1. Breeding Birds
Many bird species
breed on the salt marshes, in the dunes, or on the beaches. During
this time they are particularly vulnerable.
The QSR 2004 shows
that breeding populations of some species are stable or increasing,
while significant decreases are observed in others.
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The quality of various
habitats has improved in recent decades, leading for instance to
an increase in the numbers of coastal birds, such as the common
redshank, breeding on the salt marshes.
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Food supplies have been
inadequate for eider ducks and oystercatchers, among other
things because of severe winters and shellfish fishing,
especially in the Dutch Wadden Sea. As a result, the breeding
stocks have decreased. Measures aimed at better protection of
shellfish stocks were introduced in the Netherlands in 2005.
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Some birds breed on beaches,
which are also preferred for human recreation. Although
protective measures for the colony breeding little tern have
been successful, the numbers of great ringed plovers and Kentish
plovers have continued to decrease. These two species need more
undisturbed beaches and primary dune areas.
Figure 1: Annual population
change (%) of selected breeding birds in the Wadden Sea (1991 -
2001) (source: QSR 2004)
2. Migratory Birds
Recent Trends
Trend
calculation of 34 waterbird species for the entire Wadden Sea and
the four regions - The Netherlands, the Federal States of Germany,
Niedersachsen and Schleswig-Holstein, and Denmark have been prepared
by the Joint Monitoring of Migratory Birds (JMMB) Group on a yearly
update basis.
Trends from 1987/98 until 2005/06 in overviews of 19 years
and 10 years periods are available as well as for each individual
migratory bird species covered by the trilateral monitoring program.
Click here for recent trends (updated
annually)
Trends 1992 - 2000 (QSR 2004)
Especially in spring
and late summer, millions of birds roost along the Wadden Sea to
take up energy reserves for their annual migration. The Wadden Sea
is of worldwide significance in bird flyways, e.g. in the sense of
the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of
International Importance.
According to the results of the
twenty-year period 1980-2000 of the Joint Monitoring of Migratory
Birds (JMMB) program in the Wadden Sea, which is carried out in the
framework of the TMAP, decreasing trends of several migratory
waterbird species were detected in the Wadden Sea. Particularly, the
trends detected for the main migration periods gave reason for
concern: of the 34 species, for which the Wadden Sea represents a
major stepping stone during migration, 15 species (44%) show
significant decreases, 7 species (21%) show non-significant
decreases. In contrast, only three species (Cormorant
Phalacrocorax carbo sinensis, Spoonbill Platalea leucorodia
and Barnacle Goose Branta leucopsis) show significant
increases.
Figure 2: Trends in migratory
birds in the period 1992 - 2000 (source QSR 2004)
International
Migratory Bird Workshop 2006
In
August 2006 and international workshop in Wilhelmshaven, Germany,
was organized to discuss causes and consequences of seriously
declining trends in migratory waterbirds in the Wadden Sea as well
as to formulate further aspects regarding future ecological research
and necessary management measures. About 80 leading Wadden Sea
experts from Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands participated in
the workshop including representatives from English Nature and AEWA.
The workshop
started with a review of recent monitoring data. The review
confirmed that the populations of at least 11 out of 34 species have
declined significantly over the past years. Especially
shellfish-eating species have shown significant decreases.
The main findings,
conclusions and recommendations of the workshop are published in
proceedings (see download).
