H.2-3: An overview of isotopic methods and applications for estimating origins of migratory waterfowl
by Keith A. Hobson, Western University, London, Ontario; and Environment and Climate Change Canada, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, et al
Presented by Douglas C. Tozer - Email: dtozer@birdscanada.org
Ratios of naturally-occurring stable isotopes (e.g., 2H, 13C, 15N, 18O, 34S) in bird tissues such as claws or feathers are now routinely sampled to estimate migratory connectivity in a variety of bird species including waterfowl. The method takes adv...
H.2-4: Origins of harvested Mallards from Lake St. Clair, Ontario: A Stable Isotope Approach.
by Matthew D. Palumbo, Western University, Biology Department, Biological and Geological Sciences Building 2025, 1151 Richmond Street, London, Ontario, Canada, N6A 3K7;
Presented by Matthew D. Palumbo - Email: Matthew.Palumbo@dec.ny.gov
Understanding migratory connections between breeding origins and point of harvest for waterfowl in North America is important for effective management and conservation. Long-term mark-recapture programs have provided most of these data but such metho...
H.2-5: Habitat use and movements of urban-nesting Canada geese in the Greater Toronto Area
by Ryan J. Askren, University of Illinois, Illinois Natural History Survey, Champaign-Urbana, IL 61801., et al
Presented by Ryan J. Askren - Email: raskren2@illinois.edu
Increased abundances of temperate-breeding Canada geese (Branta canadensis) in urban areas have been associated with human-goose conflicts. These conflicts can pose human health risks and decrease the aesthetic value of recreational areas. In urban a...
H.3-1: Modeling double-observer aerial survey count data of wintering waterfowl in South Carolina
by Nicholas M Masto, Department of Forestry and Environmental Conservation, Clemson University, et al
Presented by Nick Masto - Email: nmasto@g.clemson.edu
Aerial surveys are efficient and effective strategies to estimate occurrence and abundance of wildlife populations especially in large and inaccessible landscapes. However, a fundamental concern is that animal detection is imperfect. Thus, accounting...
Presented by Christian Roy - Email: christian.roy3@canada.ca
We evaluated double-dependent observer methods for helicopter surveys as a mean to adjust counts of waterfowl for incomplete detection. We tested our methodology during a sea duck survey in Labrador, eastern Canada, in 2009 and subsequently applied i...
H.3-3: Integrating counts from aerial and ground surveys to estimate densities of waterfowl
by Beth E Ross, U.S. Geological Survey, South Carolina Cooperative Research Unit, Clemson, SC, et al
Presented by Beth E Ross - Email: bross5@clemson.edu
Wildlife monitoring data can be challenging to incorporate into models for statistical and ecological inference because spatio-temporal scales and data quality may vary. Surveys to monitor waterfowl are particularly challenging in that waterfowl are ...
H.3-4: Comparison of unmanned aerial vehicle surveys and visual ground surveys of waterfowl on stock ponds in the Oaks and Prairies region of Texas
by James R. Morel, Department of Natural Resources Management, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, 79409, USA, et al
Presented by James R. Morel - Email: james.morel@ttu.edu
The Oaks and Prairies Ecoregion of east-central Texas harbor numerous man-made stock ponds, which regionally are the dominant landscape water feature and collectively provide abundant habitat for wintering waterfowl. Recent Texas Parks and Wildlife ...
H.3-5: Visibility Bias and Disturbance of Waterfowl During Aerial Surveys
by Andrew D. Gilbert, Illinois Natural History Survey, Bellrose Waterfowl Research Center and Forbes Biological Station, Prairie Research Institute at the University of Illinois, Havana, IL 62644, USA , et al
Presented by Andrew D. Gilbert - Email: agilb849@illinois.edu
Wetland managers commonly use aerial surveys to monitor the distribution and abundance of waterbirds to aid in population management and habitat conservation. However, most existing surveys only provide abundance indices that are uncorrected for vis...
H.4-1: Wetland suitability for spring-migrating waterfowl in the Midwest
by Abigail G. Blake-Bradshaw, Illinois Natural History Survey, Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, et al
Presented by Abigail G. Blake-Bradshaw - Email: ablakebradshaw@gmail.com
Wetland-dependent bird populations may be limited by suitable habitat in regions where loss and degradation of wetlands is pervasive, such as in the midwestern United States. Suitability of stopover wetlands used by wetland-dependent birds during sp...
