Journal
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
Volume 11, Issue 20, Pages 14056-14069Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1002/ece3.8115
Keywords
avian migration; GPS telemetry; habitat selection; spectral mixture analysis; waterfowl; wetland conservation
Categories
Funding
- California Department of Water Resources
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
- Ecosystems Mission Area of the U.S. Geological Survey
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Identifying migration routes and fall stopover sites of Cinnamon Teal can provide important spatial information for management and conservation efforts, highlighting the adaptability of these waterbirds to dynamic resource conditions. The study found that Cinnamon Teal preferred flooded habitats such as wetlands, wet agriculture, and urban ponds, with scarce habitats like wastewater ponds and tidal marshes highly selected in specific ecoregions. Dry non-habitats and dry agriculture were consistently avoided across all ecoregions, emphasizing the importance of wetland availability for migrating waterfowl in the western United States.
Identifying migration routes and fall stopover sites of Cinnamon Teal (Spatula cyanoptera septentrionalium) can provide a spatial guide to management and conservation efforts, and address vulnerabilities in wetland networks that support migratory waterbirds. Using high spatiotemporal resolution GPS-GSM transmitters, we analyzed 61 fall migration tracks across western North America during our three-year study (2017-2019). We marked Cinnamon Teal primarily during spring/summer in important breeding and molting regions across seven states (California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Utah, Colorado, and Nevada). We assessed fall migration routes and timing, detected 186 fall stopover sites, and identified specific North American ecoregions where sites were located. We classified underlying land cover for each stopover site and measured habitat selection for 12 land cover types within each ecoregion. Cinnamon Teal selected a variety of flooded habitats including natural, riparian, tidal, and managed wetlands; wet agriculture (including irrigation ditches, flooded fields, and stock ponds); wastewater sites; and golf and urban ponds. Wet agriculture was the most used habitat type (29.8% of stopover locations), and over 72% of stopover locations were on private land. Relatively scarce habitats such as wastewater ponds, tidal marsh, and golf and urban ponds were highly selected in specific ecoregions. In contrast, dry non-habitat across all ecoregions, and dry agriculture in the Cold Deserts and Mediterranean California ecoregions, was consistently avoided. Resources used by Cinnamon Teal often reflected wetland availability across the west and emphasize their adaptability to dynamic resource conditions in arid landscapes. Our results provide much needed information on spatial and temporal resource use by Cinnamon Teal during migration and indicate important wetland habitats for migrating waterfowl in the western United States.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available