Landscape analysis of waterfowl foraging habitat in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley: a comparison of accomplishments to habitat objectives.
Chad A. Manlove, Jerry I. Holden Jr., and Thomas E. Moorman, Ducks Unlimited Inc., Southern Regional Office, Ridgeland, MS.
Partners: Ducks Unlimited, Inc., and the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley Joint Venture
Throughout the Mississippi Alluvial Valley (MAV), conservation partners have delivered habitat projects based on bioenergetic models that relate daily energy requirements of waterfowl to their foraging habitat needs. Foraging habitat is assumed to be the primary determinant of carrying capacity and consists of a combination of flooded agricultural land, forested wetland, and moist soil habitats. Foraging habitat objectives were established based on the proportion of the North American Waterfowl Management Plan.s continental population goal expected to winter in the MAV, and partitioned by state into public and private managed habitats. Currently, private lands programs have enhanced over 98,500 hectares of waterfowl habitat since 1991, yet no studies have compared accomplishments to habitat objectives. Thus, we evaluated foraging habitat accomplishments on public and private lands at a landscape level and made comparisons with Lower Mississippi Valley Joint Venture habitat objectives to assess whether habitat goals have been achieved and to enable informed decisions regarding future direction of conservation programs. We used satellite imagery and remote sensing techniques to quantify foraging habitat available to wintering waterfowl during 1999-00 and 2001-02 in the MAV. Data were summarized by state into specific habitat categories including public managed habitat, private managed habitat, and unmanaged naturally flooded habitat (i.e., flooded agricultural fields or bottomland hardwood forests). Preliminary results suggest that foraging habitat objectives have been accomplished under most fall/winter precipitation and habitat conditions. Implications of these results and management recommendations for future habitat restoration programs in the MAV will be discussed.
