Climatic scenarios for the Mediterranean predict an increase in drought and erratic precipitation, which may affect waterbirds breeding in freshwater habitats. Artificial wetlands may provide an alternative for these species when conditions in natural habitats deteriorate. We studied Little Ringed Plovers Charadrius dubius nesting in natural streams and agricultural ponds in southern Portugal. Based on 24 nests and 31 colour-ringed adults, we describe nest-site characteristics, breeding parameters and site fidelity. In streams, nests (n = 17) were in sites with more abundant and coarser gravel, while in ponds there was more vegetation around the nest (n = 7). In both habitats, nests were close and at similar distances to water, but this was unrelated to nest outcome (success of 30.8% across habitats). Nest failure in natural streams was mostly attributable to flooding after heavy rains, while in agricultural ponds cattle trampling was the main cause of failure. Based on their renesting capacity and relatively high breeding site fidelity (25%–36% return rate to same area), we suggest that Little Ringed Plovers may trade-off the overall better conditions of natural streams (i.e. higher availability of nesting substrate, food resources and lower disturbance from cattle) against the stochastic risk of floods. Nevertheless, under current predictions of climate change, agricultural ponds can provide more stable and reliable nesting conditions for this and other species, as unpredictable changes in Mediterranean streams’ flooding regimen may become more frequent. Despite the limitations of our dataset, we provide novel information on the breeding biology of this understudied species and highlight its potential for future research.

中文翻译：

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人工农业池塘是小环斑鸻合适的替代筑巢栖息地吗？

地中海的气候情景预测干旱和不稳定降水会增加，这可能会影响淡水栖息地中的水鸟繁殖。当自然栖息地的条件恶化时，人工湿地可为这些物种提供替代选择。我们研究了在葡萄牙南部天然溪流和农业池塘中筑巢的小环鸻 Charadrius dubius。基于 24 个巢穴和 31 只色环成虫，我们描述了巢穴特征、繁殖参数和场地保真度。在溪流中，巢穴（n = 17）位于砾石更丰富、更粗的地方，而在池塘中，巢穴周围的植被更多（n = 7）。在这两个栖息地，巢穴与水的距离很近，但这与筑巢结果无关（跨栖息地的成功率为 30.8%）。自然溪流中的巢穴失败主要是由于大雨后洪水泛滥，而在农业池塘中，牛践踏是失败的主要原因。基于它们的重新筑巢能力和相对较高的繁殖地保真度（同一区域的回报率为 25%–36%），我们建议小环斑鸻可以权衡自然溪流的整体更好的条件（即更高的筑巢基质、食物的可用性）资源和减少来自牛的干扰）对抗洪水的随机风险。尽管如此，根据目前对气候变化的预测，农业池塘可以为该物种和其他物种提供更稳定和可靠的筑巢条件，因为地中海河流洪水状况的不可预测变化可能会变得更加频繁。尽管我们的数据集有局限性，