Tracing origins of waterfowl using the Saskatchewan River Delta: Incorporating stable isotope approaches in continent-wide waterfowl management and conservation

The condor

¹ 

关键词: American Wigeon;    Blue-winged Teal;    deuterium;    Green-winged Teal;    Mallard;    migration;    Northern Pintail;    stable isotopes;    sulfur-34;    wetlands;   

DOI  :  10.1650/CONDOR-16-179.1

学科分类：动物科学

来源: Central Ornithology Publication Office

【 摘 要 】

ABSTRACT Understanding the catchment areas of key stopover sites for migratory birds is important for their management and conservation. The Saskatchewan River Delta (SRD) in central Canada is North America's largest inland delta and an important spring and fall stopover site for migratory waterfowl, but there is little information on the origins of waterfowl that use the SRD. We used stable isotope analyses of hydrogen (δ2H) and sulfur (δ34S) in feathers of hunter-killed waterfowl on the SRD to infer natal or molt origins of 5 duck species, using spatially explicit assignment to a δ2H feather isoscape developed for waterfowl in North America. Initial classification with δ2H estimated that 50% were migrants from the north and 10% were assigned to regions south of the SRD, leaving only 39% of the sample with origins in the SRD. Using thresholds in feather δ34S values associated with prairie and forest biomes, we further reassigned 64% of SRD birds as having originated from nearby agricultural and forested ...

【 授权许可】

CC BY