Distribution and habitat use of waterbirds

Waterbird distribution and habitat use are influenced by human activities of agriculture and land-management practices, such as grazing or burning. For many waterbird species, our knowledge of their ecology and factors influencing their abundance and importance of different habitats is very limited.  Such information can help direct more effective habitat restoration, management, and conservation programs as well as improve population management activities and modeling.  Encompassed within this project are four topics relating avian distribution and habitat use to wetland conditions, land use, and management:  1) habitat selection by post-breeding lesser scaup; 2) re-evaluation of historic distribution and habitat use patterns of whooping cranes to inform conservation actions; 3) role of fire in sedge-shrub systems, affecting plant community and structure and birds of conservation concern; and 4) a global synthesis of information of the crane-agricultural nexus, to serve conservation practitioners, decision-makers, communities, and farmers, for the development of more effective and sustainable conservation programs that address specific local or regional challenges.