THE ABUNDANCE AND CONSERVATION STATUS OF REDSHANK TRINGA-TOTANUS NESTING ON SALT-MARSHES IN GREAT-BRITAIN

We report the results of two surveys of the same sample of 77 saltmars h sites around the coast of Great Britain, conducted in 1985 and 1996 to estimate breeding abundance and the conservation status (i.e. stabl e, increasing or declining) of redshank Tringa tetanus nesting on salt marshes. The 1985 estimate was 21 022 pairs (confidence limits: 14 941 -26 818 pairs) and the 1996 estimate was 16 433 pairs (confidence limi ts: 11 291-21 943 pairs). Saltmarshes, therefore, support c. 45% of th e population of redshank breeding in Great Britain. We present evidenc e to show that these abundance estimates are unlikely to be biased as a result of poor regional or habitat coverage by the sample of sites s urveyed. Comparison of breeding density changes within survey sites be tween 1985 and 1996 showed a significant mean decline of 10.98 pairs k m(-2) (confidence limits: 4.68-16.83 pairs km(-2)). This represented a loss of 4807 breeding pairs, i.e. a 22.9% decline in abundance. We su ggest that conservation measures are needed, including the use of habi tat creation for breeding redshank. A national assessment of the impac t of current grazing practices on nesting redshank is also required as the basis for assessing which grazing practices are currently a threa t, and of agricultural policy or conservation management measures to m itigate these. (C) 1998 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.