Information needed for coastal management: perceptions of research and protection of shorebirds on a coastal beach are influenced by visitor type, age and gender

Protection of shorebirds along coasts where they congregate during migration is an important conservation goal, yet little is known about the reasons that attract people to beaches. Data on perceptions can be used to develop and implement educational and conservation programs, enhancing both visitor experiences and shorebird survival. Urbanization is encroaching on many beaches and estuaries that are necessary stopover sites for migrant birds. This study examines perceptions of visitors at 9 Delaware Bay beaches during the critical northward shorebird migration using semi-structured interviews (N = 279). We test three hypotheses that: (1) visitors come to Delaware Bay beaches mainly to see the shorebirds (including red knots, Calidris canutus rufa) and the crabs whose eggs sustain the shorebirds, (2) there are no age differences in reasons participants come to the beach and (3) there are no differences in visitation rates as a function of visitor type. Only 60% of visitors came to Delaware Bay primarily to see the shorebirds and crabs, the rest were there for the scenery, tranquility, fishing, or other recreation activities, despite access restrictions. Even when asked what makes the beach attractive, from 17% (people who came to see birds) to 62% (people who came to see crabs) listed tranquility and scenery. Older people rated the importance of research and protection of shorebirds (and crabs) higher than younger people. Over 40% did not want to see any changes to beaches, while 28% wanted to see improvements, and 24% wanted to see more restoration and conservation. Nearly 60% said these beaches would be less attractive if there were more people. These perceptions can aid managers, conservationists and communities improve beaches for both migratory shorebirds and human use by providing data that can be targeted to specific user groups, and to different age groups.


