Är mossigare vadare gladare? Om vadare i restaureringsområden på två mossar.

Abstract

Mires have been heavily exploited in southern Sweden. It has impacted waderbirds negatively, especially wooden sandpipers and golden plovers who only breed on mires, but also common snipe and curlew. My study area was former peat extraction areas on Store Mosse and Anderstorps Stormosse, which were restored in the EU-project Life to ad(d)mire 2010-2015. Two focus species were waders, but they did not seem to increase as expected. Therefore, I studied if wader numbers increased post-restoration, by comparing restoration area surveys from 2010 (pre-restration) and 2015, 2017 and 2022 (post-restoration) plus surveying the areas 2023. The results varied between the restoration areas and species, between and within years, and spatially. Wooden sandpiper decreased the years after the restorations in three areas, but increased 2023 though they display large variations. High numbers were noted in 2023 for several species and areas. Curlews seem to show a positive trend at Store Mosse, but a decrease at Anderstorp Stormosse where the overall trends seem negative. Spatially, wooden sandpipers and common snipe were observed in wet restored areas, while the golden plover stayed in pristine areas. The only spatial changes seen at Store Mosse was curlew returning to the eastern restoration area. All the wader species are decreasing in southern Sweden. Predation, farming, forestation and human disturbances may affect the populations negatively and some of them are proposed for further studies or to look into possible measures to help the remaining waders.