Effects of temporal and spatial hunting control in waterbird reserves

Experiments were conducted in two Danish coastal wetland areas to assess the applicability of regulating wildfowling in marsh areas by restricting shooting to a period of the day as an alternative to apply spatial regulation. Teal (Anas crecca) showed a 2-97-fold increase when shore-based shooting was totally banned, compared with years when shore-based shooting was unregulated or diurnally regulated. The same result was found for common snipe (Gallinago gallinago) at its one studied area (15-39-fold increase). Shelduck (Tadorna tadorna), teal and mallard (A. platyrhynchos) spent more time in the zones nearest to the shoreline when shore-based shooting was totally banned than when evening shooting was permitted. It is concluded (1) that disturbance levels were not sufficiently reduced by temporal regulation to prevent teal and snipe from abandoning otherwise attractive staging areas, and (2) that reserves should incorporate adjacent marshes in the non-shooting refuge to ensure high species diversity. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.