Abstracts & Contact List 1 Great Lakes Waterfowl Symposium Primary Organization & Logistic Coordination: Long Point Waterfowl & Wetlands Research Fund Primary Sponsors: Canadian Wildlife Service - Environment Canada, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, & Ducks Unlimited Canada Additional Sponsors: Ducks Unlimited, Inc., Delta Waterfowl Foundation, Wildlife Habitat Canada / Wetland Habitat Fund, & Bird Studies Canada GLWS Organizing Committee: Long Point Waterfowl & Wetlands Research Fund Scott Petrie Shannon Badzinski Canadian Wildlife Service – Environment Canada Gary McCullough Norm North Paul Ashley Danny Bernard James Vanos Ducks Unlimited Canada Michel Gendron Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources Bruce Pollard GLWS Student Awards Committee: Michael Anderson Institute for Wetland & Waterfowl Research – DUC Ron Gatti Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Ken Ross Canadian Wildlife Service – Environment Canada 2 Purpose of the Symposium The Great Lakes basin provides important staging, wintering, and breeding habitat for many species of ducks, geese and swans. The lakes and their associated habitats are not only spatially and temporally dynamic but are under constant threat from anthropogenic disturbances and introduction or proliferation of several exotic species. For these reasons, it is essential to increase our knowledge about the ecology, management, and threats facing waterfowl in the Great Lakes region. Presently, there are several government agencies, private organizations, and university researchers monitoring and studying waterfowl in and around the Great Lakes basin. However, collaboration among these parties could be improved, particularly across political boundaries. To promote communication, coordination, collaboration, and idea sharing among interested parties, the Long Point Waterfowl and Wetlands Research Fund, Canadian Wildlife Service - Environment Canada, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, and Ducks Unlimited decided to organize this Great Lakes Waterfowl Symposium. GLWS Participants List Because one of the primary purposes of GLWS is to foster idea sharing and collaboration among agencies and individuals, the GLWS Organizing Committee will post a list of GLWS participants on the LPWWRF website <http://www.bsc-eoc.org/lpbo/LPWWRF- GLWSymp.html> and will e-mail a copy to all registrants. 3 Abstracts of Oral Presentations Plenary Status of Waterfowl Science and Management Programs in United States and Canadian Universities Kaminski, Richard M. Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, Mississippi State University Mississippi State, MS 39762–9690, USA, [email protected] Since the time of Aldo Leopold, significant changes have occurred in science, management, and education related to wildlife and other natural resources. Historically, wildlife management focused on game animals. However, over 50 years ago, Aldo Leopold advocated sustaining ecosystems in his classic words: “To keep every cog and wheel is the first precaution of intelligent tinkering.” Although wildlife management today must focus on sustaining ecosystems, we should retain certain “cogs and wheels” that have been central and beneficial to wildlife science and conservation, human society, and the environment. In my opinion, these include waterfowl and the people who have helped sustain these valuable birds and their habitats. Because waterfowl are ecologically, environmentally, and economically important in North America, we should be aware of the possible impending decline in waterfowl scientists and educators in United States and Canadian universities. In 2000, I mailed a 2–page questionnaire to administrators in United States and Canadian universities (n = 76) to determine current and future status of waterfowl science and management programs in their institutions. Response rate was 93%, with 65% reporting they currently employed >1 faculty with expertise in waterfowl. Most (65%) of these faculty were >45 years of age (modal [24%] age class was 56–60 years). If these faculty would depart their positions, 63% of U.S. respondents but only 25% of Canadian respondents (53% combined) indicated they would seek another person with waterfowl expertise. Most would seek alternative specializations. I conclude that there is cause for concern regarding the possible waning of professionals with waterfowl expertise in North American universities. Professionals working with waterfowl and their habitats have significantly increased knowledge in the basic and applied sciences. As university faculty and administrators “tinker” with natural resource curricula and research programs, history has suggested that waterfowl professionals are “cogs and wheels” worth sustaining in North American universities. 