In Canada, the American Golden-Plover breeds widely across the Low to Mid Arctic and winters in grasslands and wetlands of South America. Surveys at migration stopover sites suggest that the Canadian population has experienced a large decrease relative to the early 1970s, but these results have poor precision and are considered to have low reliability. Habitat loss and disturbance threaten the species in winter. This species has been identified as a priority for conservation and/or stewardship in one or more Bird Conservation Region Strategies in Canada.
Climate change is expected to have a negative effect on arctic-breeding shorebirds because their conservative life-history strategy (low reproduction and long lifespan) makes it difficult for them to quickly adapt to the effects of accelerated climate change on their breeding habitat (Meltofte et al. 2007). Effects may include: drying of tundra ponds (Smol and Douglas 2007, Stow et al. 2004), shrub encroachment (Tape and Racine 2006, Callaghan et al. 2005), asynchrony of insect-chick hatch (Tulp and Schekkerman 2008) and unusual weather events (Tulp and Schekkerman 2006, Martin and Wiebe 2004). The overabundance of Snow Geese on the species' arctic breeding grounds have negatively impacted nesting success (Lamarre et al. 2017). On the wintering grounds, there are concerns about hunting in Barbados (Wege et al. 2014), as well as the loss of coastal wetlands and intertidal flats, which are increasingly lost or disturbed by development and tourism (Johnson et al. 2018).
Environment and Climate Change Canada and partners have developed Bird Conservation Region Strategies in each of Canada’s Bird Conservation Regions (BCRs). In these strategies, selected species are identified as priorities for one or more of the following reasons:
Select any of the sub-regions below to view the BCR strategy for additional details.
