Harvest and dynamics of duck populations

doi:10.1002/JWMG.370

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Harvest and dynamics of duck populations

Journal Article•DOI•

Harvest and dynamics of duck populations

James S. Sedinger¹, Mark P. Herzog²•Institutions (2)

University of Nevada, Reno¹, United States Geological Survey²

01 Aug 2012-Journal of Wildlife Management (John Wiley & Sons, Ltd)-Vol. 76, Iss: 6, pp 1108-1116

TL;DR: This paper found no compelling evidence for strong additive effects of harvest on survival in duck populations that could not be explained by other factors and concluded that harvest effects are typically confounded with those of population density; regulations are typically most liberal when populations are greatest.

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Abstract: The role of harvest in the dynamics of waterfowl populations continues to be debated among scientists and managers. Our perception is that interested members of the public and some managers believe that harvest influences North American duck populations based on calls for more conservative harvest regulations. A recent review of harvest and population dynamics of North American mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) populations (Poysa et al. 2004) reached similar conclusions. Because of the importance of this issue, we reviewed the evidence for an impact of harvest on duck populations. Our understanding of the effects of harvest is limited because harvest effects are typically confounded with those of population density; regulations are typically most liberal when populations are greatest. This problem also exists in the current Adaptive Harvest Management Program (Conn and Kendall 2004). Consequently, even where harvest appears additive to other mortality, this may be an artifact of ignoring effects of population density. Overall, we found no compelling evidence for strong additive effects of harvest on survival in duck populations that could not be explained by other factors. © 2012 The Wildlife Society.

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Journal Article•DOI•

Multilevel Learning in the Adaptive Management of Waterfowl Harvests: 20 Years and Counting

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Fred A. Johnson¹, G. Scott Boomer², Byron K. Williams³, James D. Nichols⁴, David J. Case - Show less +1 more•Institutions (4)

United States Geological Survey¹, United States Fish and Wildlife Service², The Wildlife Society³, Patuxent Wildlife Research Center⁴

01 Mar 2015-Wildlife Society Bulletin

TL;DR: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service implemented an adaptive harvest management program (AHM) for the sport harvest of midcontinent mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) as discussed by the authors.

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Abstract: In 1995, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service implemented an adaptive harvest management program (AHM) for the sport harvest of midcontinent mallards (Anas platyrhynchos). The program has been successful in reducing long-standing contentiousness in the regulatory process, while integrating science and policy in a coherent, rigorous, and transparent fashion. After 20 years, much has been learned about the relationship among waterfowl populations, their environment, and hunting regulations, with each increment of learning contributing to better management decisions. At the same time, however, much has been changing in the social, institutional, and environmental arenas that provide context for the AHM process. Declines in hunter numbers, competition from more pressing conservation issues, and global-change processes are increasingly challenging waterfowl managers to faithfully reflect the needs and desires of stakeholders, to account for an increasing number of institutional constraints, and to (probabilistically) predict the consequences of regulatory policy in a changing environment. We review the lessons learned from the AHM process so far, and describe emerging challenges and ways in which they may be addressed. We conclude that the practice of AHM has greatly increased an awareness of the roles of social values, trade-offs, and attitudes toward risk in regulatory decision-making. Nevertheless, going forward the waterfowl management community will need to focus not only on the relationships among habitat, harvest, and waterfowl populations, but on the ways in which society values waterfowl and how those values can change over time. © 2015 The Authors. Wildlife Society Bulletin published by The Wildlife Society.

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73 citations

Journal Article•DOI•

Connecting the study of wild influenza with the potential for pandemic disease.

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Jonathan A. Runstadler¹, Nichola J. Hill¹, Islam T. M. Hussein¹, Wendy B. Puryear¹, Mandy Keogh - Show less +1 more•Institutions (1)

Massachusetts Institute of Technology¹

01 Jul 2013-Infection, Genetics and Evolution

TL;DR: The current gaps in wild animal and environmental surveillance and the current understanding of genetic signatures in potentially pandemic strains are reviewed.

