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

The condor

Christian K. Asante¹  Timothy D. Jardine²  Steven L. Van Wilgenburg³  Keith A. Hobson⁴ 

[1] 1School of Environment and Sustainability, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada;2University of Saskatchewan, School of Environment and Sustainability, Toxicology Centre, Saskatchewan, Canada;3Environment Canada, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada;3Environment Canada, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.4University of Western Ontario, Department of Biology, London, Ontario, Canada

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 】

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 areas that have similar δ2H values as the delta. Together, these results suggest that >80% of all waterfowl sampled were recent arrivals that were using the SRD as a stopover site. This demonstrates that stable isotope analyses of hunter-killed birds can be used to monitor changes in origins and recruitment into the fall waterfowl population of key stopover sites.

【 授权许可】

CC BY