Wetlands
Volume 26, Issue 1, 2006, Pages 30-39

Use of wetlands by spring-migrant shorebirds in agricultural landscapes of North Dakota's Drift Prairie (Article)

Niemuth N.D.* , Estey M.E. , Reynolds R.E. , Loesch C.R. , Meeks W.A.
  • a USFWS Habitat and Population Evaluation Team, 3425 Miriam Avenue, Bismarck, ND 58501, United States
  • b USFWS Habitat and Population Evaluation Team, 3425 Miriam Avenue, Bismarck, ND 58501, United States
  • c USFWS Habitat and Population Evaluation Team, 3425 Miriam Avenue, Bismarck, ND 58501, United States
  • d USFWS Habitat and Population Evaluation Team, 3425 Miriam Avenue, Bismarck, ND 58501, United States
  • e USFWS Devil's Lake Wetland Management District, P.O. Box 908, Devil's Lake, ND 58301, United States, USFWS Lostwood National Wildlife Refuge, 8315 Highway 8, Kenmare, ND 58746, United States

Abstract

Small, isolated wetlands in the Prairie Pothole Region of North America may be of critical importance to migrating shorebirds but are at high risk of drainage for agricultural production. We evaluated shorebird use of 1,181 temporary and seasonal wetlands within agricultural fields in the Drift Prairie physiographic region of North Dakota, USA over a 10-week period in spring of 2001. A total of 4,050 shorebirds of 25 species was observed on sampled wetlands. Shorebirds selected temporary wetlands that had water present during multiple visits, little emergent vegetation, large perimeters, and other wetlands in the surrounding landscape. Shorebirds were less likely to use wetlands showing evidence of drainage. Observed use of wetland basins suggests that small wetlands in the Prairie Pothole Region host millions of migrant shorebirds each spring. Continued existence of many of these wetlands may be threatened by a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that removed federal protection from certain isolated wetlands. Our results show the importance of current wetland protection provisions such as "Swampbuster" and other conservation practices of the United States Department of Agriculture Farm Program. © 2006, The Society of Wetland Scientists.

Author Keywords

Farm bill Landscape ecology Wetland complex Migration chronology Prairie Pothole Region

Index Keywords

wetland management North Dakota migratory species Prairie Pothole Region Environmental Policy habitat use Drift Prairie protected area public sector conservation management environmental protection agricultural land North America United States wader

Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-33845746659&doi=10.1672%2f0277-5212%282006%2926%5b30%3aUOWBSS%5d2.0.CO%3b2&partnerID=40&md5=63e0afc1529a8e74afd95209fbb219a7

DOI: 10.1672/0277-5212(2006)26[30:UOWBSS]2.0.CO;2
ISSN: 02775212
Cited by: 28
Original Language: English