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72 citations

Cross-seasonal effects and the dynamics of waterfowl populations

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James S. Sedinger¹, Ray T. Alisauskas•Institutions (1)

University of Nevada, Reno¹

01 Jan 2014

TL;DR: Cross-seasonal effects (CSEs) on waterfowl populations link together events and habitats that individuals experience as carry-over effects (COEs) throughout the annual cycle.

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Abstract: Cross-seasonal effects (CSEs) on waterfowl populations link together events and habitats that individuals experience as carry-over effects (COEs) throughout the annual cycle. The importance of CSEs has been recognised since at least the 1950s. Studies of nutrient dynamics beginning in the 1970s, followed by regression analyses that linked production of young to winter habitat conditions, confirmed the importance of CSEs. CSEs have been most apparent in large-bodied waterfowl, but evidence for CSEs in much smaller passerines suggests the potential for CSEs in all waterfowl. Numerous studies have established effects of winter weather on body condition and reproduction in both ducks and geese. Additionally, the ubiquitous use (during laying and incubation) of nutrients stored previously during spring migration suggests that such nutrients commonly influence reproductive success in waterfowl. Carry-over effects from the breeding season to autumn and winter are less well understood, although nutrition during the growth period in geese has been widely demonstrated to influence subsequent survival and reproduction. Only a few studies have examined effects of breeding on reproduction in later years. Because pathogens and parasites can be carried between seasonal habitats, disease represents an important potential mechanism underlying CSEs; so far, however, this role for diseases and parasitism remains poorly understood. CSEs were originally of interest because of their implications for management of seasonal habitats and CSEs represent a fundamental rationale for the habitat joint ventures in North America. Substantial research examining the role of COEs in individual fitness and of CSEs on population dynamics has now been conducted. New techniques (e.g. stable isotopes, geolocators) developed over the last decade, combined with more traditional marking programmes have created opportunities to understand CSEs more fully and to inform the management of seasonal habitats for waterfowl.

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57 citations

Cites background from "Harvest and dynamics of duck popula..."

...Direct effects of harvest on mortality rates and population dynamics vary as a function of body size (Rexstad 1992; Sedinger et al. 2007; Sedinger & Herzog 2012; Péron et al. 2012)....
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Journal Article•DOI•

Effects of exploitation on an overabundant species: the lesser snow goose predicament.

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David N. Koons¹, Robert F. Rockwell², Lise M. Aubry¹•Institutions (2)

Utah State University¹, American Museum of Natural History²

01 Mar 2014-Journal of Animal Ecology

TL;DR: More aggressive actions will be needed to halt the growth and spread of the devastating trophic cascade that snow geese have triggered and help guide more effective management of invasive and overabundant species world-wide.

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Abstract: Summary 1. Invasive and overabundant species are an increasing threat to biodiversity and ecosystem functioning world-wide. As such, large amounts of money are spent each year on attempts to control them. These efforts can, however, be thwarted if exploitation is compensated demographically or if populations simply become too numerous for management to elicit an effective and rapid functional response. 2. We examined the influence of these mechanisms on cause-specific mortality in lesser snow geese using multistate capture–reencounter methods. The abundance and destructive foraging behaviours of snow geese have created a trophic cascade that reduces (sub-) Arctic plant, insect and avian biodiversity, bestowing them the status of ‘overabundant’. 3. Historically, juvenile snow geese suffered from density-related degradation of their saltmarsh brood-rearing habitat. This allowed harvest mortality to be partially compensated by nonharvest mortality (process correlation between mortality sources: q = � 0� 47; 90% BCI: � 0� 72 to � 0� 04). Snow goose family groups eventually responded to their own degradation of habitat by dispersing to non-degraded areas. This relaxed the pressure of density dependence on juvenile birds, but without this mechanism for compensation, harvest began to have an additive effect on overall mortality (q =0 � 60; 90% BCI: � 0� 06 to 0� 81). In adults, harvest had an additive effect on overall mortality throughout the 42-year study (q =0 � 24; 90% BCI: � 0� 59 to 0� 67). 4. With the aim of controlling overabundant snow geese, the Conservation Order amendment to the International Migratory Bird Treaty was implemented in February of 1999 to allow for harvest regulations that had not been allowed since the early 1900s (e.g. a spring harvest season, high or unlimited bag limits and use of electronic calls and unplugged shotguns). Although harvest mortality momentarily increased following these actions, the increasing abundance of snow geese has since induced a state of satiation in harvest that has driven harvest rates below the long-term average. More aggressive actions will thus be needed to halt the growth and spread of the devastating trophic cascade that snow geese have triggered. 5. Our approach to investigating the impacts of population control efforts on cause-specific mortality will help guide more effective management of invasive and overabundant species world-wide.

