Data from: Storm-driven habitat loss reduced migrating piping plover abundance and stopover time, not body condition, at a key site
Data files
Sep 17, 2026 version files 17.58 KB
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chs_Sweeney_et_al_Ecosphere.zip
5.76 KB
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masses_Sweeney_et_al_Ecosphere.csv
3.90 KB
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README.md
3.61 KB
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surveys_Sweeney_et_al_Ecosphere.csv
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Abstract
Shorebirds balance time, energy, and risk during migration by resting and refueling at dynamic coastal stopover sites. Alteration or loss of these sites, whether through human or climate-driven disturbances such as sea level rise or hurricanes, could force shorebirds to change their migratory behaviors or face physiological or demographic consequences. We examined how Hurricane Dorian in September 2019 altered Ocracoke Island, North Carolina, USA, a critical fall stopover site for the federally threatened piping plover (Charadrius melodus). We used mark-recapture methods, count surveys, and remote sensing data from July–October 2016–2023 to assess how habitat changes influenced plover passage and peak abundance, stopover duration, arrival timing, and body condition. Our dataset includes survey-level counts of marked and unmarked piping plovers, individual capture (i.e. encounter) histories for surveys conducted each year of the study, and individual morphometric measurements and age class data of piping plovers captured during trapping efforts.
Dataset DOI: 10.5061/dryad.0zpc867d2
Description of the data and file structure
Metadata for data referenced in:
Storm-driven habitat loss reduced migrating piping plover abundance and stopover time, not body condition, at a key site
Chelsea E. Sweeney*1, Christy N. Wails1,2, Camille R. Alvino1, Katie W. Oliver1, Sidney B. Maddock3, Daniel H. Catlin1, James D. Fraser1, and Sarah M. Karpanty1
1 Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA
2 Department of Natural Resource Management, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD 57007, USA
3 P.O. Box 1359, Buxton, NC, 27920, USA
*Corresponding author; Email: cweithm@vt.edu
Files and variables
File: masses_Sweeney_et_al_Ecosphere.csv
Description: Body condition of piping plovers captured during fall migration on South Point, Ocracoke Island, NC, USA, 2016–2023. One csv file containing individual-level data.
Variables
- date: Date of survey, formatted MM/DD/YYYY.
- mass: Piping plover mass at capture, measured in grams. Mass was not collected for one individual, indicated by NA.
- tarsus: Piping plover tarsus length at capture, measured in millimeters.
- age: Piping plover age at capture; HY: Hatch-year (<1 year); AHY: After-Hatch-year (>1 year). Plovers were aged based on plumage characteristics following Gratto-Trevor (2011).
- flag: The flag code or band number identifying an individual.
- month: the numeric month of the year (MM)
- year: the year of capture (YYYY)
- anon: the corresponding anonymized individual number found in capture history data files. Not all captured birds were used in capture histories, often because newly banded individuals were excluded from their capture year’s dataset and were not observed in following years, or because their band combinations were not unique to the individuals. In these cases, anon is represented by NA.
File: surveys_Sweeney_et_al_Ecosphere.csv
Description: Survey-level count data of marked and total piping plovers during fall migration surveys on South Point, Ocracoke Island, NC, USA, 2016–2023. One csv file containing survey-level data
Variables
- date: Date of survey (MM/DD/YYYY).
- marked: Count of piping plovers observed with bands. Individuals with unique marks and individuals with unidentified marks were included. Individuals with identified non-unique marks were excluded from this count but included in the total count as unmarked birds. Marked birds may have been observed more than once during a survey.
- total: the total count of plovers observed during the survey. This is the sum of observed marked, non-unique marked, and unmarked birds.
- yday: Day of the year.
File: chs_Sweeney_et_al_Ecosphere.zip
Description: Piping plover encounter histories during fall migration surveys on South Point, Ocracoke Island, NC, USA, 2016–2023. Eight csv files containing individual capture histories for a single year as designated in the file name using format 'ch_YYYY.csv.' Each file contains variable numbers of rows and columns
Variables
- anon: Corresponding anonymized individual number, also found in masses data file.
- Columns are dates (MM/DD/YYYY) of completed surveys. ‘1’ indicates an individual was observed on that survey, ‘0’ indicates an individual was not observed on that survey.
Surveyors attempted to count and record all plovers once, but marked plovers may have been recorded more than once per survey. Marked birds that were observed but not fully identified were included in marked counts, but therefore may not be represented in the capture histories. Observations of banded piping plovers were submitted to appropriate banding organizations for reporting and verification. Plovers that had non-unique marks were treated as unmarked individuals in further data processing and analyses. Most individual identifiers (i.e. band or flag combinations) have been anonymized due to the sensitive nature of this imperiled species. Capture history and survey data are structured to be analyzed using an integrated Jolly-Seber and binomial count superpopulation model.