Distribution of Wading Birds Relative to Vegetation and Water Depths in the Northern Everglades of Florida, USA

Bancroft, G. Thomas; Gawlik, Dale E.; Rutchey, Ken

doi:10.1675/1524-4695(2002)025[0265:dowbrt]2.0.co;2

Cited by 125 publications

(75 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…Regions of vegetation in estuaries, such as reed fields, have important functions as habitats for estuarine organisms [47][48][49]. However, reed fields have been modified to paddy fields and fishery ponds in recent years [50,51], which has led to discussions about the need for conservation in this context.…”

Section: Physical Indicators Affecting Molluscan Faunamentioning

confidence: 99%

The Use of Molluscan Fauna as Model Taxon for the Ecological Classification of River Estuaries

Itsukushima

Morita

Shimatani

2017

Water

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River estuaries are important aquatic environments characterized by large environmental gradients in their water quality, riverbed material, and microtopography in the longitudinal and transverse directions. The geography or habitats in river estuaries differ depending on the energy from the tide, waves, and river; therefore, the biota inhabiting river estuaries vary depending on the river estuary type. In view of this, for effective conservation in river estuaries, there is a need for information about potential habitats and biota based on objective data about the river estuary type. The objective of this study thus was to classify river estuaries by their molluscan fauna and physical indicators to reveal the relationship between molluscan fauna and the physical environment. The classification results using physical indicators indicated three types of river estuaries (wave energy-dominated group, tide energy-dominated group, and low tide and wave energy group). This classification result was similar to the classification of molluscan fauna. Therefore, it was suggested that molluscan fauna is extremely useful as a variable representing the river estuary environment. From the comparison between molluscan fauna and the physical environment, some rivers were not classified into the same group in the classification of molluscan fauna, despite them having similar physical environments. Some of these rivers with a molluscan fauna that diverged from expectations had undergone channel modification, which is expected to have caused a shift in this fauna group. These results suggest that this approach could be used to identify rivers that have been degraded by human activities.

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Section: Physical Indicators Affecting Molluscan Faunamentioning

confidence: 99%

The Use of Molluscan Fauna as Model Taxon for the Ecological Classification of River Estuaries

Itsukushima

Morita

Shimatani

2017

Water

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“…The SRF surveys were initiated to give South Florida's operational resource managers a tool to assess wildlife populations. Past work to explore the effects of hydrology on SRF-derived wading bird distribution and abundance data is documented by Bancroft et al [1992Bancroft et al [ , 2002 and Porter and Smith [1984]. The SRF wading bird survey was initiated in 1985.…”

Section: Study Area and Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[2] Many of the adverse impacts on ecosystem function in the Everglades National Park (ENP; Figure 1) are caused directly or indirectly by altered regional hydrology [Bancroft et al, 2002;Craighead, 1971;Davis, 1943;Gleason, 1984;Loveless, 1959;Powell et al, 1989]. However, it is difficult to identify cause-and-effect relations between altered hydrologic patterns and ecosystem function because of the many factors involved and the paucity of long-term data on each of the putative notions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Since the relationships in such models are largely prescribed or empirically estimated from relatively short records, it is difficult to rely solely on them as tools for understanding or predicting the ecological outcomes in the ENP consequent to hydroclimatic variations. A few authors [Bancroft et al, 2002;Russell et al, 2002] have tried to directly use data on a few species and hydrologic or climatic indicators to infer such relationships that could be used for subsequent management of the ENP. This paper contributes to this literature.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Predicting foraging wading bird populations in Everglades National Park from seasonal hydrologic statistics under different management scenarios

Kwon

Lall

Engel³

2011

Water Resources Research

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[1] The ability to map relationships between ecological outcomes and hydrologic conditions in the Everglades National Park (ENP) is a key building block for their restoration program, a primary goal of which is to improve conditions for wading birds. This paper presents a model linking wading bird foraging numbers to hydrologic conditions in the ENP. Seasonal hydrologic statistics derived from a single water level recorder are well correlated with water depths throughout most areas of the ENP, and are effective as predictors of wading bird numbers when using a nonlinear hierarchical Bayesian model to estimate the conditional distribution of bird populations. Model parameters are estimated using a Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) procedure. Parameter and model uncertainty is assessed as a byproduct of the estimation process. Water depths at the beginning of the nesting season, the average dry season water level, and the numbers of reversals from the dry season recession are identified as significant predictors, consistent with the hydrologic conditions considered important in the production and concentration of prey organisms in this system. Long-term hydrologic records at the index location allow for a retrospective analysis of foraging bird numbers showing low frequency oscillations in response to decadal fluctuations in hydroclimatic conditions. Simulations of water levels at the index location used in the Bayesian model under alternative water management scenarios allow the posterior probability distributions of the number of foraging birds to be compared, thus providing a mechanism for linking management schemes to seasonal rainfall forecasts.

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“…Food abundance in this system is largely affected by the duration of marsh inundation, vegetation structure and nutrient levels. Food supply becomes available to wading birds when changes in the water level result in the aggregation of food and interacts with the vegetation to provide an open foraging habitat [1,15]. This changes the use of different habitats for waterbirds and limits their foraging behavior.…”

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confidence: 99%

Effect of water level fluctuations on temporal-spatial patterns of foraging activities by the wintering Hooded Crane (Grus monacha)

2015

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Background:The Yangtze River floodplain provides important wintering habitats for Hooded Cranes (Grus monacha) in China. Fluctuations in the water level change foraging habitat and food availability, affecting their temporal-spatial patterns of foraging activities. It is of considerable importance to investigate the effect of these fluctuations on food availability for wintering Hooded Cranes and their foraging response to these changes. Understanding their behavior patterns is beneficial in protecting the wintering crane population and restoring their wintering habitats. Methods:A field survey of the winter behavior of cranes was carried out at Shengjin Lake from November in 2013 to April in 2014. Habitat variables, as well as the spatial distribution and behavior patterns of wintering cranes at their foraging sites during five stages of water level fluctuation were collected. Based on this data we analyzed the relationship of foraging behavior relative to water level fluctuations and habitat types. Results:The foraging habitats used by Hooded Cranes varied at the different water level stages. As the water level decreased, the use of meadows and mudflats increased. When the water dropped to its lowest level, the use by the Hooded Crane in the mudflats reached a peak. There were statistically significant differences in time budget in the three types of habitats over the five stages of the water level. In the mudflats, the foraging behavior and maintenance behavior varied significantly with the water level, while the alert behavior showed little variation. Analysis of a generalized linear model showed that the five water level stages and three habitat types had a significant effect on foraging behavior, while the combined effect of these two variables was significant on the foraging time budget and the length of foraging activity of the Hooded Crane. Conclusions:With the decrease in the water level, the use of mudflats by Hooded Cranes increased correspondingly. Food availability in different habitats was affected by changes in the water level. The Hooded Crane adjusted its foraging patterns and made full use of the three available types of habitat in order to acquire enough food in response to fluctuations in the water level.

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Distribution of Wading Birds Relative to Vegetation and Water Depths in the Northern Everglades of Florida, USA

Cited by 125 publications

References 15 publications

The Use of Molluscan Fauna as Model Taxon for the Ecological Classification of River Estuaries

The Use of Molluscan Fauna as Model Taxon for the Ecological Classification of River Estuaries

Predicting foraging wading bird populations in Everglades National Park from seasonal hydrologic statistics under different management scenarios

Effect of water level fluctuations on temporal-spatial patterns of foraging activities by the wintering Hooded Crane (Grus monacha)

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