The effect of recreational disturbance on an upland breeding bird, the golden plover Pluvialis apricaria

The use of the countryside for recreation has increased dramatically in recent years. This has led to concern amongst conservationists about the effects increased human disturbance may have on important wild animal populations. In the UK, recent legislation has widened the level of access to upland habitats, which support internationally important breeding bird populations. Determining the extent to which recreational disturbance affects upland breeding birds is therefore a conservation priority. We used data collected over 13 years to investigate the impact of recreational disturbance on the distribution and reproductive performance of golden plovers breeding in close proximity to the Pennine Way, an intensively used long-distance footpath. Importantly, the Pennine Way was resurfaced in 1994 to prevent further erosion of the surrounding vegetation. We were therefore able to examine if the response of golden plovers to recreational disturbance was influenced by changes in the intensity and extent of human activity resulting from the resurfacing work. Before the Pennine Way was resurfaced, golden plovers avoided areas within 200 m of the footpath during the chick-rearing period. At this time over 30% of people strayed from the footpath and the movement of people across the moorland was therefore widespread and unpredictable. Following resurfacing, over 96% of walkers remained on the Pennine Way, which significantly reduced the impact of recreational disturbance on golden plover distribution; golden plovers only avoided areas within 50 m of the footpath at this time. Despite the clear behavioural responses of golden plovers to the presence of visitors, there was no detectable impact of disturbance on reproductive performance. In many countries, a conflict arises between the use of the countryside for recreational purposes and the protection of habitats or species of high conservation value. However, this study suggests that the implementation of simple measures to influence visitor behaviour can dramatically reduce the impact of recreational disturbance on wild animal populations.