Abstract
Understanding the relationship between wetland types and waterfowl distribution in the Great Lakes States of Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio is complicated because basin specific waterfowl survey data do not exist. We used data from breeding waterfowl surveys in Michigan and Wisconsin during 1993 to 2002 and digital wetland data within buffered transect routes to develop a predictive model of mallard distribution within the 5 Great Lake States. The most parsimonious model based on AICc was used to map predictive distributions of breeding mallards. Based on the positive influence of palustrine emergent, palustrine unknown and palustrine unconsolidated shore and the negative influence of palustrine forested wetlands, the highest densities of breeding mallards were predicted in southeastern Wisconsin and southeastern Michigan. Additionally, we flew helicopter surveys in spring of 2003 to characterize wetland basins used by mallard pairs. Individual pairs were observed most often on small palustrine emergent and palustrine forested wetlands. The resulting models and maps can be used by a variety of agencies to plan conservation and management actions for mallards breeding in the Great Lakes States.
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