Abstract
Understanding migratory connectivity for species of concern is of great importance if we are to implement management aimed at conserving them. New methods are improving our understanding of migration; however, banding (ringing) data is by far the most widely available and accessible movement data for researchers. Here, we use band recovery data for American black ducks (Anas rubripes) from 1951–2011 and analyze their movement among seven management regions using a hierarchical Bayesian framework. We showed that black ducks generally exhibit flyway fidelity, and that many black ducks, regardless of breeding region, stopover or overwinter on the Atlantic coast of the United States. We also show that a non-trivial portion of the continental black duck population either does not move at all or moves to the north during the fall migration (they typically move to the south). The results of this analysis will be used in a projection modeling context to evaluate how habitat or harvest management actions in one region would propagate throughout the continental population of black ducks. This analysis may provide a guide for future research and help inform management efforts for black ducks as well as other migratory species.
Highlights
Conserving migratory species requires knowledge of the demographic processes occurring at breeding, non-breeding areas, and the migratory pathways connecting these areas
Knowing where migratory species move and how they get there can shed light on the metapopulation dynamics that may occur among distinct populations of these species, furthering our understanding of which ‘stocks’ within a population may be at higher risk of decline (Esler, 2000; Zimpfer & Conroy, 2006)
The reporting of different band types has changed over the years; from bands that required the person who made the recovery to mail the band and location to the bird banding laboratory, to those that require an accessible online form to be filled out
Summary
Conserving migratory species requires knowledge of the demographic processes occurring at breeding, non-breeding areas, and the migratory pathways connecting these areas. Knowing where migratory species move and how they get there can shed light on the metapopulation dynamics that may occur among distinct populations of these species, furthering our understanding of which ‘stocks’ within a population may be at higher risk of decline (Esler, 2000; Zimpfer & Conroy, 2006). Another goal of understanding migration is in identifying important stopover sites (Mehlman et al, 2005; Skagen, 2006). Understanding migratory pathways and the role of migration along them in shaping the demography of populations can allow conservation practitioners to make complicated decisions about how best to
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