The American Black Duck: Three Decades of Science-Based Adaptive Management

The American black duck (Anas rubripes) population declined by 50% between 1955 and 1985, prompting more than three decades of intensive scientific research and strategic management. Analyses of band recovery data suggest that the historical declines may have been caused in part by harvest, but even with restrictive hunting regulations implemented in the mid 1980s, populations have not recovered. Increasing competition and hybridization with mallards (Anas platyrhynchos), coupled with habitat loss and fragmentation on northern breeding grounds are hypothesized to have contributed to a lower continental black duck population. Simultaneously, there is a concern that declines in the quantity and quality of wintering habitat—coastal salt marshes of the eastern United States—may have deleterious cross-seasonal effects on black duck demographics. Black ducks have a long legacy of intensive research and management, and ongoing threats to their populations make this a well-rooted and timely case study in science-based conservation.