Effects of climate change and anthropogenic modification on a disturbance-dependent species in alarge riverine system.

摘要: Humans have altered nearly every natural disturbance regime on the planet through climate and land‐use change, and in many instances, these processes may have interacting effects. For example, projected shifts in temperature and precipitation will likely influence disturbance regimes already affected by anthropogenic fire suppression or river impoundments. Understanding how disturbance‐dependent species respond to complex and interacting environmental changes is important for conservation efforts. Using field‐based demographic and movement rates, we conducted a metapopulation viability analysis for piping plovers (Charadrius melodus), a threatened disturbance‐dependent species, along the Missouri and Platte rivers in the Great Plains of North America. Our aim was to better understand current and projected future metapopulation dynamics given that natural disturbances (flooding or high‐flow …