Great Plains Natural Science Society

 

The Prairie Naturalist

Date of this Version

3-2006

Document Type

Article

Citation

The Prairie Naturalist (March 2006) 38(1): 25-37

Associate editor for ornithology: Gregory A. Smith

Comments

Copyright 2006, the authors. Used by permission

Abstract

Low nest success rates in the Prairie Pothole Region are attributed mainly to changes in the predator community coupled with reductions in availability of suitable nesting cover. We evaluated effects of removal of mammalian predators on pair density and nest success of ducks nesting on 259 ha sites in northeastern North Dakota during 2001 and 2002. We monitored pair density and duck nests on 10 sites with removal and 10 sites without removal. Overall nest success for both years was greater on trapped (53.4%) than nontrapped sites (28.7%). Pair densities were not affected by predator removal, but did increase across all sites during the second year, likely attributable to consistent availability of water across sites during 2002. Overall, our results indicated that repeated removal of predators on small sites was an effective strategy to increase duck production, but effectiveness likely will vary according to environmental factors and the local predator community.

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