Enhanced migratory waterfowl distribution modeling by inclusion of depth to water table data.

ABSTRACT: In addition to being used as a tool for ecological understanding, management and conservation of migratory waterfowl rely heavily on distribution models; yet these models have poor accuracy when compared to models of other bird groups. The goal of this study is to offer methods to enhance our ability to accurately model the spatial distributions of six migratory waterfowl species. This goal is accomplished by creating models based on species-specific annual cycles and introducing a depth to water table (DWT) data set. The DWT data set, a wetland proxy, is a simulated long-term measure of the point either at or below the surface where climate and geological/topographic water fluxes balance. For species occurrences, the USGS' banding bird data for six relatively common species was used. Dist

SUBMITTER: Kreakie BJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3260213 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature