The food-chain link

Shorebirds

• Piping plover (federally listed): forages on intertidal beaches for worms, crustaceans, insect larvae and bivalves. USFWS's programmatic opinion for Florida sand placement considers reduced prey a project effect (USFWS 2013 piping plover programmatic BO).
• Rufa red knot (federally threatened): feeds on small clams, mussels and crustaceans; nourishment can reduce prey availability (USFWS species page; Federal Register listing proposal).
• Wilson's plover, least tern and snowy plover nest on Florida beaches. Specific diet studies linking them to mole crab declines on nourished Florida beaches are not published that we have found. Nesting impacts are handled through shorebird protection conditions, which show up as bid items such as “Shorebird Protection and Abatement” (Charlotte County bid).

Sea turtles and compaction

Placed sand can be harder than native sand. Florida project conditions require compaction testing and tilling when compaction exceeds limits (USFWS 2015 SPBO; FDEP Palm Beach monitoring conditions). Federal contracts we tracked list beach tilling, sea turtle trawling and endangered species observers as line items (SAM.gov Mid-Town notice).

Surf fish

• Florida pompano: mole crabs were a major prey item for juvenile pompano in Brevard County surf-zone studies (Florida Institute of Technology study).
• Fish predation on E. talpoida at Melbourne Beach was estimated at 10–75% per month (Marine Ecology 1986, doi:10.1080/00785326.1986.10421996).
• Whiting (kingfish) diet links to mole crabs on Florida nourished beaches: not published in sources we have reviewed yet.

We say “can” and “may” on purpose: the research shows prey losses after nourishment and shows these species eat that prey, but no study we found measures population declines in a protected species caused by lost beach invertebrates in Florida. Documenting that is part of our planned work.