4 Breeding Ecology Session Mallard Duckling Survival in the Great Lakes Region: Relationships with Hatch Date and Habitat Simpson, John W. University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, N1G 2W1, [email protected] Yerkes, Tina. Ducks Unlimited Inc., 331 Metty Drive, Ann Arbor, MI, 48103, [email protected] Habitat, in particular wetland habitat, may play a critical role in the growth, development, and survival of waterfowl young. Survival of waterfowl young is poorly understood, particularly in regions outside of the prairies, and little information exists regarding relationships between survival rates and habitat characteristics. We investigated the relationship between duckling survival rates, hatch date, and wetland and upland habitat covariates for 116 Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) broods in the Great Lakes region from 2001 to 2003. Duckling survival rates increased rapidly with duckling age, and the probability, on hatch day, that a duckling will survive to 55 days tended to be higher for later hatched ducklings. The probability of survival to 55 days was also positively related to the proportion of vegetated wetland area, negatively related to the proportion of forest cover, and negatively related to the amount of wetland edge in the brood rearing area. Duckling survival rates were not correlated with the length of overland travel, the proportion of grassland, or the proportion seasonal wetlands in the brood rearing area. Conservation efforts aimed at improving mallard duckling survival rates in the Great Lakes region should focus on creating and maintaining wetlands with dense emergent vegetation and should avoid forested areas when protecting or creating wetland habitat. 5 Breeding Ecology Session Mallard Breeding Ecology and Hydrophyte Communities in Managed Wetlands in New York Kaminski, Matthew R. SUNY-College of Environmental Science and Forestry, 1 Forestry Drive, Syracuse, NY 13210 USA; [email protected] Baldassarre, Guy A. SUNY-College of Environmental Science and Forestry, 1 Forestry Drive, Syracuse, NY 13210 USA; [email protected] The Oneida Lake Plain is an important ecoregion in the Atlantic Flyway for waterfowl, especially mallards (Anas platyrhynchos). This region was identified by the USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) as a focal region for wetland restoration and needing assessment of waterfowl use. Therefore, we initiated a 2-year field study (2003-2004) on NRCS’s Wetland Reserve Program (WRP) lands to (1) estimate survival and reproductive performance of female mallards, (2) contrast habitat use between females that did and did not survive and reproduce successfully, (3) evaluate effect of early summer drawdown of WRP impoundments as a strategy to stimulate production of moist-soil and emergent vegetation, and (4) estimate and compare waterbird use of hydrologically manipulated and unmanipulated WRP wetlands in fall 2003 and spring and fall 2004. In spring 2003, we fitted 32 hen mallards with prong and suture transmitters to monitor them throughout the season. Generally, females nested initially in forested and emergent wetlands perhaps as a consequence of little residual grass cover due to snow compaction. However, most renesting attempts were in grasslands in growing- season vegetation. Additionally, raptors (e.g., great-horned owls [Bubo virginanus] and red- tailed hawks [Buteo jamaicensis]) were important predators of early nesting mallards. We manipulated water levels on 4 WRP impoundments in summer 2003 and conducted plant and waterfowl surveys in fall 2003. Summer drawdown resulted in nearly complete re-vegetation in the drawdown areas of wetlands by 8-10 annual or perennial species beneficial to waterfowl as food and cover. We estimated 50.85 ducks/ha on the 4 managed wetlands compared to 4.09 ducks/ha on 6 unmanaged wetlands, implying the potential value of periodic drawdowns to improve habitat quality of WRP wetlands for migrating and breeding waterfowl. 6 Breeding Ecology Session Furthering Our Understanding Mallard Breeding Ecology to Enhance DUC Conservation Programs in Southern Ontario Gendron, Michel. Ducks Unlimited Canada, Unit 1-614 Norris Court, Kingston, ON K7P 2R9 [email protected] Gabor, Shane T. Institute for wetland and waterfowl research, Ducks Unlimited Canada, PO Box 1160, Stonewall, MB R0C 2Z0 [email protected] Ducks Unlimited Canada continually uses new knowledge to improve the performance of its conservation programs and to allow predictions of waterfowl response from other initiatives or programs that may influence the status of wetland habitats in southern Ontario. During an important recent science planning exercise among DUC staff, specific information needs were identified and prioritized to refine our conservation efforts. In particular, knowledge gaps specific to waterfowl habitat