Introduction
One of the key questions in understanding ecosystem dynamics in heavily populated urban and suburban areas understand the ecological and human dimensions of their systems to be successful (Crandall et al. 2018). Data on how and why people use the beach, what aspects they perceive as important, and what aspects disadvantages of these coastal bay beaches is critical for management (Crandall et al. 2018). Without this information, it is difficult to design education programs and improve beach management. It is also important to understand whether people are coming for mere observation of a resource, or whether they attribute aesthetic or other eco-cultural values to their experience. Further, understanding whether people approve of conservation measures, have additional suggestions, or see practices that are disadvantageous is important for conservationists and managers. People and researchers are increasingly aware that protecting green places within urban and suburban environments is particularly important for human health and well-being (Labib et al. 2020). But these wild spaces are equally important to wildlife.
Migrant shorebirds have to spend sufficient time and energy to build up fat reserves to make long migratory journeys (Brown et al. 2001(Brown et al. , 2017Baker et al. 2004Baker et al. , 2013, and some human activities reduce the time they can devote to foraging (Burger 1986;Goss-Custard et al. 2006;Martin et al. 2015). The lack of suitable habitats, without human disturbance, is becoming a more severe problem with sea level rise and decreasing amounts of available mudflats (Galbraith et al. 2002(Galbraith et al. , 2014. Various management methods have been implemented to reduce human disturbance on foraging shorebirds during critical stopover periods, including restricting human access to key foraging beaches (with fencing or patrols), having voluntary minimum approach distances, and employing beach stewards to protect sensitive beaches (Brown et al. 2001;Burger andNiles 2013a, b, 2014;Koch and Paton 2014).
In previous work along the Atlantic coast of North American, we found that voluntary avoidance of beaches where shorebirds were foraging was not effective (Burger and Niles 2013a, b). Since the early 2000s, New Jersey has restricted access on critical Delaware Bay beaches, used signage and fencing, and implemented a stewardship program to educate the public and keep people and dogs from these beaches (Burger and Dey, 2022;Dey et al. 2020). Management is most effective in collaboration with local communities and people who use the beach ecosystem (Burger and Niles 2017;Burger and Tsipoura 2019). Understanding how and why people want to visit beaches during peak shorebird migration periods is critical to Improving management, particularly along beaches used extensively by people.
With increasing use of coastal environments by people coming from nearby urban and suburban centers, habitats for migrating shorebirds and other coastal species are decreasing in quantity and quality. Migrant shorebirds have to spend sufficient time to build up fuel reserves to make long-distance flights, and human disturbance reduces the time they can devote to foraging (Burger 1986;Goss-Custard et al. 2006). For example, some northbound shorebirds (i.e. red knots, Calidris canutus rufa) can arrive in Delaware Bay with no fat reserves, and must double their weight in 2-3 weeks to successfully reach their sub-Arctic breeding grounds (Baker et al. 2004(Baker et al. , 2013Duijins et al. 2017). Declines of shorebirds migrating through Delaware Bay has been attributed to lack of available eggs of horseshoe crabs (Limulus polyphemus) (Niles et al. 2008(Niles et al. , 2009McGowan et al. 2011). Overexploitation of horseshoe crabs for bait means shorebird migrants are energy-stressed (USFWS 2014a, b). The shorebird conservation program has been very successful in that management, stewardship, and the restoration of beaches in New Jersey has contributed to attracting the majority of the red knots that migrate through Delaware Bay to the New Jersey side of the Bay (Dey et al. 2020). This trend started in 2012, and has continued since that time; prior to this time no such trend was obvious. The program, however, requires continued funding and expansion to further improve habitat and the overall health of the Delaware Bay ecosystem. This makes it important to understand whether people coming to the bay beaches support conservation and research on the shorebirds and crabs.
The present study was designed to examine the perceptions, concerns, and evaluations of visitors to the Delaware Bay beaches in May and early June during the massive shorebird migration. Although it was generally assumed that most people came to these beaches to see the foraging shorebirds and the spawning horseshoe crabs, one of our study goals was to determine whether this was true. The main objectives were to determine visitor type, whether there was support for research and protection of ecological resources, and how the beach or conservation measures could be improved. The intent was to examine why people came, whether they supported research and protection, and how to improve the beach while being able to conserve the shorebird-horseshoe crab phenomena, and to provide information that can be used for educational campaigns and increasing conservation measures (Yet et al. 2022). There is often a disconnect between the knowledge and perceptions of scientists and of stakeholders. We test the following hypotheses: (1) there are no differences in the reasons people come to the Delaware Bay beach (e.g. shorebirds), (2) there are no age differences in the reasons people come to the beach, and (3) there are no age differences in whether people believe shorebirds and crabs should be protected. It is important to establish whether different groups of stakeholders feel similarly about the beach, conservation, and research, and to examine all groups using the beach (Loubier et al. 2000, Sheaffer et al. 2000. Participants were interviewed using a semi-structured format (a questionnaire). Surveys have been used for a variety of research questions relating to real-life judgements, especially for conservation and environmental management (Ban 2009, Choudhry et al. 2015, Bennett 2016, Beyerl et al. 2016, Cebrian-Piqueras et al. 2020). There are challenges in locating sample persons and getting them to respond, partly because of the shift from person-to-person interviews to telephone surveys, and subsequently to social media surveys (Bradburn 2016). Even in telephone interviews, respondents decide whether to participate or not, partly on the basis of how the interviewer sounds, speaks, and interacts (Conrad et al. 2013;Conrad and Schober 2021). However, in the present study, we conducted person-to-person interviews at Delaware Bay beaches, using a questionnaire. We used a conversational style in which the interviewers were allowed to clarify questions when they suspected participants misunderstood or did not know the meaning of a term (Conrad and Schober 2021). Person-to-person interviews allow for each participant to directly judge the truthfulness and respect of the other (Bradburn 2016); response rate was very high in the present study.
While the data in this study are from 9 beaches along the Delaware Bay shore, the perceptions, concerns and evaluations can aid managers in making decisions about protection of coastal ecosystems and can serve as a model for similar studies in other coastal areas. The dire plight of migrant shorebirds is a global issue, and many of the stopover areas are near urban and suburban environments (Morrison et al. 2001;Andres et al. 2012) attracting high visitation rates. The issues are particularly relevant to the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of North America, which hosts significant populations of migrating shorebirds and some populations of federally threatened nesting shorebirds, as well as dwindling populations of nesting colonial birds (Burger and Gochfeld 2016).

Methods
Our overall protocol was to interview people visiting Delaware Bay (New Jersey) during the spring shorebird migration period about their activities, perceptions, concerns, and ratings of ecological and ecocultural resources. All interviews were in person, with appropriate Covid protocols and Rutgers University Institutional Review Board (IRB # E-16-123). Conducting the study by person-to-person interviews at the relevant sites allowed for the development of trust, truthfulness, and openness, and to provide participants with information on the aims and objectives of the study, the anonymity of their responses, and to provide them with information on how to find out the results of the study.

Study areas
Delaware Bay, located along the Atlantic coast of North America, is bordered on the northwestern side by Delaware, and on the southeastern side by New Jersey. Most of the New Jersey side is sparsely populated, except for the lower portion leading to Cape May. Horseshoe crabs spawn on both sides of the Bay in May and June, and Delaware Bay has the largest populations of this species along the Atlantic coast (ASMFC 1998(ASMFC , 2009). Migrating shorebirds forage on both sides of the bay, although the NJ beaches have more creeks with shoals that attracts crab spawning. Salt marshes border many of the beaches, while other beaches are bordered by bulkheads or beach communities with houses and roads. Some of the southern NJ beaches have oyster aquaculture in the intertidal zone. The beaches are generally accessible by suburban streets or by sandy and dirt roads built through salt marshes. Most beaches had beach stewards in attendance for some of the time. Their dual task is to prevent access to the beach by people and dogs, and to provide education. The overall protocol was to interview visitors coming to beaches on the New Jersey side from Villas Beach to Fortescue Beach (Fig. 1).

