Wetland Availability and Use by Breeding Waterfowl in Southern Ontario

Abstract

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org. . Wiley, Wildlife Society, Allen Press are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Journal of Wildlife Management. SR Ko(1+CV.? + CV,2 + CV,2. CV, ), where u was a standard normal deviate. We evaluated power using algorithms for numerical integration (Press et al. 1992). We considered R between 0.3 and 1.8, Ko between 0.5 and 1.5, and CVs for N and p of 0.10 and 0.25 (i.e., both 0.10, one 0.10 and the other 0.25, and both 0.25). Abstract: Studies have documented breeding waterfowl use of habitat in the Prairie Pothole Region; however, the difficulty in surveying forested areas has inhibited large scale studies of use of habitat in eastern Canada. We examined waterfowl use of 15 wetland habitats in 132,000 km2 of southern Ontario, Canada. We obtained data from plots that were surveyed by the Canadian Wildlife Service during 1981 and 1987.Open water lakes accounted for 47% of available habitat in the study area; however, they were avoided (P < 0.001) by blue-winged teal (Anas discors), mallards (A. platyrhynchos), and wood ducks (Aix sponsa). Beaver (Castor canadensis) ponds accounted for 25% of the wetland area and were preferred (P < 0.001) by wood ducks and were used by mallards, black ducks (A. rubripes), blue-winged teal, and ring-necked ducks (Aythya collaris). Other habitats composed 0-6% of available wetlands and accounted for 0-10% of waterfowl use on study plots in southern Ontario. The percentage of wetlands occupied by breeding waterfowl varied from 11% for bogs and seasonal basins to 50% for deciduous swamps. The more common breeding species in southern Ontario (mallard, wood duck, blue-winged teal) exploited many habitats. Management efforts should focus on emergent or wooded habitats, especially beaver ponds, that provide habitat for many breeding waterfowl.J. WILDL. MANAGE. 59(3):527-532

Effects of wetland vs. landscape variables on parasite communities ofRana pipiens: links to anthropogenic factors

“…These patterns were consistent across the local and regional spatial scales examined and for both LARVAL and ADULT parasites, and probably reveal the importance of forest, woody wetland, and open water habitats to the definitive hosts of the parasites. For instance, fewer waterbirds visit wetlands in areas that are heavily impacted by agriculture (Leitch and Kaminski 1985, Bethke and Nudds 1995, Krapu et al 1997) because they prefer seasonal wetlands for breeding and foraging over semipermanent or permanent wetlands (Talent et al 1982, Merendino et al 1995. In agricultural areas, most seasonal wetlands are drained and converted to cropland; as a consequence, waterbirds settle less frequently in the seasonal wetlands remaining (Krapu et al 1997).…”

Use of Restored Small Wetlands by Breeding Waterfowl in Prince Edward Island, Canada

“…However, we cannot attribute population increases to wetland restoration due to few Mallard broods observed and our relatively small sample size. Mallards are a species known to exploit a variety of habitats (e.g., Merendino et al 1995).…”

Developing habitat models for waterbirds in urban wetlands: a log-linear approach

“…It is estimated that there were 2.4 million ha of wetlands in southern Ontario, Canada before European settlement in the mid-1800s, but more than 70% of these wetlands have been converted to some other land use (Snell 1987, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (OMNR) 1994. Wetlands have declined up to 95% in the urbanizing southwestern parts of the province (Bardecki 1982, Merendino et al 1995. Recent spring and summer droughts (e.g.…”