wetland habitat
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2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tamara S. Wilson ◽  
Elliott Matchett ◽  
Kristin B. Byrd ◽  
Erin Conlisk ◽  
Matthew E. Reiter ◽  
...  

PeerJ ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. e12475
Author(s):  
Qing Zhao ◽  
Kristen Heath-Acre ◽  
Daniel Collins ◽  
Warren Conway ◽  
Mitch D. Weegman

Knowledge of demography is essential for understanding wildlife population dynamics and developing appropriate conservation plans. However, population survey and demographic data (e.g., capture-recapture) are not always aligned in space and time, hindering our ability to robustly estimate population size and demographic processes. Integrated population models (IPMs) can provide inference for population dynamics with poorly aligned but jointly analysed population and demographic data. In this study, we used an IPM to analyse partially aligned population and demographic data of a migratory shorebird species, the snowy plover (Charadrius nivosus). Snowy plover populations have declined dramatically during the last two decades, yet the demographic mechanisms and environmental drivers of these declines remain poorly understood, hindering development of appropriate conservation strategies. We analysed 21 years (1998–2018) of partially aligned population survey, nest survey, and capture-recapture-resight data in three snowy plover populations (i.e., Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma) in the Southern Great Plains of the US. By using IPMs we aimed to achieve better precision while evaluating the effects of wetland habitat and climatic factors (minimum temperature, wind speed) on snowy plover demography. Our IPM provided reasonable precision for productivity measures even with missing data, but population and survival estimates had greater uncertainty in years without corresponding data. Our model also uncovered the complex relationships between wetland habitat, climate, and demography with reasonable precision. Wetland habitat had positive effects on snowy plover productivity (i.e., clutch size and clutch fate), indicating the importance of protecting wetland habitat under climate change and other human stressors for the conservation of this species. We also found a positive effect of minimum temperature on snowy plover productivity, indicating potential benefits of warmth during night on their population. Based on our results, we suggest prioritizing population and capture-recapture surveys for understanding population dynamics and underlying demographic processes when data collection is limited by time and/or financial resources. Our modelling approach can be used to allocate limited conservation resources for evidence-based decision-making.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zuzana Musilová ◽  
Petr Musil ◽  
Jan Zouhar ◽  
Adéla Šenkýřová ◽  
Diego Pavón‐Jordán ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  

Author(s):  
Carley Schacter ◽  
◽  
Sarah Peterson ◽  
Mark Herzog ◽  
C. Alex Hartman ◽  
...  

Availability of wetlands with low salinities during the breeding season can influence waterfowl reproductive success and population recruitment. Salinities as low as 2 ppt (3.6 mScm–1) can impair duckling growth and influence behavior, with mortality occurring above 9 ppt (14.8 mScm–1). We used satellite imagery to quantify the amount of available water, and sampled surface water salinity at Grizzly Island, in the brackish Suisun Marsh, at three time-periods during waterfowl breeding (April, May, July) over 4 years (2016–2019). More water was available and salinity was lower during wetter years (2017, 2019) than during drier years (2016, 2018), and the amount of water in wetlands decreased 73%–86% from April to July. Across all time-periods and years, the majority (64%–100%) of wetland habitat area had salinities above what has been shown to negatively affect ducklings (> 2 ppt), and up to 42% of wetland area had salinities associated with duckling mortality (> 9 ppt). During peak duckling production in May, 81%–95% of available water had salinity above 2 ppt, and 5%–21% was above 9 ppt. In May of the driest year (2016), only 0.5 km2 of low-salinity water (< 2 ppt) was available to ducklings in the study area, compared to 2.6 km2 in May of the wettest year (2017). Private duck clubs own the majority of wetland habitat at Grizzly Island and consistently had a greater percentage of land flooded during summer than did publicly owned wetlands, but private wetlands generally had higher salinities than public wetlands, likely because they draw from higher-salinity water sources. By July, few wetlands remained flooded, and most had salinities high enough to impair duckling growth and survival. Local waterfowl populations would benefit from management practices that provide fresher water during peak duckling production in May and retain more water through July.