Protocol
People were interviewed at 9 Delaware Bay beaches where horseshoe crabs spawn and shorebirds forage. Interviews were conducted by trained personnel after completion of pilot interviews. From 10 May until 10 June, 279 people were interviewed. Interviews were conducted from 7 am to dusk every day, although visitation rates were not constant throughout the period. Interviewers visited the beaches in a random fashion, usually spending 3-4h at one beach before moving to another, pre-determined the night before to achieve coverage of the different beaches, while optimizing the number of people interviewed. Interviews were conducted every day during both weekdays and weekends. Two people were dedicated full-time to this study.
The access location for viewing shorebirds or crabs was normally a section of beach at the end of a road that was slightly wider than the access road itself. People could come down to the access space and look either up or down the beach for shorebirds, walk on the available beach, fish at some of the beaches, or walk out on a stone breakwall. In most cases, people could go down to the water's edge and see crabs from a close distance. Shorebirds sometimes fed very close to the string and post fence, or could be foraging way out on shoals and sandbars. Sometimes no shorebirds were in evidence, other times flocks were examined by serious birders with telescopes. Crabs were usually visible, The questionnaire had questions about demographics (age, gender, ethnicity, number of people in the group), home location, number of times they came to Delaware Bay beaches per year, number of years they had been coming to Delaware Bay, and why they came to the beach. Three types of questions were asked: (1) open-ended questions where people could say whatever they wanted, (2) choice questions, and (3) rating questions using a Likert Scale (of 1-5, where 1 is the lowest value and 5 is the highest value) (Kriksciuniene et al. 2019). The open-ended question included why they came, what might make the beach more (or less) attractive, and what conservation measures they would like to see. The choice questions asked people to select what was their primary reason (and 2nd and 3rd reasons) for coming to this beach from a list of options. The rating questions asked people to rate the importance of protection and research on shorebirds, crabs, and fishing. Open-ended questions were asked early during the interview to elicit free and unbiased answers. Rating questions (from a list) were placed later in the questionnaire. Demographics and open-ended questions were asked first, followed by choice and rating questions. The questionnaire was similar to other survey forms used in the past, although the questions themselves differed although the numbers varied by time of day and the moon cycle.
Once an interviewer arrived at a beach, they asked the first person who approached the beach if they would be willing to be interviewed (hereafter called participant). Since many of the access points are at the end of a paved road, it was easy to determine who had just arrived. The interviewer identified themselves as from American Littoral Society and Rutgers University, explained that their answers would be confidential, that participants would not be identified in the survey and the data would be combined into categories. They were told that the results would subsequently be found in publications, university web sites, and by contacting the investigators. Upon completion of that interview, the next new person to arrive at the beach was interviewed. Each beach had only one access point. Thus, there was no bias in the selection of people to be interviewed (see Sheaffer et al. 2000) -the next person that arrived was interviewed. Because of Covid, interviewers were fully vaccinated and maintained a suitable "outdoor" distance when interviewing people. Refusal rate was low (less than 8%) and was largely due to time constraints or presence of children.

Demographics
There were no differences in the gender of the participants (47% females, 53% male). The average group size was 2 ± 0.09. Most participants interviewed were alone, with a spouse, or with children. The average age was 54 ± 0.1 years; 8% were under 30 years, 20% were 31-45, 31% were 46-60, and 41% were over 60 years. The same percentage of males and females occurred at all age classes. Most people self-identified as white (81%); others identified as Latin/ Hispanic (7%), Black (5%), and Asian (4%); the rest identified as other.

Visitor types and reasons for coming to Delaware Bay beaches
When asked why they came to the beach, most participants said they came to the Delaware Bay beaches to see the shorebirds, horseshoe crabs and/or both (58%, bottom panel of Fig. 2). On another part of the questionnaire, participants were also asked to list their 1st, 2nd and 3rd reasons for coming to this beach. The percent of the total participants who mention each category of potential reasons for coming (regardless of whether it was their first, second or third choice) was calculated: 77% said it was for shorebirds, while 85% said it was for tranquility and scenery (top panel of Fig.  2). The first question ( Fig. 2) was open-ended, and participants could answer whatever they liked. These data indicate that people come for a variety of reasons and recognize that they do so. There was not an even distribution of the reasons people came to the beach (P > 0.001). People came for many reasons other than shorebirds, rejecting hypothesis one that people came to the beach mainly for shorebirds.
Visitor type varied by age. Most people who came to see the shorebirds, crabs or interactions were older, while people coming for other reasons were younger (Table 1). There were also significant gender differences in why participants came to the Delaware Bay beaches (X 2 = 21.9, P < 0.001). In general, more males came for recreation and fishing than did females (23% compared to 10%), and more females came to see crabs than did males (13% compared to 2%), although the percentages coming to see shorebirds, or both shorebirds and crabs was similar.
Only 23% of the participants were first time visitors, most (77%) had visited before; there were no significant visitor type differences (Table 2). Most participants visited 1-5 times during the year (64%), another 21% visited 6-10 times a year, and the rest came more often (usually locals). Many people came to the Bay beaches for several years (mean of 16 ± 1 years). Many participants had been (Burger and Tsipoura 2019). Interviewers were allowed to answer clarifying questions if participants misunderstood or did not know a word (after Conrad and Schober 2021). For example, existence value was a term many participants did not know and was defined when participants asked what it meant. The open-ended questions were analyzed by putting answers into categories (e.g. bird-watching, crab watching, walking, running, picking up sea glass were recreation, coming for aesthetics). The open-ended questions, such as "Why did you come?", were analyzed by content and put into categories, partly based on frequency. Categories derived from the open-ended questions were then compared to the later question where they ranked the importance of reasons for coming. These two ways of examining why people came were used because people who routinely say they came for the knots or bird-watching, when given a choice, sometimes say that other reasons are important (e.g. ranked second or third). The categories for analyses (e.g. age, gender, reason for coming) were selected because they can inform targeted management efforts and educational outreach to specific groups (Drury et al. 2011;Elwell et al. 2018)).
The questionnaire was a page long. The in-person interview required from 15 to 45min, depending upon whether people wanted to talk about the issues or ask questions. Questions were answered at the end of the interview to prevent bias in the answering of latter questions. People often wanted to discuss the shorebirds, ask questions about crabs or the crab harvest, and discuss the health of the Bay in general. Some wanted to express frustration that they could not get closer to the shorebirds or crabs, and this provided an opportunity to discuss the effects of human activities on shorebirds. Although beach stewards were present at some study sites, only 40% of participants had ever spoken to a steward. More details on participant response to stewards can be found in Burger et al. (2021). Refusal rate was low, largely because it was a person-to-person interview and participants had an opportunity to judge the trustfulness and sincerity of the interviewer (after Bradburn 2016). Further, 63% of the interviews were completed from 7AM to 1PM, and the rest were completed from 1PM to 8PM.
Means and standard deviations are given in the text unless otherwise mentioned. Differences among categories were determined by Chi Square tests where appropriate, and we distinguished the differences using Duncan Test (SAS 2020). Correlations were determined by Kendall tau.
open-ended question -Why did you come?) with the question -What makes this beach attractive? The two questions are similar and we expected the result to be the same. However, this was not the case (Table 3, X 2 = 134.7, P > 0.0001). We tallied the first response participants gave to the question of attractiveness. In general, many more participants mentioned either scenery or tranquility in response to this question (compared to questions about why they came). In Table  3, of the people who said their primary reason for coming to coming for 11-20 years, which represents much of the time the shorebird-crab phenomena had been highly publicized in the media. There were significant differences in whether they went to other beaches and number of visits/year, but not in whether they thought birds or crabs should receive special protection (Table2).
One advantage of open-ended questions is to elicit perceptions or preferences that might not otherwise be apparent. We compared the visitor type (determined by the Delaware Bay beaches attractive. Participants were also asked what would make the beach even more attractive, or less attractive on open-ended questions (Fig. 3). They could comment on anything that occurred to them. Figure 3 provides a summary of the major categories, while Tables 4 and 5 provide more detail for resource managers and planners. Management requires understanding the precise aspects of visitor responses so they can be addressed. Nearly half of the people interviewed said "Leave it alone, don't change" (41%) or "allow fewer people" (6%), and another 9% said "I don't know." Thus, most participants liked the Delaware Bay beaches with stewards as they are. Other reasons and responses are shown in Table 4.
The constructive answers for improvement fell into three categories: actual improvements, restoration and conservation, management, and unusual comments (Table 4). Some participants wanted toilets, viewing platforms, cleaning up trash, and providing more signage. In talking to participants, many expressed concerns that they did not know where to park, whether it was legal, or where to sit. The greatest number of people, however, thought there could be better (or more) habitat for knots, shorebirds, spawning crabs, and fish.
The second open-ended question about the attractiveness of the Delaware Bay beaches dealt with what would make the beaches less attractive ( Fig. 3; Table 5). Nearly half of the Delaware Bay beaches was for shorebirds (red knots and birds), only 58% said it was the birds that made it "attractive" to them, and another 17% said it was for tranquility or the scenery. That is, of the total sample of people who said they came for the birds, only 58% said birds made the beach attractive, 17% said tranquility and scenery, and the rest said other things.

Beach improvements
In the above section, the presence of shorebirds and crabs, and scenery and tranquility were the features that made the   Table 4 Responses of participants visiting Delaware Bay beaches from 9 May to 5 June, during the migration of shorebirds and the spawning of horseshoe crabs. The Question was -How could this beach be made more attractive? Participants (N = 279) could give more than one answer Fig. 3 Perceptions of what would make the beach more or less attractive for participants. The percent within each type (more attractive, less attractive) add up to more than 100% because some participants mentioned issues in more than one category don't get caught," "Involve more young people," "Let me turn over crabs," and "Protect the baby turtles, the oyster beds, and the fish." The participants' comments are revealing for a number of reasons: (1) only 2 people (of 279) said do less, (2) some people simply said they supported current measures, or that birds or crabs should be protected without giving any specific measures, (3) most people listed particular things they supported, and (4) 49 people mentioned outreach activities (more stewards, signage, education). Participants often mentioned more than one conservation measure (excluding the 20% people who did not answer or mainly said keep it "as is"). The comments below each main category (i.e. horseshoe crabs) were specific comments mentioned. Thus, the question on conservation gives a relative idea of the overall concerns. Of these, 22% mentioned education/outreach, 21% mentioned ecosystem protections, 59% mentioned conservation actions with shorebirds, and 37% mentioned conservation actions with crabs. It should be noted that despite 42% of people saying they came primarily for reasons other than shorebirds or crabs, 69% of people provided comments about how to protect shorebirds, crabs, and the ecosystem.
After all the open-ended questions were answered, people were asked to rate the importance of stewards, protection, and research. The mean rating for protection of shorebirds, protection of crabs, research on shorebirds, and research on crabs were very high (top line of Table 7). Further, many of these aspects were highly correlated, except for fishing. The table shows that participants who rated protection and research high, also rated all the related entries high (e.g. significant positive correlations in Table 7). However, this was not true for fishing: there were no significant correlations of the rating of fishing with the other protections and research (Table 7).
There were no significant age differences in whether participants thought that there should be protection of shorebirds (X 2 = 6.3, P > 0.09) or crabs (X 2 = 1.2, P > 0.7), but support for shorebird research increased with age (Χ 2 = 10.2, P > 0.02, Table 8). The mean rating for research on migrant shorebirds increased from 4.24 for people under 30 years, to 4.29 (31-45 years), to 4.59 (46-60 years) to 4.74 for people 61 years or older. No significant difference as a function of age occurred for research on crabs (X 2 = 2.7, P > 0.4).

Discussion
The main findings of this study of participants visiting several Delaware Bay beaches during the shorebird spring migration stopover period are; (1) people were overwhelmingly supportive of protection of, and research on, shorebirds Data from the two questions (Tables 4 and 5) indicated that overwhelmingly people do not want to see the beach change, and do not want to see more people or development. Some of the suggestions, however, involve providing amenities that would not change the character of the beach (e.g., benches, trash cans, removing graffiti, signs for where to park legally).

Conservation
The above two tables describe how the beach could be more or less attractive for the people visiting this beach. In the following opening-ended question, the emphasis was on measures that can be implemented for the birds, crabs and beaches overall in terms of conservation (Table 6). In other words, what conservation measures would they like to see implemented or continued. Overwhelmingly, people wanted to see the continued protection of red knots and shorebirds, as well as ecosystem protection. Because this question also provides some information on the knowledge base of participants that will be useful to planners and managers, more detailed information is provided. In addition to the comments in Table 6, some people said, "Put up boards so crabs Less 1 I Don't know 26 9 a. This is actually a misunderstanding. Many of the crabs that people think are dead have been stranded by the tide, their dorsal surface is up to prevent desiccation, and during the next high tide will move out

