Relative Importance of Vital Rates to Population Dynamics of Wood Ducks

Hepp, Gary R.; Gitzen, Robert A.; Kennamer, Robert A.

doi:10.1002/jwmg.21792

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 59 publications

(61 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…There is a need to better understand how nest-site selection is influenced by the spatial proximity of suitable brood habitats, as well whether demographic vital rates (e.g., nest success, hen survival) are associated with this selection. It has been recommended that the interaction among survival, recruitment, immigration, and emigration be examined to better understand how influence the local populations of wood ducks, particularly in areas in which the recruitment of females from artificial nest boxes is insufficient to maintain the population segment that uses these structures (Hepp et al, 2020;Croft et al, 2022), but such an investigation should also examine whether these vital rates are influenced by the proportion of landscape comprised of suitable nesting habitat (i.e., mature deciduous forest). The nest webs (Martin et al, 2004) and influence of changes in tree and cavity characteristics on occupancy by different wildlife species (Edworthy et al, 2018) in different forest types of the North Central United States should be investigated.…”

Section: Plausibility Of Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Temporal change in abundance of potential nesting cavities for wood ducks (Aix sponsa) in Northern Minnesota, United States

Berdeen

Nelson

Zlonis

et al. 2022

Front. For. Glob. Change

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Wood duck females often nest in tree cavities located in large-diameter deciduous trees. Temporal changes in forest age and composition during recent decades may have influenced the abundance of stems with suitable nesting cavities in the forested portion of Northern MN, United States. Thus, we ascertained whether temporal changes in the abundance of such stems occurred in this area during six Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) evaluation cycles (i.e., 1977 to 2015–2019). We used FIA data and independently estimated proportions of stems with suitable cavities in different tree-species, health-status, and diameter classes to estimate change in the abundance of such stems at three spatial scales. These spatial scales increased in areal extent from a study area to three ecological subsections to the Laurentian Mixed Forest ecological province. We used a Bayesian analytical approach to accommodate changes in FIA protocols among cycles. Both the abundance of stems with suitable cavities and an attribute associated with cavity occurrence changed during the analysis period, but findings were not entirely consistent among spatial scales. The estimated abundance of both suitable stems overall and those of late-successional tree species generally increased at all scales during the analysis period. Since 1990, increases in the abundance of health-impacted stems that were suitable for nesting occurred at all spatial scales. Our estimated densities of suitable stems during the 2005–2009 (1.20 [85% CrI: 1.04–1.39] suitable stems / ha) and 2015–2019 cycles (1.41 [85% CrI: 1.21–1.63] suitable stems / ha) were substantially greater than the <0.25 and 0.25–0.49 suitable stems / ha another study predicted would occur in Northern Minnesota during 2008 and 2018, respectively. Our results can inform forest management decisions and research directions for follow-up studies of nesting wood ducks.

show abstract

Section: Plausibility Of Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Temporal change in abundance of potential nesting cavities for wood ducks (Aix sponsa) in Northern Minnesota, United States

Berdeen

Nelson

Zlonis

et al. 2022

Front. For. Glob. Change

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…We suggest nest boxes with predator guards be placed in wetlands amid tree, shrub, or emergent vegetation that provides nearby brood cover, but without overhead cover that could enable access to boxes by predators, or in wetlands with predatory fish. Finally, future research should evaluate female recruitment rates from box-nesting programs to determine if wood duck and whistling duck populations sustain themselves without immigration of females from other nest-box complexes or natural cavities (Hepp et al 1989(Hepp et al , 2020Davis et al 2007Davis et al , 2015.…”

Section: Management Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nest‐Box Use by Wood Ducks and Black‐Bellied Whistling Ducks in Coastal South Carolina

Croft

Kaminski

Wiggers

et al. 2020

Wildlife Society Bulletin

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We surveyed nest-structure use by sympatric nesting wood ducks (Aix sponsa) and black-bellied whistling ducks (Dendrocygna autumnalis) across coastal South Carolina, USA, in 2016-2017. Of 718 nest boxes surveyed cumulatively in 2016 and 2017, 61% were used by wood ducks and 15% by black-bellied whistling ducks. Lower nest-box use by whistling ducks was related to recent arrivals and breeding by the species in South Carolina. Nest-box use by wood ducks was 6% greater for every 1,000-cm 3 decrease from the mean internal box volume of all boxes monitored, whereas use by black-bellied whistling ducks was 20% greater for every 1,000-cm 3 increase from the mean internal volume of all boxes. Box use was 15% and 11% greater by wood ducks and black-bellied whistling ducks, respectively, for every 10% decrease from the mean percent canopy cover of all nest boxes. Nest-box use by black-bellied whistling ducks was 18% and 10% greater for every 10-cm increase from the mean distance from the base of a box's entrance vertically to the ground or water and every 10-m decrease from the mean distance to the nearest box for all boxes monitored, respectively. Our results suggested nest boxes with internal volumes of~15,000-31,000 cm 3 were most used by wood ducks, but the conventional nest box with an internal volume of 34,375 cm 3 and internal dimensions of 25 × 25 × 55 cm accommodated wood ducks and black-bellied whistling ducks, and can be deployed where the species are sympatric. However, where black-bellied whistling ducks occur, the diameter of an entrance hole for nest boxes should be 13 cm to allow passage by the larger bodied species. We suggest a need for research to estimate recruitment rates for box-nesting females and cost effectiveness of box programs based on female recruitment.

show abstract

Relative Importance of Vital Rates to Population Dynamics of Wood Ducks

Cited by 2 publications

References 59 publications

Temporal change in abundance of potential nesting cavities for wood ducks (Aix sponsa) in Northern Minnesota, United States

Temporal change in abundance of potential nesting cavities for wood ducks (Aix sponsa) in Northern Minnesota, United States

Nest‐Box Use by Wood Ducks and Black‐Bellied Whistling Ducks in Coastal South Carolina

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About