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Title: Relative Importance of Vital Rates to Population Dynamics of Wood Ducks

Journal Article · · Journal of Wildlife Management
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/jwmg.21792· OSTI ID:1844218
ORCiD logo [1];  [1];  [2]
  1. Auburn Univ., AL (United States)
  2. Univ. of Georgia, Aiken, SC (United States)
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The wood duck (Aix sponsa) is a common and important cavity-nesting duck in North America; however, we know very little about how changes in vital rates influence population growth rate (λ). We used estimates of fertility and survival of female wood ducks from our nest-box studies in South Carolina, Alabama, and Georgia, USA, to create a stage-based matrix population model. We conducted perturbation analyses and ranked elasticity values to examine the relative importance of 17 component vital rates to λ. Female survival is influenced by nest success, so we recognized this female heterogeneity in our analyses. Four vital rates showed the greatest importance to λ. Analytic elasticities were greatest for breeding season and nonbreeding season survival of females that nested successfully, followed by nest success and female recruitment to the breeding population. Differences in female quality were important to λ. Next, we used process variation of vital rates and conducted life-stage simulation analyses (LSA) followed by variance decomposition to determine the amount of variation in λ explained by each vital rate. Female recruitment to the breeding population explained 57.7% of the variation in λ followed by nest success (11.4%), and breeding and nonbreeding season survival of females that nested successfully (9.3% and 9.4%, respectively). Together these 4 vital rates explained 88% of the variation in λ. Mean asymptotic population growth rate (λ = 0.80 ± 0.08 [SD]) from LSA revealed a declining population. Recruitment of females hatched from nest boxes was insufficient to sustain the nest-box population. Furthermore, including yearling (SY) females that were produced outside of nest boxes (i.e., immigrants) increased recruitment rates 1.5 to 2 times more than when only SY females recruited from nest boxes were included. Future research that examines how emigration and immigration interact with survival and reproduction to influence local population dynamics of wood ducks will be important for identifying the value of nest-box programs to wood duck conservation and management.

Research Organization:
Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States). Savannah River Ecology Lab. (SREL)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
FC09-07SR22506
OSTI ID:
1844218
Journal Information:
Journal of Wildlife Management, Vol. 84, Issue 2; ISSN 0022-541X
Publisher:
WileyCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Related Subjects

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES
Aix sponsa
Anatidae
demography
elasticity
life-stage simulation analysis
nest boxes
perturbation analysis
wood duck