Methodological issues
This study of the perceptions of people visiting the Delaware Bay beaches employed a semi-structured interview using a questionnaire (after Drury et al. 2011, Bennet 2016, Bradburn 2016, Choudhry et al. 2015. In-person interviews have the advantage of direct contact where the participants can judge the truthfulness and sincerity of the interviewer, can develop trust, and decide whether to participate or not and crabs. (2) visitor type, gender, and age influenced the perceptions of people (3) perceptions of the importance of resources increased with age of participants, and (4) women generally rated the importance of protection and research higher than did men (except for fishing). These will be discussed below, along with methodological issues. Table 6 Participant suggestions for conservation on Delaware Bay beaches. Participants were asked the question -What conservation measures would you like to see implemented? Participants could not answer (31 did not), say they like it as it is, or provide suggestions. Because this information will be useful in providing guidance to create information and outreach materials, more detail is given than might be necessary.  Finally, we used the Likert scale for some questions (e.g. the importance of protection or conservation). While the use of the Likert scale for surveys has been critiqued on the basis of not being able to distinguish cause and effects of a problem (Kriksciuniene et al. 2019), we were not using it for that purpose, but merely determining whether they felt research or conservation were important to them. Our purpose in doing so was to see if there was public support for research (and/or conservation) of some resources (birds, crabs, fish), and to address the question of a common knowledge base between stakeholders, experts and scientists (Loubier et al. 2005). Stakeholder participation is a major component of coastal protection (Lucrezi 2021;Yet et al. 2022). The results in the present paper provide social context (see Moon et al. 2019) for the phenomenon of massive, spring-time migrating shorebirds along Delaware Bay, and elsewhere in the world.

Influence of visitor type, gender, and age on perceptions: educational needs and approaches
Visitor type was an important aspect of investigation because the data from the interviews did not support the initial hypothesis that people mainly came to these shorebird beaches to watch the shorebirds, or even the shorebirds and crabs. Nearly 40% came for other reasons. Regardless of the way the question was asked (open-ended, or ranking), about the same percentage of people fell into each visitor type. Having questions addressing the same issue on different parts of the survey, and in different formats assures the reliability of the answers. The fact that so many people came to the shorebird foraging beaches for other reasons indicated that there is room for management of these beaches to enhance these other qualities. Beach stewards, for example, are largely trained to address information about the shorebirds and horseshoe crabs, but could be provided with information relevant to the other reasons people come to the beaches. Managers are increasingly aware that understanding the interests of users, and involving them in (Schober and Conrad 1997;Conrad et al. 2013). Participants can see the interviewer and can monitor facial expressions. This is both an advantage and a disadvantage, in that the interviewer has to appear neutral in both speech and mannerism. Similarly, the interviewer can see when a participant is confused, and can answer questions or define terms. Conrad and Schober (2021) found that providing clarifying information during standardized interviews can improve data quality over nondirective probes. In the present study, participants sometimes asked what "existence value" was, and interviewers provided them with a definition. If participants asked about the status of knots, they were told they were federally threatened. We asked all the open-ended questions first and did not vary the order (Auspurg & Jackle 2017). Hadler (2021) found that probe responses are not strongly affected by question order. Further, some questions were asked in two different places on the questionnaire, and the answers were highly correlated (e.g. responses to the value of stewards on the beach).
In the present study, two interviewers conducted the interviews, introduced themselves in a friendly manner, explained the survey purpose, and then asked the questions in a conversational manner. Further, both were female, and refusal rate was very low. The few people who did not want to be interviewed were in a hurry or were simply checking for shorebirds and when none were present, wanted to leave immediately for another potential place. Since this was not a science-based questionnaire, people did not decline to answer, as has been found for some science-based surveys (Gaskell et al. 1995). Being able to see the interviewer on the shore of a Delaware Bay beach leads to developing trust and having them clarify a question (e.g. what is existence value or what are knots) led to developing a social norm of truthfulness between the interviewer and participant (see Bradburn 2016), as well as a willingness to continue with the survey. Being able to give suggestions for improving the bay beach experience empowered participants to feel their voices were being heard. Table 8 Rating for the importance of different aspects, and ratings as a function of age a of participants. These were rated on a scale of 1-5 (where 5 is the most positive). There are also significant differences as a function of age for each question (X 2 values on the right of the 4.11 ± 0.08 4.0 ± 0.31 3.98 ± − 0.16 4.08 ± 0.13 4.23 ± 0.12 2.7 (NS) a. X 2 = 24.5, P < 0.01 b. X 2 = 130.2, P > 0.0001 research and protection of shorebirds, crabs, and the beach. It suggests that managers and conservationists should be particularly attentive to the needs of younger beach visitors, and to members of the public in general. It may also suggest that older visitors to these beaches, who have been coming longer, should be encouraged to work with younger members of their communities and assume the role of "elders" imparting information to the younger generations (Flood and McAvoy, 2007;Bohnee et al. 2011;Boyd and Furgal 2019;Burger et al. 2021). Information and tools provided to these "elders" could then enhance their effectiveness.
Finally, we mention in passing that over 80% of the participants were white, and that this in itself provides an environmental justice issue -Why aren't the Delaware Bay beaches being used by other ethnic groups? Clearly, the use of these beaches needs to be broadened (Hitchcock 2001). Environmental justice does not just apply to the undue exposure of low-income or minority communities to chemicals (although this is clearly important, Brulle and Pellow 2006;Gochfeld and Burger 2011), but to the unequal access to positive benefits, such as green and wild environments (Kondo et al. 2018;Labib et al. 2020). Part of environmental management and conservation of the shorebird beaches on Delaware Bay should include involvement of the broad range of stakeholders in the region (Burger et al. 2008;EPA 2007EPA , 2009Lagana et al. 2013).

