Waterfowl use of wetland habitats informs wetland restoration designs for multi‐species benefits
February 3, 2021
- Extensive global estuarine wetland losses have prompted intensive focus on restoration of these habitats. In California, substantial tracts of freshwater, brackish and tidal wetlands have been lost. Given the anthropogenic footprint of development and urbanization in this region, wetland restoration must rely on conversion of existing habitat types rather than adding new wetlands. These restorations can cause conflicts among stakeholders and species that win or lose depending on identified restoration priorities.
- Suisun Marsh on the San Francisco Bay Estuary is the largest brackish marsh on the U.S. Pacific coast. To understand how conversion of brackish managed wetlands to tidal marsh would impact waterfowl populations and whether future tidal marsh restorations could provide suitable habitat for dabbling ducks, we examined waterfowl wetland use with a robust GPS‐GSM tracking dataset (442,017 locations) from six dabbling duck species (N=315).
- Managed wetlands, which comprise 47% of Suisun Marsh, were consistently and strongly selected by waterfowl over tidal marshes, with use ~98% across seasons and species.
- However, while use of tidal marsh (only 14% of Suisun Marsh) was generally
Citation Information
| Publication Year | 2021 |
|---|---|
| Title | Waterfowl use of wetland habitats informs wetland restoration designs for multi‐species benefits |
| DOI | 10.1111/1365-2664.13845 |
| Authors | Michael L. Casazza, Fiona McDuie, Scott Jones, Austen Lorenz, Cory T. Overton, Julie L. Yee, Cliff L. Feldheim, Joshua T. Ackerman, Karen M. Thorne |
| Publication Type | Article |
| Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
| Series Title | Journal of Applied Ecology |
| Index ID | 70219171 |
| Record Source | USGS Publications Warehouse |
| USGS Organization | Western Ecological Research Center |
Related
Suisun Tidal Marsh Duck Use Dataset Suisun Tidal Marsh Duck Use Dataset
Location data with corresponding habitat class (managed vs tidal marsh) and habitat type (permanent pond, seasonal pond, channel, or marshland) for waterfowl utilizing the Suisun Marsh region of California with species, sex, season and date information. These data support the following publication: Casazza, M.L., McDuie, F., Jones, S., Lorenz, A.A., Overton, C.T., Yee, J., Feldheim, C.L
Michael Casazza
Research Wildlife Biologist
Research Wildlife Biologist
Email
Phone
Cory Overton (Former Employee)
Wildlife Biologist
Wildlife Biologist
Julie Yee (Former Employee)
Research Statistician
Research Statistician
Josh T Ackerman
Research Wildlife Biologist
Research Wildlife Biologist
Email
Phone
Karen Thorne, Ph.D.
Research Ecologist
Research Ecologist
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Phone
Related
Suisun Tidal Marsh Duck Use Dataset Suisun Tidal Marsh Duck Use Dataset
Location data with corresponding habitat class (managed vs tidal marsh) and habitat type (permanent pond, seasonal pond, channel, or marshland) for waterfowl utilizing the Suisun Marsh region of California with species, sex, season and date information. These data support the following publication: Casazza, M.L., McDuie, F., Jones, S., Lorenz, A.A., Overton, C.T., Yee, J., Feldheim, C.L
Michael Casazza
Research Wildlife Biologist
Research Wildlife Biologist
Email
Phone
Cory Overton (Former Employee)
Wildlife Biologist
Wildlife Biologist
Julie Yee (Former Employee)
Research Statistician
Research Statistician
Josh T Ackerman
Research Wildlife Biologist
Research Wildlife Biologist
Email
Phone
Karen Thorne, Ph.D.
Research Ecologist
Research Ecologist
Email
Phone