Horseshoe Crabs and Red Knots Revisited

Here's some more detailed information about horsehoe crabs and red knots as a supplement to my 2008 post, "Ecosystem Connections: Humans, Horseshoe Crabs and Red Knot."

Niles et al. 2009a provide an excellent primer on the important connection between the timing of horseshoe crab spawning and red knot migration in Delaware Bay, including factors driving the decline in the horseshoe crab population, the impact of this decline on red knots, the managment actions taken to address the decline, and the effectiveness of these actions for recovering both horseshoe crabs and red knots. They propose an adaptive management strategy to help recover the red knot and horseshoe crab populations to recover.

As a bonus, I've included links to a couple of follow up papers as an example of the scientific process in action - Smith et al. 2009 critique aspects of the Niles et al. 2009a paper, while Niles et al. 2009b responed to this critique.

Also, as an fyi, there is a link to a paper by Cohen et al. 2010. This paper further expands the science underlying red knot conservation.

References for this post:

Niles LJ, J Bart, HP Sitters, AD Dey, KE Clark, PW Atkinson, AJ Baker, KA Bennett, KS Kalasz, NA Clark, J Clark, S Gillings, AS Gates, PM González, DE Hernandez, CD T Minton, RIG Morrison, RR Porter, RK Ross, CR Veitch. 2009a. Effects of Horseshoe Crab Harvest in Delaware Bay on Red Knots: Are Harvest Restrictions Working? BioScience 59(2): 153–164, doi 10.1525/bio.2009.59.2.8 Posted online on February 11, 2009.

Smith, D.R., E.M. Hallerman, M.J. Millard, J.A. Sweka and R.G. Weber. 2009. An Incomplete Analysis. BioScience 59:7, 541-541. Online publication date: 1-Jul-2009.

Niles L.J., H.P. Sitters, A.D. Dey, J. Bart, A.J. Baker, R.I.G. Morrison, K.S. Kalasz and N.A. Clark. 2009b. Response from Niles and colleagues. BioScience 59:7, 541-542. Online publication date: 1-Jul-2009.

Cohen, J.B., S.M. Karpanty, J.D. Fraser and B.R. Truitt. 2010. The effect of benthic prey abundance and size on red knot (Calidris canutus) distribution at an alternative migratory stopover site on the US Atlantic Coast. J Ornithol (2010) 151:355–364, DOI 10.1007/s10336-009-0462-7.