Ducks Unlimited

About: Ducks Unlimited is a nonprofit organization based out in Stonewall, Manitoba, Canada. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Wetland & Waterfowl. The organization has 182 authors who have published 364 publications receiving 8544 citations. The organization is also known as: DU.

Potential Effects of Global Warming on Waterfowl Populations Breeding in the Northern Great Plains

Abstract: The Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) of the Northern Great Plains is the most important breeding area for waterfowl in North America. Historically, the size of breeding duck populations in the PPR has been highly correlated with spring wetland conditions. We show that one indicator of climate conditions, the Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI), is strongly correlated with annual counts (from 1955 to 1996) of both May ponds (R2 = 0.72, p < 0.0001) and breeding duck populations (R2 = 0.69, p < 0.0001) in the Northcentral U.S., suggesting the utility of PDSI as an index for climatic factors important to wetlands and ducks. We then use this relationship to project future pond and duck numbers based on PDSI values generated from sensitivity analyses and two general circulation model (GCM) scenarios. We investigate the sensitivity of PDSI to fixed changes in temperature of 0°C, +1.5°C, +2.5°C, and +4.0°C in combination with fixed changes in precipitation of -10%, +0%, +7%, and +15%, changes spanning the range of typically-projected values for this region from human-induced climatic change. Most (11 of 12) increased temperature scenarios tested result in increased drought (due to greater evapotranspiration under warmer temperatures) and declining numbers of both wetlands and ducks. Assuming a doubling of CO2 by 2060, both the equilibrium and transient GCM scenarios we use suggest a major increase in drought conditions. Under these scenarios, Northcentral U.S. breeding duck populations would fluctuate around means of 2.1 or 2.7 million ducks based on the two GCMs, respectively, instead of the present long-term mean of 5.0 million. May pond numbers would fluctuate around means of 0.6 or 0.8 million ponds instead of the present mean of 1.3 million. The results suggest that the ecologically and economically important PPR could be significantly damaged by climate changes typically projected. We make several recommendations for policy and research to help mitigate potential effects.

Avian habitat selection and prairie wetland dynamics: a 10-year experiment

Abstract: Northern prairie wetlands play a vital role in the life cycle of a wide array of bird species. Prairie wetlands used by birds span the entire range from shallow ephemeral ponds inundated for short periods each spring to large permanent water bodies that seldom, if ever, go dry. The objective of this study was to determine the response of blackbirds, waterfowl, and American Coots to changes in habitat structure induced by water level fluctuations in prairie wetlands. The study was conducted on a series of experimental marshes within the Delta Marsh in southern Manitoba, Canada. Water levels were adjusted following a predetermined schedule to simulate the wet–dry cycle of prairie marshes. Aerial photographs were taken annually, and habitats were characterized using Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques. Weekly avian censuses were related to habitat features using Principal Components Analysis (PCA) procedures. Yellow-headed Blackbirds selected shallowly flooded habitats with a mixture of open water...