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Key words: Ducks, wetlands, population, recruitment, management, models, videography, drought.

Cowardin, Lewis M., Terry L. Shaffer, and Phillip M. Arnold.  1995.  Evaluations 
     of duck habitat and estimation of duck population sizes with a remote-
     sensing-based system.  National Biological Service, Biological Science 
     Report 2.  26pp.

Cowardin, Lewis M., Terry L. Shaffer, and Phillip M. Arnold.  1995.  Evaluations 
     of duck habitat and estimation of duck population sizes with a remote-
     sensing-based system.  National Biological Service, Biological Science 
     Report 2.  Jamestown, ND: Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center Online.  
     http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/birds/duckhab/index.htm
     (Version 16JUL97).

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Methods
  • Definitions
  • Design
  • Habitat Data
  • Duck Populations
  • Data Analyses
    
• Results and Discussion
  • Habitat Base
  • Duck Populations and Production
• Conclusions and Management Implications
  • Wetland and Duck Management
  • System Evaluation
• Acknowledgments
• Cited References

Tables

• Table 1. -- Numbers of 10.4-km² plots (n) for evaluating duck (Anatinae) habitat and estimating numbers of ducks and number of plots covered by videography (NV) during 1987-90 in the prairie pothole region of the United States.
• Table 2. -- Wetland-basin class definitions based on the water regime of the basin-naming polygon.
• Table 3. -- Baseline regression coefficients used for estimating breeding duck (Anatinae) populations on 10.4-km² plots from the area (ha) of individual ponds determined from airborne video in the prairie pothole region of the United States, 1987-90.
• Table 4. -- Average brood sizes of surface-feeding ducks (Anatinae), derived by scaling mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) brood size by relative clutch sizes of mallards and other species during a 1987-90 study in the prairie pothole region of the United States.
• Table 5. -- Percent of total wetland basins that contained ponds in a study area in North Dakota (Cowardin et al. 1985) and estimates of A during 1977-80 in the prairie pothole region of the United States.
• Table 6. -- Land ownership (%) by state in the prairie pothole region of the United States based on 1986 data.
• Table 7. -- Estimated number of basins, area of wetland, density of basins, and area of wetland/km² by land-ownership class in the prairie pothole region of Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and extreme eastern Montana, based on photographs from the early 1980s.
• Table 8. -- Estimated area of upland habitats by landownership class in the prairie pothole region of Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and extreme eastern Montana, based on photographs from the early 1980s.
• Table 9. -- Estimates of A, a measure of nesting intensity, by wetland management district and year during 1987-90 in the prairie pothole region of the United States.
• Table 10. -- Estimates of average clutch success by species and landownership class during 1987-90 in the prairie pothole region of the United States.

Figures

• Figure 1. -- Distribution of 10.4-km² sample plots used to evaluate duck (Anatinae) habitat and population size during 1987-90 in the prairie pothole region of the United States.
• Figure 2. -- Regression of number of blue-winged teal, gadwall, northern shoveler, and northern pintail pairs on pond size during 1987-90 in the prairie pothole region of the United States.
• Figure 3. -- Hypothetical distribution of duck (Anatinae) habitats and nests on a 10.4-km² plot with two landownerships and two habitats.
• Figure 4. -- Numbers of successful nesting attempts by ducks (Anatinae) on a hypothetical 10.4-km² plot with two landownership classes.
• Figure 5. -- Cumulative distribution of wetland basins by size and wetland-basin class in the prairie pothole region of the United States, base on photographs from the early 1980s.
• Figure 6. -- Distribution of wetland-basin classes by landownership class in the prairie pothole region of the United States, based on photography from the early 1980s.
• Figure 7. -- Density of ponds by landownership class during 1987-90 in the prairie pothole region of the United States, based on aerial videography.
• Figure 8. -- Area of ponds per km² by landownership class, during 1987-90 in the prairie pothole region of the United States, based on aerial videography.
• Figure 9. -- Average size of ponds by landownership class during 1987-90 in the prairie pothole region of the United States, based on aerial videography.
• Figure 10. -- Average density of breeding ducks (Anatinae) by landownership class during 1987-90 in the prairie pothole region of the United States.
• Figure 11. -- Relation of density of blue-winged teal, gadwall, mallard, northern shoveler, and northern pintail pairs to pond size during 1987-90 in the prairie pothole region of the United States
• Figure 12. -- Relation of density of blue-winged teal, gadwall, mallard, northern shoveler, and northern pintail pairs to area of ponds during 1987-90 in the prairie pothole region of the United States.
• Figure 13. -- Relation between average number of pairs of blue-winged teal, gadwall, mallard, northern shoveler, and northern pintail per pond and pond density during 1987-90 in the prairie pothole region of the United States.
• Figure 14. -- Relation between the average number of duck (Anatinae) pairs per km² and year by landownership class during 1987-90 in the prairie pothole region of the United States.
• Figure 15. -- Number of produced recruits per km² by blue-winged teal, gadwall, mallard, northern shoveler, and northern pintail during 1987-90 in the prairie pothole region of the United States, based on model projections from aerial videography and ground counts
• Figure 16. -- Number of produced recruits per mi² of blue-winged teal, gadwall, mallard, northern shoveler, and northern pintail during 1987-90 in the prairie pothole region of the United States, based on model projections from aerial videography and ground counts.
• Figure 17. -- Recruitment rate of five species of dabbling ducks during 1987-90 in the prairie pothole region of the United States, based on model projections from aerial videography and ground counts.
• Figure 18. -- Average number of successful nesting attempts per km² by blue-winged teal, gadwall, mallard, northern shoveler, and northern pintail by landownership class in the prairie pothole region of the United States, based on model projections from aerial videography and ground counts