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Little Ringed Plover Charadrius dubius is a wader 
which in Europe used to inhabit bare and sparsely 
overgrown gravely and sandy alluvial river banks but 
in the last few decades it has also inhabited different 
anthropogenic biotopes like surface excavations 
and gravelled areas. In the same period most of the 
natural habitats vanished due to human interference. 
Today more than half of Europe’s population lives in 
anthropogenic habitats. In Slovenia its natural breeding 
grounds are on the rivers Drava, Sava and Soča, while 
most of the anthropogenic breeding grounds are on 
the plains of NE Slovenia and in Ljubljana Basin.
This work is the result of two years’ research of 
Little Ringed Plover in Ljubljana Basin. Based on 
the assessment of some habitat parameters I tried to 
determine the key habitat parameters which determine 
the breeding of Little Ringed Plover. I also assessed the 
importance of anthropogenic habitats for this species 
in Ljubljana Basin and determined the most important 
breeding sites.
After systematic survey of the area (aerial 
photographs and field visits of 119 localities) I identified 
42 possible breeding sites of Little Ringed Plover. In 
the research which followed I surveyed all the nesting 
Little Ringed Plovers and located their nests. On all 
gravelled areas I recorded chosen habitat parameters: 
proportions of granulation categories, proportions of 
different vegetation types, human activity on and near 
the gravelled areas, dampness of gravelled areas, relief 
heterogenity of the ground surface, total surface area 
and distance to the nearest river. I also determined 
whether the gravelled area was of artificial or natural 
origin. I recorded the proportions of particular 
Povzetki diplomskih, magistrskih in doktorskih del 
Thesis Summaries
Koce, U. (2005): Gnezditvena ekologija malega 
deževnika (Charadrius dubius) v Ljubljanski 
kotlini. [Nesting ecology of Little Ringed 
Plover (Charadrius dubius) in Ljubljana Basin]. 
– Graduation Thesis, University of Ljubljana, 
Biotechnical Faculty, Department of Biology, 
Ljubljana.
Mentor / Supervisor: doc. dr. Peter Trontelj / Assist. Prof. 
Peter Trontelj, PhD 
UDK 591.5:595.14(497.4 Ljubljanska kotlina)(043.2) 
Avtoričin elektronski naslov / Author’s e–mail: ukoce@nib.si
granulation categories and vegetation types also in the 
immediate vicinity of the nests.
On 42 gravelled areas 32 pairs of Little Ringed 
Plovers nested, 17 (53%) on natural gravel banks and 
15 (47%) on artificial gravelled areas. The highest 
density of nesting pairs in natural habitats was on the 
gravel banks of Sava in the section between the triple 
confluence of Kamniška bistrica, Ljubljanica and 
Sava, and Laze near Dolsko (11 br.p.). The highest 
density of nesting pairs in artificial habitats were in 
the abandoned gravel pit near Tomačevo (3 br.p.) and 
in industrial zone Rudnik (3 br.p.).
Logistic regression was used to analyse the influence 
of individual habitat parameters on nesting. Among 
several parameters there were two with significant 
positive influence on nesting: dampness of the 
ground and proportion of the grains sized 12 – 25 
cm. Parameters with significant negative influence on 
nesting were relief heterogenity of the ground surface 
and wooden vegetation above 25 cm. As regards the 
locations, Little Ringed Plover’s nesting places were 
preferrably where the largest portion of granulation 
were grains sized 2 – 12 cm, and most of the area was 
bare ground.
The importance of artificial habitats in Ljubljana 
Basin is high, since they support almost half of 
regional population (15 of 32 nesting pairs; 47%). 
These habitats are mostly suboptimal and have the 
role of replacement habitat due to the lack of suitable 
natural gravel banks.
Povzetki diplomskih, magistrskih in doktorskih del / Thesis Summaries