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Identifying the breeding status of cryptic bird species has proved problematic without intense or inherently expensive monitoring. Most, if not all, intensive bird monitoring comes with disturbance risks and many projects now rely on tagging of individuals to provide remote information on movements. Given the importance of breeding status when targeting conservation interventions novel methods are needed. This study aimed to identify breeding status in Eurasian Curlew (

Protected areas worldwide receive billions of visitors annually. The positive impact of nature on health and wellbeing, in addition to providing opportunities for cultural activities such as recreation and aesthetic appreciation, is well documented. Management to reduce negative impacts to biodiversity and conservation aims whilst providing amenities and access to visitors is important. Understanding environmental awareness of visitors and their on-site spatial patterns can assist in making effective management decisions within often constrained resources. However, there is a lack of strategies for site-specific identification and predictive mapping of visitors by environmental awareness. Here, we demonstrate a method to map on-site visitation by latent groups of visitors based on their environmental awareness of on-site issues. On-site surveys and participatory mapping were used to collect data on environmental awareness on bird nesting and spatial visitation patterns in an upland moor in northern England. Latent class analysis (LCA), a structural equation model, was used to discover underlying groups of environmental awareness, with random forest (RF) modelling, a machine learning technique, using a range of on-site predictors (bioclimatic, land cover, elevation, viewshed, and proximity to paths and freshwater) to predict and map visitation across the site by each group. Visitors were segmented into ‘aware’ and ‘ambiguous’ groups and their potential spatial visitation patterns mapped. Our results demonstrate the ability to uncover groups of users by environmental awareness and map their potential visitation across a site using a variety of on-site predictors. Spatial understanding of the movement patterns of differently environmentally aware groups of visitors can assist in efficient targeting of conservation education endeavours (i.e., signage, positioning of staff, monitoring programmes, etc.), therefore maximising their efficacy. Furthermore, we anticipate this method will be of importance to environmental managers and educators when deploying limited resources.

1. A combined empirical and modelling approach was used to investigate the value of a Pacific oyster reef to feeding shorebirds and to observe and predict the impact of reef clearance on bird populations in the Colne Estuary, a protected area in south‐east England. Macro‐invertebrate biomass and numbers of feeding birds were measured on a Pacific oyster reef, an adjacent uncolonized mudflat, and an area of mudflat that had been cleared of oysters 6 months previously. These data were used to parameterize an individual‐basedmodel (MORPH) to predict the impact of clearance of the reef on winter bird survival. Feeding success and intake rates of Eurasian oystercatcher, Eurasian curlew, and Eurasian common redshank were also recorded during the course of a winter. 2. Themacro‐invertebrate diversity and biomass within both the oyster reef and the cleared area were significantly greater than the adjacent uncolonized mudflat. The density and biomass of large invertebrate prey in the mudflat were low, yet the Pacific oyster reef hadmuch higher densities and biomass of large prey, especially annelids and shore crabs. 3. The winter assemblage of feeding birds differed significantly between each of the areas. The mean total number of feeding birds was significantly greater on the uncolonized mudflat; however, mean peak counts, feeding success rate and prey intake rate of Eurasian oystercatcher were greater on the reef. Significantly greater intake rates and feeding success rates were also observed on the reef for Eurasian curlew, a species of conservation concern. 4. Field data and model predictions show that Pacific oyster reefs can provide valuable supplementary feeding areas for some shorebirds, yet other species avoided the reef. However, as estuaries vary in available feeding resources, it is important that the value of reefs and their management is determined regionally.

Regime shifts in benthic invertebrates within coastal ecosystems threaten the survival of wading birds (Charadrii). Predicting how invertebrate regime shifts will affect wading birds allows conservation management and mitigation measures to be implemented, including protection of terrestrial feeding areas. An individual-based model was used to investigate the impact of regime shifts on wading birds through their prey (marine worms and bivalves) in the estuarine system Poole Harbour, (UK). The model predicted the number of curlew (Numenius arquata), oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus), black-tailed godwit (Limosa limosa), redshank (Tringa totanus) and dunlin (Calidris alpina) supported in the Harbour during the non-breeding season (autumn and winter months). The most dramatic declines in bird numbers were for regime shifts that reduced the abundance of the largest invertebrates, particularly marine worms. The least adaptable bird species (those with the most restrictive diets) were unable to compensate by consuming other prey. Generally, as birds adapt to changes by switching to alternative prey species and size classes, changes in invertebrate size and species distribution do not necessarily affect the number of birds that the Harbour can support. Our predictions reveal a weakness in using birds as indicators of site health and invertebrate regime shifts. Differences in bird populations would not necessarily be detected by standard survey methods until extreme changes in invertebrate communities had occurred, potentially beyond the point at which these changes could be reversed. Therefore, population size of wading birds should not be used in isolation when assessing the conservation status of coastal sites.

Genetic diversity is one of the key evolutionary variables that correlate with population size, being of critical importance for population viability and the persistence of species. Genetic diversity can also have important ecological consequences within populations, and in turn, ecological factors may drive patterns of genetic diversity. However, the relationship between the genetic diversity of a population and how this interacts with ecological processes has so far only been investigated in a few studies. Here, we investigate the link between ecological factors, local population size, and allelic diversity, using a field study of a common bird species, the house sparrow (Passer domesticus). We studied sparrows outside the breeding season in a confined small valley dominated by dispersed farms and small-scale agriculture in southern France. Population surveys at 36 locations revealed that sparrows were more abundant in locations with high food availability. We then captured and genotyped 891 house sparrows at 10 microsatellite loci from a subset of these locations (N=12). Population genetic analyses revealed weak genetic structure, where each locality represented a distinct substructure within the study area. We found that food availability was the main factor among others tested to influence the genetic structure between locations. These results suggest that ecological factors can have strong impacts on both population size per se and intrapopulation genetic variation even at a small scale. On a more general level, our data indicate that a patchy environment and low dispersal rate can result in fine-scale patterns of genetic diversity. Given the importance of genetic diversity for population viability, combining ecological and genetic data can help to identify factors limiting population size and determine the conservation potential of populations.