beach erosion rates, converting medium vegetation into tall monocultures and intensifying human disturbance. These direct effects of habitat loss may be exacerbated by density-dependent reductions in productivity. 7 Synthesis and application. This study demonstrates the value of combining three approaches: habitat modelling, nest monitoring and behavioural observations, for identifying impacts of anthropogenic changes on breeding birds and assigning ultimate causes. In understudied regions where there are pressing threats to wildlife, this approach may focus research efforts so that the necessary data can be obtained rapidly in order to assess and predict human impacts.

The extent of a shorebird’s response to a human disturbance depends on the associated energetic or predation risk costs. These costs are influenced by a suite of environmental variables, operating at several temporal and spatial scales. Here, I measured prey availability, distance to forest cover, cloud cover, and wind speed, in addition to human and shorebird densities to examine how human presence affected habitat choice, relative to these environmental variables, at Pachena Beach, British Columbia. In a standardised experiment, I also approached feeding flocks to determine if environmental factors influenced the time take for shorebirds to resume feeding. Binary logistic models suggested that people did not displace shorebirds. Instead, shorebirds were preferentially selecting areas further from forest cover that may have had lower predation risk. The time taken for shorebirds to resume feeding after a human disturbance was greater in the morning and in areas of low prey availability. This suggests that shorebirds respond more to a disturbance when the foraging cost is lower indicating that behavioural responses may not necessarily reflect the potential fitness costs of human disturbance.

Animals may alter their foraging behaviour in the presence of humans because they perceive humans as potential predators. In this study I determined whether people caused shorebirds to reduce feeding rates at a stopover site in coastal British Columbia, Canada. I controlled for prey density and flock size because these variables may influence both the foraging rates as well as the effect of human disturbance on feeding efficiency. Semipalmated plovers decreased feeding rates when there were more people on the beach (multiple regression: F1,15=5.86, b=0.59, P=0.029, R2=37.6%). For least sandpipers, the effect of human densities on feeding rates depended on flock size (F1,21=5.97, P=0.023) and amphipod availability (F1,21=4.98, P=0.037). This study demonstrated the importance of measuring subtle behavioural changes in foraging rates along with key ecological variables in order to assess the true impact of human disturbance on migratory shorebirds.

Summary 1Animals should choose the feeding habitat that allows them to meet their energy requirements while minimizing predation risk, but as weather becomes more severe, animals may choose riskier, but more profitable, feeding habitats. 2At the Tyninghame estuary, Scotland, Redshanks (Tringa totanus) chose to feed on either a mudflat or saltmarsh. Energy intake rates were 23% higher and thermoregulatory costs were 40% lower on the saltmarsh, but predation risk from sparrowhawks (Accipiter nisus) was 21 times higher. 3The investigation tested whether the riskier habitat was chosen only when weather conditions were such that individuals were unable to meet their energy requirements in the safer habitat, and how any additional effects of weather affected this choice. 4When starvation risk increased on the mudflat, more Redshanks selected the saltmarsh where energy budgets alone accounted for 22% of the variation in habitat choice. Temperature and wind may have had smaller additional, independent effects that were probably related to their effects on vigilance behaviour and predator detection. 5The results show that weather may be crucial in determining habitat choice through its direct effects on starvation and predation risk, and the importance of considering a wide range of weather conditions when determining habitat requirements.

Intensive black tiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon) aquaculture ponds have replaced significant areas of coastal wetlands throughout tropical Asia. Few studies have assessed potential impacts on avian foraging habitats. At Khao Sam Roi Yod National Park, Thailand, seminatural wetlands have been converted to either shrimp ponds or to salinization ponds that provide saline water for shrimp aquaculture. Although shorebirds cannot feed in aquaculture ponds, hypersaline ponds can provide productive foraging areas. Thus, the overall impact of the shrimp industry on shorebirds depends partly on the relative quality of the salt ponds compared to seminatural wetlands. In this study, we examined wintering shorebird use of tidal (N = 5 sites) and supratidal areas (four wetland sites, four salt pond sites) and compared the shorebird community (14 species), prey availability, profitability, and disturbance rates between wetlands and salt ponds. Two shorebird species fed in higher densities in wetlands, whereas seven species were more abundant in salt ponds. Large juvenile fish and dragonfly larvae were more abundant in wetlands, whereas there were more small Chironomid midge and fly larvae in salt ponds. We conclude that salt ponds might provide higher-quality foraging habitats compared to wetlands for small shorebirds species because of the abundance of small larvae. However, the shrimp aquaculture industry reduces habitat availability for shorebirds feeding on larger prey. This study demonstrates a comprehensive, multispecies approach to assess the impacts of a large-scale change in coastal habitats for wintering shorebirds.