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56 citations

Cites background from "Harvest and dynamics of duck popula..."

...…up resources for those surviving and potentially improving their survival in the following season (i.e. for every life taken, a life is saved; Boyce, Sinclair & White 1999), but the density-dependent mechanism could occur at various points along the seasonal life cycle (Sedinger & Herzog 2012)....
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...Unfortunately, this can induce a density-dependent relationship between abundance and harvest-related mortality that biases any assessment of compensation in harvest-related mortality (Sedinger & Herzog 2012)....
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...…a negative relationship between abundance and harvest-related mortality probabilities for both age classes (bN,hy = 1 24, 90% BCI: 1 51 to 0 97; bN,ahy = 0 68, 90% BCI: 0 89 to 0 47) and not the positive relationship that can induce bias in the estimation of compensation (Sedinger & Herzog 2012)....
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...…in adaptive harvest management programmes that density dependence and compensatory mortality are one and the same, and attempts at relating survival to proxies of harvest rates that are often confounded with other factors (Anderson & Burnham 1976; Nichols et al. 1984; Sedinger & Herzog 2012)....
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...…have affected heterogeneity among individual hy birds entering fall migration and subsequent heterogeneity in risks to being harvested or starving during the winter and spring migration (i.e. frailty: variability in mortality risks across individuals in a population; see Sedinger & Herzog 2012)....
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Connecting the study of wild influenza with the potential for pandemic disease

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Jonathan A. Runstadler¹, Nichola J. Hill¹, Islam T. M. Hussein¹, Wendy B. Puryear¹, Mandy Keogh - Show less +1 more•Institutions (1)

Massachusetts Institute of Technology¹

01 Mar 2013

TL;DR: In the last 4-5 years, focus has been placed on the organization of large-scale surveillance programs to examine the phylogenetics of avian influenza virus (AIV) and host-virus relationships in domestic and wild animals.

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Abstract: Continuing outbreaks of pathogenic (H5N1) and pandemic (SOIVH1N1) influenza have underscored the need to understand the origin, characteristics, and evolution of novel influenza A virus (IAV) variants that pose a threat to human health. In the last 4-5years, focus has been placed on the organization of large-scale surveillance programs to examine the phylogenetics of avian influenza virus (AIV) and host-virus relationships in domestic and wild animals. Here we review the current gaps in wild animal and environmental surveillance and the current understanding of genetic signatures in potentially pandemic strains.

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52 citations

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References

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Book•

Adaptive Management of Renewable Resources

[...]

Carl J. Walters

01 Jan 1986

TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that scientific understanding will come from the experience of management as an ongoing, adaptive, and experimental process, rather than through basic research or the development of ecological theory.

