Mississippi Alluvial Valley
A key migration and wintering area for midcontinent waterfowl, the Mississippi Alluvial Valley (MAV) supports peak populations of 7 million to 8 million ducks and geese. This includes up to 4 million mallards as well as significant numbers of pintails, wood ducks, green-winged teal, shovelers, white-fronted geese and lesser snow geese. In total, the MAV provides nearly a half-billion waterfowl use days for ducks and geese during fall and winter.
The timing and amount of winter precipitation, which affects the extent of natural flooding, has a large impact on the availability of waterfowl habitat in this region. Research indicates that in wet winters, waterfowl weigh more on average and survive at higher rates than in dry winters. During wet years, the MAV provides up to 3 million acres of naturally flooded forested wetlands and agricultural land, including more than 500,000 acres of managed private land, about 75,000 acres of restored managed wetlands on WRP land and 150,000 acres of flooded managed public land.
DU's conservation efforts in the MAV focus on providing a secure habitat base that will sustain migrating and wintering waterfowl in the region under variable environmental conditions. Top priorities include protecting seasonally flooded forested wetlands, enhancing the quality of intensively managed foraging habitat on private lands and continuing to restore and enhance the quantity and quality of managed habitat on public land. Studies suggest that more active and effective management of private lands enrolled in WRP could increase foraging potential in the MAV to support up to 500,000 additional wintering waterfowl. —Dr. Dale James and Dr. Tom Moorman