Abundance and productivity estimates - 2021 update Atlantic Coast piping plover population

Although population growth, from approximately 957 pairs in 1989 to an estimated 2,289 pairs in 2021, has reduced the Atlantic Coast piping plover’s vulnerability to extinction since listing under the ESA, the distribution of population growth remains very uneven. Declines of 32 percent in the Eastern Canada breeding population since 2007 and 30 percent in the Southern recovery unit in just the last 5 years typify long-standing concerns about the uneven distribution of Atlantic Coast piping plovers (Hecht and Melvin 2009, USFWS 2009, USFWS 2020). Future trends in breeding abundance will help inform assessments of whether current habitat and ongoing management are sufficient to sustain the New York-New Jersey subpopulation goal, attained in 2021. The New England recovery unit constitutes a stronghold, but there is no evidence of demographically meaningful dispersal to either Eastern Canada or New York-New Jersey, and any future inter-recovery unit “rescue” will be very slow. The survival and recovery of Atlantic Coast piping plovers remain dependent on rangewide conservation of remaining habitats and habitat-formation processes, as well as annual implementation of labor-intensive management to minimize the effects of pervasive and persistent threats from predation and disturbance by humans and pets