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Abstract: The author challenges the traditional approach to dealing with uncertainty in the management of such renewable resources as fish and wildlife. He argues that scientific understanding will come from the experience of management as an ongoing, adaptive, and experimental process, rather than through basic research or the development of ecological theory. The opening chapters review approaches to formulating management objectives as well as models for understanding how policy choices affect the attainment of these objectives. Subsequent chapters present various statistical methods for understanding the dynamics of uncertainty in managed fish and wildlife populations and for seeking optimum harvest policies in the face of uncertainty. The book concludes with a look at prospects for adaptive management of complex systems, emphasizing such human factors involved in decision making as risk aversion and conflicting objectives as well as biophysical factors. Throughout the text dynamic models and Bayesian statistical theory are used as tools for understanding the behavior of managed systems. These tools are illustrated with simple graphs and plots of data from representative cases. This text/reference will serve researchers, graduate students, and resource managers who formulate harvest policies and study the dynamics of harvest populations, as well as analysts (modelers, statisticians, and stock assessment experts) who are concerned with the practice of policy design.

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3,131 citations

"Harvest and dynamics of duck popula..." refers background in this paper

...Adaptive management provides a mechanism for evaluating the relative performance of competing mathematical models to explain the dynamics of ecological systems (Walters 1986)....
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...In contrast, passive adaptive management relies ‘‘just on parameter revision’’ or fitting models in the absence of probing (Walters 1986:232)....
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...Active adaptive management relies on management actions as experiments or ‘‘deliberate probing for information,’’ intended to improve understanding of system dynamics (Walters 1986:232)....
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...More recently, adaptive management approaches (Walters 1986) have played a role in interpreting the effects of harvest on the dynamics of waterfowl populations (Johnson et al. 1997, Nichols et al. 2007)....
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Book•

Analysis and Management of Animal Populations

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James B. Grand, Byron K. Williams, James D. Nichols, Michael J. Conroy

01 May 2002

2,259 citations

"Harvest and dynamics of duck popula..." refers background in this paper

...The current adaptive harvest management (AHM) program for ducks in the United States is an example of passive adaptive management (Johnson et al. 1997, Williams et al. 2001)....
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...In the context of such dramatic variation, it is not clear how to assess density dependence directly (Williams et al. 2001)....
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Journal Article•DOI•

Statistical Inference from Band Recovery Data: A Handbook

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Jack P. Hailman, Cavell Brownie, David E. Anderson, Kenneth P. Burnham, Douglas S. Robson - Show less +1 more

01 Jan 1978

689 citations

"Harvest and dynamics of duck popula..." refers background or methods in this paper

...…The Journal of Wildlife Management 9999 model H02 of Brownie et al. (1985), which assumes that survival during each period of comparison was constant, versus models H1 or H2 of Brownie et al. (1985),…...
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...…hypothesis for 3 of 4 age–sex classes and marginally for the fourth (Smith and Reynolds 1992: Table 4); using a second method of estimating survival (H1 and H2 of Brownie et al. 1985), the composite test statistic was significant for 2 of 4 age–sex classes (Smith and Reynolds 1992: Table 5)....
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...…The Journal of Wildlife Management 9999 model H02 of Brownie et al. (1985), which assumes that survival during each period of comparison was constant, versus models H1 or H2 of Brownie et al. (1985), wherein survival was estimated annually and subsequently averaged for each period of comparison....
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...For example, Smith and Reynolds (1992) analyzed the same data set using 2 different methods to estimate survival: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 6 The Journal of Wildlife Management 9999 model H02 of Brownie et al. (1985), which assumes that survival during each period of comparison was constant, versus models H1 or H2 of Brownie et al. (1985), wherein survival was estimated annually and subsequently averaged for each period of comparison....
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...Harvest rates for waterfowl are typically estimated using band recovery rates estimated from Brownie models of band recoveries (Brownie et al. 1985), because such rates are directly related to harvest rates by the proportion of bands reported to the United States Geological Survey Bird Banding…...
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Journal Article•DOI•

Individual Covariation in Life‐History Traits: Seeing the Trees Despite the Forest

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Emmanuelle Cam¹, William A. Link², Evan G. Cooch³, Jean-Yves Monnat⁴, Etienne Danchin⁵ - Show less +1 more•Institutions (5)

Patuxent Wildlife Research Center¹, United States Geological Survey², Cornell University³, University of Western Brittany⁴, Pierre-and-Marie-Curie University⁵

01 Jan 2002-The American Naturalist

TL;DR: The results provided confirmation of what has been suggested by other investigators: within‐cohort phenotypic selection can mask senescence, and the development of models permitting access to individual variation in fitness is a promising advance for the study ofsenescence and evolutionary processes.

