Recreational Disturbance of Shorebirds in Tropical Asia

Much of that growing demand for coastal recreation and tourism has focused on countries in South and Southeast Asia in the tourism megaregion that this book refers to as Tropical Asia. As such, the recreational disturbance of shorebirds in Asia is a serious conservation issue, at a time when populations of both migratory and non-migratory species of shorebirds are threatened and declining because of the loss of coastal habitat and increased human disturbance. Despite global awareness about the impacts that the growth of coastal recreation and tourism across Tropical Asia is likely to be having on threatened and endangered migratory and resident shorebird species of the coastal zones of the East Asian– Australasian Flyway, less than 3% of the published peer-reviewed research into the recreational disturbance of shorebirds addresses coastal zones of Tropical Asia. This situation points to a significant knowledge gap regarding the impacts of human recreation on shorebirds in the Tropical Asian region. In contrast, almost three quarters of the peer-reviewed articles that report recreational disturbance research and management strategies focus on coastal zones in North America (36%), Oceania (20%), and Europe (20%). For those reasons, the quantitative systematic literature review and research case study from Sri Lanka reported in this book provide a call to action and recommendations for both management approaches grounded in the international literature and a research agenda that should be implemented in the coastal zones of Tropical Asia. Preface Acknowledgments Contents About the Authors Abbreviations Chapter 1: An Introduction to Shorebirds and Recreation in Coastal Zones References Chapter 2: Interrogating the Recreational Disturbance Literature 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Performing the Systematic Review 2.2.1 Reporting Quantitative Values and Statistical Relationships 2.2.2 Defining the Region of Tropical Asia 2.3 Outcomes of the Systemic Review 2.3.1 Geographic Span of Included Articles 2.3.2 Rate of Publication and Focus of Research 2.3.3 Sources of Recreational Disturbance 2.3.3.1 Four Main Source of Recreational Disturbance 2.3.4 The Effects of Recreational Disturbances 2.3.4.1 Changes in Habitat Selection and Use 2.3.4.2 Physiological Responses 2.3.4.3 Immediate Behavior Responses 2.3.4.4 Reproductive Success 2.4 Conclusion References Chapter 3: The Impact from Motorized Recreational Vehicle Traffic on Coastal Waterbirds: A Case Study from Sri Lanka 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Study Background 3.3 Study Sites 3.4 Methods 3.4.1 Studying the Impact of Recreational Disturbance from Motorized Vehicle Traffic on Habitat Use of Waterbirds 3.4.2 Studying the Impact of Recreational Disturbance from Motorized Vehicle Traffic on the Behavior of Waterbirds 3.4.2.1 Observational Study 3.4.2.2 Experimental Study 3.4.2.2.1 General Behavior of Selected Waterbird Species under Non- disturbance Conditions 3.4.2.2.2 Measuring the Impact of Recreational Disturbance from Motorized Vehicles (Safari Jeeps) on the Behaviour of Waterbir... 3.5 Findings of the Study 3.5.1 Selected Species for the Study 3.5.2 Recreational Disturbance on Habitat Use of Waterbirds 3.5.3 Recreational Disturbance on the Behavior of Waterbirds 3.5.3.1 Waterbird Response to Motorized Vehicles 3.5.3.2 The Effect of Motorized Vehicle Disturbance on Normal Behaviors of Waterbirds 3.5.3.2.1 Impact of Safari Jeeps on Behavior of Birds 3.5.3.2.2 Does the Speed of the Vehicle Affect Birds ́ Response? 3.5.3.2.3 Responses of Foraging and Resting Waterbirds 3.5.3.2.4 Previous Exposure and Habituation 3.5.3.2.5 Body Size of the Bird and their Response to Disturbance 3.6 Conclusion References Chapter 4: The Impact of Pedestrians on Shorebirds: A Case Study from Sri Lanka 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Study Background 4.3 Field Techniques 4.3.1 Observational Study 4.3.2 Experimental Study 4.3.3 Data Analysis 4.4 Study Findings 4.4.1 Observations on Bird Responses to Pedestrians 4.4.2 Impact of Distance from the Disturbance (Pedestrians) on Agitation Probability of Coastal Birds 4.5 Conclusion References Chapter 5: Overview of Management Strategies and Considerations for the Future 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Recommendations from the Global Literature 5.3 Management Recommendations for the Tropical Asian Region 5.4 Considerations for the Future 5.5 Conclusions References Appendixies Appendix A: Included Articles Appendix B: Included Articles by Source of Disturbance Appendix C: Included Articles by Behavior of Four Most Reported Sources of Recreational Disturbance Appendix D: Included Articles by Impact of Four Most Reported Sources of Recreational Disturbance on Reproductive Success