Agricultural destruction of Northern Pintail nests on cropland in prairie Canada
It has been postulated that the decline of the Northern Pintail (Anas acuta) population is related to the propensity of female pintails to nest in cropland. Using spatial modeling at multiple scales, we estimated that the long-term average (1961-2009) breeding population of Northern Pintails in prai...
Published in: | Avian Conservation and Ecology |
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Resilience Alliance
2018
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.5751/ACE-01243-130206 https://doaj.org/article/82d5dbc1330f44e8acb6ccbb333865f4 |
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fttriple:oai:gotriple.eu:oai:doaj.org/article:82d5dbc1330f44e8acb6ccbb333865f4 2023-05-15T13:24:47+02:00 Agricultural destruction of Northern Pintail nests on cropland in prairie Canada David C. Duncan James H. Devries 2018-12-01 https://doi.org/10.5751/ACE-01243-130206 https://doaj.org/article/82d5dbc1330f44e8acb6ccbb333865f4 en eng Resilience Alliance 1712-6568 doi:10.5751/ACE-01243-130206 https://doaj.org/article/82d5dbc1330f44e8acb6ccbb333865f4 undefined Avian Conservation and Ecology, Vol 13, Iss 2, p 6 (2018) agriculture Anas acuta bird mortality egg loss incidental take nest success Northern Pintail envir geo Journal Article https://vocabularies.coar-repositories.org/resource_types/c_6501/ 2018 fttriple https://doi.org/10.5751/ACE-01243-130206 2023-01-22T17:50:43Z It has been postulated that the decline of the Northern Pintail (Anas acuta) population is related to the propensity of female pintails to nest in cropland. Using spatial modeling at multiple scales, we estimated that the long-term average (1961-2009) breeding population of Northern Pintails in prairie Canada would have initiated a mean of 974,260 nests/year, of which 47% (457,900 +/- 43,270) would have been in cropland. Nest success rates are very low (5%) in spring-seeded cropland with predation and agricultural activity responsible for approximately 78% and 22% of the nest loss, respectively. We estimated that a long-term mean of 94,750 (+/- 19,680) nests representing 524,725 pintail eggs would have been destroyed by agricultural seeding and tillage operations on cropland annually. The number of nests/eggs lost in any given year would vary by an order of magnitude dependent primarily upon the size of the pintail population nesting on the prairies in that year. Our estimate of incidental take is quite robust because it is based on multiple, long-term studies using data from across the Canadian prairies. Our analysis provides additional support for the theory that the pintail's habit of nesting in cropland is the probable reason for the decline in the pintail population, irrespective of the cause of nest loss. Although predation is the primary cause of the loss of pintail nests in cropland, the proportion of nests lost to predation in cropland is similar to that in other upland habitats on the prairies. Thus the additional loss from agriculture could well be incremental and may be the proximate causative factor in the pintail population's decline and failure to recover in recent decades. Article in Journal/Newspaper Anas acuta Unknown Canada Avian Conservation and Ecology 13 2 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
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op_collection_id |
fttriple |
language |
English |
topic |
agriculture Anas acuta bird mortality egg loss incidental take nest success Northern Pintail envir geo |
spellingShingle |
agriculture Anas acuta bird mortality egg loss incidental take nest success Northern Pintail envir geo David C. Duncan James H. Devries Agricultural destruction of Northern Pintail nests on cropland in prairie Canada |
topic_facet |
agriculture Anas acuta bird mortality egg loss incidental take nest success Northern Pintail envir geo |
description |
It has been postulated that the decline of the Northern Pintail (Anas acuta) population is related to the propensity of female pintails to nest in cropland. Using spatial modeling at multiple scales, we estimated that the long-term average (1961-2009) breeding population of Northern Pintails in prairie Canada would have initiated a mean of 974,260 nests/year, of which 47% (457,900 +/- 43,270) would have been in cropland. Nest success rates are very low (5%) in spring-seeded cropland with predation and agricultural activity responsible for approximately 78% and 22% of the nest loss, respectively. We estimated that a long-term mean of 94,750 (+/- 19,680) nests representing 524,725 pintail eggs would have been destroyed by agricultural seeding and tillage operations on cropland annually. The number of nests/eggs lost in any given year would vary by an order of magnitude dependent primarily upon the size of the pintail population nesting on the prairies in that year. Our estimate of incidental take is quite robust because it is based on multiple, long-term studies using data from across the Canadian prairies. Our analysis provides additional support for the theory that the pintail's habit of nesting in cropland is the probable reason for the decline in the pintail population, irrespective of the cause of nest loss. Although predation is the primary cause of the loss of pintail nests in cropland, the proportion of nests lost to predation in cropland is similar to that in other upland habitats on the prairies. Thus the additional loss from agriculture could well be incremental and may be the proximate causative factor in the pintail population's decline and failure to recover in recent decades. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
David C. Duncan James H. Devries |
author_facet |
David C. Duncan James H. Devries |
author_sort |
David C. Duncan |
title |
Agricultural destruction of Northern Pintail nests on cropland in prairie Canada |
title_short |
Agricultural destruction of Northern Pintail nests on cropland in prairie Canada |
title_full |
Agricultural destruction of Northern Pintail nests on cropland in prairie Canada |
title_fullStr |
Agricultural destruction of Northern Pintail nests on cropland in prairie Canada |
title_full_unstemmed |
Agricultural destruction of Northern Pintail nests on cropland in prairie Canada |
title_sort |
agricultural destruction of northern pintail nests on cropland in prairie canada |
publisher |
Resilience Alliance |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5751/ACE-01243-130206 https://doaj.org/article/82d5dbc1330f44e8acb6ccbb333865f4 |
geographic |
Canada |
geographic_facet |
Canada |
genre |
Anas acuta |
genre_facet |
Anas acuta |
op_source |
Avian Conservation and Ecology, Vol 13, Iss 2, p 6 (2018) |
op_relation |
1712-6568 doi:10.5751/ACE-01243-130206 https://doaj.org/article/82d5dbc1330f44e8acb6ccbb333865f4 |
op_rights |
undefined |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5751/ACE-01243-130206 |
container_title |
Avian Conservation and Ecology |
container_volume |
13 |
container_issue |
2 |
_version_ |
1766381654239084544 |