Protection and research on shorebirds and crabs
Regardless of the type of visitor, overall protection and research of shorebirds were rated very high, although research and protection of crabs were rated slightly lower (Table 7). This is a key finding because it suggests that participants were supportive of current management and conservation, and wanted to see these continue and be improved. Further, when asked if they thought birds and crabs should receive special protection, over 80% of all participants (except fisherman), regardless of reason for coming to the beach, thought that birds and crabs should receive special protection (Table 2). That perceptions of the importance of research and protection was consistently confirmed in several different questions attests to its validity, and usefulness in discussions with governmental and non-governmental agencies. There is widespread support for continued protection -for shorebirds generally, not just the federally threatened red knot. While red knot is clearly in danger, some other shorebirds are also facing drastic declines, especially species that also use Delaware Bay (Brown et al. 2017). Preservation of the foraging beaches and other intertidal habitats is an important key aspect of the conservation strategy for Delaware Bay shorebirds, as it is elsewhere. the planning process, is key to obtaining support, and in some cases, contributing to conservation of the resources (Foster et al. 2013). Further, although perhaps less "green" than other spaces, beaches are open, wild places that fulfill the same need to have an experience in nature (Labib et al. 2020).
Perceptions of research and protection of resources were influenced by visitor type, gender, and age. In general: (1) participants who came to see shorebirds, crabs, or both were older than people who came for fishing, other recreation, or tranquility or scenery, (2) participants who came strictly for the shorebirds were less likely to be first-time visitors, and more likely to visit other Delaware Bay beaches than others, (3) older participants rated research and protection of shorebirds and crabs higher than younger participants, and (4) women rated research and protections higher than men, and they rated the importance of some resources higher than men. These bear repeating because these factors (age, gender, visitor type) influenced nearly all of the information and ratings of the study. There were no differences among visitors, however, in whether they thought shorebirds and crabs should receive special attention. These data provide information that both characterizes the people coming to the Delaware Bay beaches during the shorebird stopover period, but also can be used in management and educational programs.
Gender and age differences in perceptions are not unusual (Hitchcock 2001;Lieske et al. 2014), and the focus of this paper is on these factors only as they relate to future planning and management. The average group size in the study was 2, and included both same sex and opposite-sex "couples", as well as parent and offspring. The gender differences were not likely to be due to biases in the selection of participants, since males and females were interviewed in about equal numbers, and in many cases the participants were accompanied by their spouse or companion. Couples were approached and the initial request for an interview was addressed to them together, and one person usually said yes and answered all the questions. When the second member of a group wanted to answer, we declined to interview them, but did discuss the project with them after the interview. Only one person within any couple was interviewed, and their answer was recorded, even if their companion disagreed with their answer.
The differences as a function of age and gender, however, can be useful in developing educational plans and management objectives. For example, information programs (brochures, posters, internet information and approaches) can be directed specifically at different age and gender groups. The higher rating of the importance of protection and research given by older participants suggests a need to reach younger people, and may also portend a lack of future support for views, and those of users of specific beaches, can be used to foster sustainability both of beach tourism (e.g. Chen and Teng 2016), and of the resources themselves (Foster et al. 2014).

Implications for conservation and management
The overall goal of the Delaware Bay Shorebird Project is to protect and enhance the populations of red knots and other shorebirds migrating through Delaware Bay within the context of a healthy, complex ecosystem (Niles et al. 2008(Niles et al. , 2009. Migratory shorebirds, however, depend upon a substantial population of spawning horseshoe crabs (ASMFC 1998(ASMFC , 2009. Other species on the food chain of Delaware Bay also depend on the eggs and larvae of horseshoe crabs, including many invertebrates, scavengers, small fish, and predatory fish and birds. The shorebirds and crabs clearly need extensive management to preserve the system (Niles et al. 2008(Niles et al. , 2009USFWS 2014aUSFWS , 2014b, and part of the management has to include visitors who come to the bay to observe the birds, as well as the local communities. Public policy makers, planners, and resource managers all have to make decisions about protecting ecological resources within a context of both science and public views. This is particularly true for marine resources (Ban et al. 2009;Beyerl et al. 2016;Lucrezi 2021), partly because a significant proportion of populations in the USA and the world live along coasts. The present study was developed to examine how participants use the Delaware Bay beaches, the advantages and disadvantages of the beaches, and whether conservation and research were important to them. This information is critical to managers and conservationists in developing, planning, and executing ecosystem conservation on Delaware Bay. The categories used for analysis were those that managers and others can directly use in their conservation planning efforts.
The data show that there are differences in perceptions as a function of visitor type, age and gender, and that this information can be used in an education program that includes internet communications that appeal to younger visitors to the bay, especially those with children. The ratings for both research and conservation of shorebirds and crabs were quite high, even though there were age and gender differences. This suggests strong support for these programs (Table 9). Structurally, education and community involvement in management and development of rules and regulations are critical to the success of the Delaware Bay Shorebird Project. The participants, regardless of the reasons they came to the bay, support conservation and research with both shorebirds and crabs, and this could be a basis for more stakeholder involvement in management and conservation.
Despite the adoption of the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, there is still little protection in many wetlands and intertidal habitats (Foster et al. 2013). These zones are the transition zone between marine and terrestrial systems, and are becoming increasingly important in being the first line of defense against severe storms and sea level rise (IPCC 2014). Perhaps understanding stakeholder Table 9 Management and planning recommendations to improve the already successful conservation program for shorebirds on Delaware Bay. The recommendations follow from the data on perceptions of those interviewed, and those of the interviewers Recommendation Implementation suggestions Continue current management Since there is strong support for current management, these measures should be continued (logistics and funding) Provide beach stewards, normally trained to address information about the shorebirds and horseshoe crabs, with information relevant to the other reasons people come to the beaches.
Use information from a full range of stakeholders using the Delaware Bay beaches to develop information and approaches that apply to all the groups (not just those interested in red knots, shorebirds, or crabs) Develop information programs directed specifically at different age and gender groups.
Develop age-and gender specific brochures, posters, internet information and approaches, with the different age and gender groups Involve a broad range of stakeholders from the region in information, education and management of shorebirds (and crabs).
While the participants represented a range of age, gender and visitor types, there was little ethnic diversity, and efforts should be made to improve access by minority and low-income local residents. Involve local community leaders, representatives and state personnel directly in management Perceptions of local leaders can be solicited, along with involvement directly in management and conservation. Understanding of stakeholder views should be used to foster sustainability.
The perceptions of the visitor types, advantages and disadvantages, and conservation suggestions can be used to improve the beach experience for both shorebirds and beach-goers, as well as the total Delaware Bay ecosystem. Convene a Delaware Bay group to improve the shorebird-crab relationship, the whole Bay ecosystem, as well as the visitor (and resident) experiences Develop a committee of conservationists, birders, fishermen, recreationists regulators, government officials and local residents to work toward ecosystem improvement that includes a diversity of stakeholders and addresses environmental justice.
to editing the ms.
Funding This research was funding by a grant from the American Littoral Society through the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and by the Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey.

Availability of data and material
The original data are available upon request from the senior author (Rutgers University).

Statements and declarations
Conflict of interest The authors have no financial or non-financial interests to disclose.
Author consent All authors have edited and read the ms and consent to its publication.

Ethics approval
No individual identifiers or economic information was obtained from the participants. Appropriate introductory material was provided about the study objectives, the university involvement, that it was voluntary and no personal identifiers were being asked, and how they could obtain information if they so desired. The protocol was approved by the Rutgers University Institutional Review Board (Protocol E16-123).
Both the increase in beach tourism, and the strong support of beach tourists as indicated by the participants in this study, suggest that there is a need for practical, acceptable, strong, sustainable policies. Clearly increases in the number of people coming to these beaches would detract from the participants' enjoyment of the beach, and these views need to be taken into account (see Chen and Teng 2021). In other places, the importance of the perceptions of visitors to beaches have played a key role in developing management strategies (Antos et al. 2006;Ballantyne et al. 2009;Chen and Teng 2016;Harris et al. 2020), although often these deal with protective structures on beaches (e.g. dunes, replenishment, hard engineered structures, Charbonneau et al. 2019).
While Table 9 summarizes our recommendations that flow directly from the data, we also suggest others that could improve the already very successful Delaware Bay Shorebird Project, including expanding it to include the complex food chain that begins with horseshoe crabs. The Project has been successful in providing additional high quality habitat, and admirably managed the stewardship program with the result of supporting the majority of the red knots using Delaware Bay as a stopover (Dey et al. 2020). However, it is essential to increase the populations of spawning horseshoe crabs and the number of knots, and improve the overall ecosystem. We suggest that a group of people intimately concerned about the health of both the ecosystem (including shorebirds) and the experiences of beach-goers should be convened to discuss ways to improve both conservation of the Delaware Bay ecosystem and the conservation of the visitors' experiences. Such a group might include conservationists, birders, other recreationists, regulators, government officials, and local residents. This group might use the current data and their own experiences to aid in the management of the Delaware Bay beaches, and the Delaware Bay Shorebird Project.