Ringed plovers nest on open beaches and are extremely vulnerable to human recreational disturbance during the breeding season. Understanding this conflict enables beach users to minimise welfare impacts.
Ringed plover breeding welfare is directly impacted by the scale of recreational use on their preferred nesting beaches. Adults that are repeatedly flushed from nests cannot maintain incubation temperature, leading to embryo mortality in cold or wet conditions. Adults performing distraction displays to draw dogs away from nests expend significant energy and risk predation themselves. Successful breeding on busy beaches has become increasingly rare, restricting populations to less disturbed areas. The cumulative impact of multiple brief disturbances across a day is equivalent to complete nest desertion in terms of incubation success, demonstrating that individually minor disturbances have serious welfare consequences.