H.4-2: Developing spatiotemporally explicit wetland inundation models for Illinois
by John O'Connell, Cooperative Wildlife Research Laboratory, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL, et al
Presented by John O'Connell - Email: john.oconnell@siu.edu
Managing wetlands to meet bioenergetic demands of waterfowl or to provide ecosystem services requires reliable estimates of temporal variation in the extent of wetland inundation, but the commonly used National Wetland Inventory (NWI) is temporally s...
Presented by Derek C. Ballard - Email: dcb@iastate.edu
Historically, approximately 3.08 million hectares of native prairie pothole complex were found in Iowa but by the 1980s, 95% to 99% of Iowas wetlands had been lost because of drainage. There has been an increasing recognition of the importance of rem...
H.4-4: Spring Migration Ecology of Green-winged Teal and Gadwall in Illinois
by Aaron P. Yetter, Illinois Natural History Survey, Prairie Research Institute at the University of Illinois, Havana, Illinois, et al
Presented by Aaron P. Yetter - Email: ayetter@illinois.edu
Millions of waterfowl rely on Illinois wetlands during autumn and spring migration. Harvest surveys show gadwall (Mareca strepera) and green-winged teal (Anas crecca) comprise approximately 15% of the ducks harvested in Illinois, and they are commonl...
H.4-5: Stopover Duration and Habitat Use of Spring Migrating Dabbling Ducks in the Wabash River Valley
by Benjamin R. Williams, Illinois Natural History Survey, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, et al
Presented by Benjamin R. Williams - Email: brwilli3@illinois.edu
Spring migration is an important and often under-studied period of the waterfowl annual cycle. Stopover sites along migration routes contain habitats and resources required by waterfowl to rest and refuel before continuing north to the breeding groun...
Presented by Jim Sediinger - Email: jsedinger@cabnr.unr.edu
Population models used for harvest management are predominantly between 15 and 20 years old. New research results and new analytical approaches make it possible to assess a number of the assumptions incorporated into these models. We explore these i...
I.1-2: Some serious citizen science: Lincolns estimator for waterfowl abundance
by Ray T. Alisauskas, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Prairie and Northern Wildlife Research Centre, Saskatoon, SK, and Department of Biology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK
Presented by Ray T. Alisauskas - Email: ray.alisauskas@canada.ca
Hunting has the potential to affect survival and population size of waterfowl. This notion motivates much effort in North America toward direct estimation of abundance, harvest and survival for a wide array of waterfowl species. Before aerial surve...
Presented by Thomas Riecke - Email: triecke@cabnr.unr.edu
Recent and previous research has addressed density-dependent effects on population growth rates of North American waterfowl populations. Critically, current management frameworks result in harvest regulations tracking the abundance of North American ...
I.1-4: Cross-seasonal models reveal evidence for density-dependence, climate-mediated survival, and harvest compensation in mallards
by Benjamin S. Sedinger, College of Natural Resources, University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point, Stevens Point, WI, et al
Presented by Benjamin S. Sedinger - Email: Ben.Sedinger@uwsp.edu
Demographic studies and surveys of plant and animal populations are the foundation of conservation biology, wildlife and land management, and much of ecology and evolutionary biology. These studies are critically important for understanding the effec...
I.2-1: Life-history traits predict species-specific effects of global change on breeding waterfowl in the Prairie Pothole Region
by Frances E. Buderman, Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, et al
Presented by Frances E. Buderman - Email: fbuderman@gmail.com
The Prairie Pothole Region of North America is the primary breeding ground for many North American waterfowl species. Contemporary agricultural practices have resulted in the consolidation of wetlands into larger, deeper, less productive ponds, and c...
I.2-2: Spatiotemporal variation in waterfowl demography
by Madeleine Lohman, University of Nevada, Reno, et al
Presented by Madeleine Lohman - Email: madeleinelohman@gmail.com
Spatial variation in abundance and growth rates is a fundamental tenet of population ecology. Waterfowl exhibit large spatial and temporal variation in abundance, which is correlated with wetland quantity. Yet, analyses explicitly examining spatial v...
I.2-3: Mathematics and Mallard Management II
by Todd Arnold, Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota
Presented by Todd Arnold - Email: arnol065@umn.edu
In 1979, Cowardin and Johnson published a seminal paper entitled “Mathematics and Mallard Management”, in which they used existing data and simple population models to explore alternative options for harvest and habitat management. Forty years later,...
J.1-1: Population Genetics and Hybridization of Mallards and Mallard-Like Ducks in North America
by Philip Lavretsky, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX, 79668, USA
Presented by Philip Lavretsky - Email: plavretsky@utep.edu
North America is home to five recently diverged, New World “mallards,” a group of dabbling duck species characterized by diagnosable phenotypic differences but minimal genetic differentiation. I present genomic data used to characterize population st...
