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Significance of invertebrate abundance to dabbling duck brood use of created wetlands

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Abstract

We investigated factors influencing dabbling duck (Anas spp.) brood densities on 9 created wetlands, arranged in 4 clusters on the National Elk Refuge in western Wyoming. Because dabblers are limited by the depth they can reach while up-ending, and created wetlands were between 1.5–2.5 m deep, we examined the significance of invertebrate density in the top 25 cm of the water collumn and in the entire water column where brood use occurs. Total invertebrate, nekton, and zooplankton density in the entire water column measured in 1992 accounted for between 59%, 61%, and 73%, respectively, (P<0.05) of the variation in brood density among wetlands that year. No variable measured in the top 25 cm of the water column accounted for variation in brood densities on wetlands. We suggest that vertical migrations in the water column make most invertebrates accessible to dabbler hens and broods.

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  1. Caren B. Cooper

    Present address: Department of Biology, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 24061, blacksburg, VA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Biological Service Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, University of Wyoming, 82071, Laramie, WY

    Caren B. Cooper

  2. National Biological Service Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, University of Wyoming, 82071, Laramie, WY

    Stanley H. Anderson

Authors
  1. Caren B. Cooper
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  2. Stanley H. Anderson
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Cooper, C.B., Anderson, S.H. Significance of invertebrate abundance to dabbling duck brood use of created wetlands. Wetlands 16, 557–563 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03161346

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03161346

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