The results of underwater visual fish censuses (UVC) could be affected by fish changing their behavior in response to the snorkeler or diver conducting the survey. We used an underwater video camera to assess how fish abundance, family richness, and community composition were affected by the presence of snorkelers (n = 12) and self-contained underwater breathing apparatus (SCUBA) divers (n = 6) on a coral reef in Thailand. The total number of families, abundance of some fish families, and overall species composition showed significant differences before and during snorkeling disturbances. We did not detect significant and consistent changes to these parameters in the presence of a SCUBA diver; however, this could be a result of lower statistical power. We suggest that the use of a stationary video camera may help cross-check data that is collected through UVC to assess the true family composition and document the presence of rare and easily disturbed species.

Numerous studies have documented behavioural changes in wildlife because of human disturbance. Disturbance may threaten waders if there are no alternative habitats or foraging times. Here we compared human and dog densities, natural and anthropogenic disturbance rates, prey availability and wader foraging rates at five sites in and around Khao Sam Roi Yod National Park, Thailand, with different shorebird densities, to assess whether disturbance forced wintering waders to under-use high quality sites consistently. We also examined diel and tidal variability in prey densities and tested whether people and dogs cause temporary displacement or reductions in foraging rates. Although there were significant differences in shorebird, human and dog densities as well as anthropogenic disturbance rates and prey availability amongst the five sites, there was no indication that birds were being displaced from the highest quality habitat. There was little diel or tidal variation in most types of prey. People did not temporarily displace waders but did reduce foraging rates. The availability of high quality, alternative foraging habitat with low human disturbance, and nocturnal prey availability, along with the lack of any short-term displacement of birds from areas of high disturbance suggest that disturbance is unlikely to affect wader fitness in this National Park. By examining a range of important habitat characteristics and wader spatial distributions, our study demonstrates a method and a theoretical framework to evaluate the possible impacts of human disturbance on wildlife.

Background Widespread deaths of wild birds from which highly pathogenic avian influenza virus H5N1 has been isolated suggest that the virus continues to be lethal to them. However, asymptomatic carriage by some wild birds could allow birds to spread the virus on migration. Confirmation of such carriage is therefore important for the design of mitigation measures for the disease in poultry. Discussion Two recent papers have reported the isolation of H5N1 from a small number of water birds in China and Russia and have concluded that wild birds can spread the viruses over long distances on migration. However, both papers contain weaknesses in the provision of ornithological and associated data that compromise conclusions that can be reached about the role of wild birds in the spread of H5N1. We describe the weaknesses of these studies and highlight the need for improved methodological description and methodology, where appropriate, and further research. Summary A rigorous assessment of whether wild birds can carry H5N1 asymptomatically is critical to evaluating the risks of spread by migratory birds on long-distance migration.

Background Widespread deaths of wild birds from which highly pathogenic avian influenza virus H5N1 has been isolated suggest that the virus continues to be lethal to them. However, asymptomatic carriage by some wild birds could allow birds to spread the virus on migration. Confirmation of such carriage is therefore important for the design of mitigation measures for the disease in poultry.

In 2005 and 2006, highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 infected wild birds or poultry in at least 55 countries in Asia, Europe, and Africa. Scientists still have limited understanding of how these wild birds were infected and of how the virus behaves in a field setting. Better ecological and ornithological data are essential to resolve these uncertainties. At present, information on species identity, location and habitat, and sampling and capture methodology, as well as details of the affected bird populations, are inadequate or lacking for most incidents of H5N1 in wild birds. Greater involvement by ornithologists and ecologists, who have extensive experience in conducting field research on wild animals, is vital to improve our ability to predict outbreaks and reduce the environmental and socioeconomic impacts of H5N1 avian influenza.