Foraging ecology of nonbreeding ducks and other waterbirds in the South Platte River Basin

Foraging ecology of nonbreeding ducks and other waterbirds in the South Platte River Basin

Attracting and holding large populations of waterfowl are goals of habitat management for nonbreeding waterfowl. Currently, many habitat planners use bioenergetics approaches to guide habitat planning for nonbreeding waterfowl and shorebirds. In their simplest form, these bioenergetics models predict the amount of habitat needed to support a population goal based on the energy requirements of that goal and the productivity of the habitat. Many of these models assume that energy availability is the only factor affecting duck use of sites. However, recent evidence suggests that although energy availability is important for predicting wetland use by ducks, there are many other factors that influence duck use of sites and utility of those used sites. Therefore, more complex models have been developed but it is unclear how complex these models need to be and what specific factors should be incorporated into to accurately predict carrying capacity or habitat needs. Regardless of what form these models take, given the demonstrated importance of energy availability, estimates of food availability are necessary for the different wetland types in which nonbreeding ducks and shorebirds forage. Most dabbling and many diving ducks primarily consume benthic seeds during winter and migrations but transition to diets higher in invertebrates prior to nesting in spring. Shorebird diet consists of almost exclusively invertebrates.
The lower South Platte River

Behney, Adam C.

Waterfowl

Wildlife management

South Platte River Basin

17 pages

2016-10-28

Text

application/pdf

English