Author(s):  
C. Alex Hartman ◽  
◽  
Joshua Ackerman ◽  
Carley Schacter ◽  
Mark Herzog ◽  
...  

Availability of wetlands with low salinities during the breeding season can influence waterfowl reproductive success and population recruitment. Salinities as low as 2 ppt (3.6 mScm–1) can impair duckling growth and influence behavior, with mortality occurring above 9 ppt (14.8 mScm–1). We used satellite imagery to quantify the amount of available water, and sampled surface water salinity at Grizzly Island, in the brackish Suisun Marsh, at three time-periods during waterfowl breeding (April, May, July) over 4 years (2016–2019). More water was available and salinity was lower during wetter years (2017, 2019) than during drier years (2016, 2018), and the amount of water in wetlands decreased 73%–86% from April to July. Across all time-periods and years, the majority (64%–100%) of wetland habitat area had salinities above what has been shown to negatively affect ducklings (> 2 ppt), and up to 42% of wetland area had salinities associated with duckling mortality (> 9 ppt). During peak duckling production in May, 81%–95% of available water had salinity above 2 ppt, and 5%–21% was above 9 ppt. In May of the driest year (2016), only 0.5 km2 of low-salinity water (< 2 ppt) was available to ducklings in the study area, compared to 2.6 km2 in May of the wettest year (2017). Private duck clubs own the majority of wetland habitat at Grizzly Island and consistently had a greater percentage of land flooded during summer than did publicly owned wetlands, but private wetlands generally had higher salinities than public wetlands, likely because they draw from higher-salinity water sources. By July, few wetlands remained flooded, and most had salinities high enough to impair duckling growth and survival. Local waterfowl populations would benefit from management practices that provide fresher water during peak duckling production in May and retain more water through July.


Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (17) ◽  
pp. 2327
Author(s):  
Evan R. DeLancey ◽  
Brian Brisco ◽  
Logan J. T. McLeod ◽  
Richard Hedley ◽  
Erin M. Bayne ◽  
...  

Earth observation technologies have strong potential to help map and monitor wildlife habitats. Yellow Rail, a rare wetland obligate bird species, is a species of concern in Canada and provides an interesting case study for monitoring wetland habitat with Earth observation data. Yellow Rail has highly specific habitat requirements characterized by shallowly flooded graminoid vegetation, the availability of which varies seasonally and year-to-year. Polarimetric Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) in combination with optical data should, in theory, be a great resource for mapping and monitoring these habitats. This study evaluates the use of RADARSAT-2 data and Landsat-8 data to characterize, map, and monitor Yellow Rail habitat in a wetland area within the mineable oil sands region. Specifically, we investigate: (1) The relative importance of polarimetric SAR and Landsat-8 data for predicting Yellow Rail habitat; (2) characterization of wetland habitat with polarimetric SAR data; (3) yearly trends in available habitat; and (4) predictions of potentially suitable habitat across northeastern Alberta. Results show that polarimetric SAR using the Freeman–Durden decomposition and polarization ratios were the most important predictors when modeling the Yellow Rail habitat. These parameters also effectively characterize this habitat based on high congruence with existing descriptions of suitable habitat. Applying the prediction model across all wetland areas showed accurate predictions of occurrence (validated on field occurrence data), and high probability habitats were constrained to very specific wetland areas. Using the RADARSAT-2 data to monitor yearly changes to Yellow Rail habitat was inconclusive, likely due to the different image acquisition times of the 2014 and 2016 images, which may have captured seasonal, rather than inter-annual, wetland dynamics. Polarimetric SAR has proved to be very useful for capturing the specific hydrology and vegetation structure of the Yellow Rail habitat, which could be a powerful technology for monitoring and conserving wetland species habitat.


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