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Abstract: We investigated the influence of age on survival and breeding rates in a long‐lived species Rissa tridactyla using models with individual random effects permitting variation and covariation in fitness components among individuals. Differences in survival or breeding probabilities among individuals are substantial, and there was positive covariation between survival and breeding probability; birds that were more likely to survive were also more likely to breed, given that they survived. The pattern of age‐related variation in these rates detected at the individual level differed from that observed at the population level. Our results provided confirmation of what has been suggested by other investigators: within‐cohort phenotypic selection can mask senescence. Although this phenomenon has been extensively studied in humans and captive animals, conclusive evidence of the discrepancy between population‐level and individual‐level patterns of age‐related variation in life‐history traits is extremely ...

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370 citations

Journal Article•DOI•

Bird population studies : relevance to conservation and management

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Christopher M. Perrins, J. D. Lebreton, G. J. M. Hirons

01 Jul 1993-Journal of Wildlife Management

TL;DR: The relevance of population studies to the conservation of threatened birds is examined, with a focus on population dynamics and extinction in heterogenous environments.

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Abstract: Ian Newton: Population limitation in birds of prey: a comparative approach Ian Rowley & Eleanor Russell: Demography of Passerines in the temperate Southern Hemisphere Jacques Blondel: Birds in biological isolates J. Clobert & J-D. Lebreton: Estimation of demographic parameters in bird populations J-D. Lebreton & J. Clobert: Bird population dynamics, management, and conservation R.H. McCleery & C.M. Perrins: The effects of predation on the numbers of Great Tits Parus major James N.M. Smith, Peter Arcese & Wesley Hochachka: Social behaviour and population regulation in insular bird populations Fred Cooke & E.G. Gooch: Demographic changes in a snow goose population C.M. Perrins: Constraints on the demographic parameters of bird populations Franz Bairlein: Population studies of White Storks Ciconia ciconia in Europe M.P. Harris & S. Wanless: Population studies and conservation of Puffins Fratercula arctica A.R. Johnson, R.E. Green and G.J.M. Hirons: Survival rates of greater flamingoes in the West Mediterranean region J.P. Croxall & P. Rothery: Population regulation of seabirds Pierre Jouventin & Henri Weimerskirch: Changes in seabird population sizes in French Antarctic territories Carlos Bernstein, John R. Krebs & Alex Kacelnik: Distribution of birds amongst habitats P.R. Evans: Seasonal and annual patterns of mortality in migratory shorebirds G.R. Potts & N.J. Aebischer: Modelling the population dynamics of the Grey Partridge A.P. Dobson & Robert M. May: Parasites, cuckoos and avian population dynamics Peter J. Hudson & A.P. Dobson: Control of parasites in natural populations Peter H. Becker: Population and contamination studies in coastal birds Chris J. Feare: Control of bird pest populations J.C. Coulson: The population dynamics of Herring Gulls and Lesser black-backed Gulls James D. Nichols: Responses of North American duck populations to exploitation Hugh Boyd: Science and craft in waterfowl management in North America Glen Woolfenden & John W. Fitzpatrick: Florida Scrub Jay ecology and conservation Russell Lande: Population dynamics and extinction in heterogenous environments M.R.W. Rands: Conserving threatened birds R.E. Green & G.J.M. Hirons: The relevance of population studies to the conservation of threatened birds.

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283 citations