Waterfowl Breeding Pair and Brood Usage of Oxbows and Riverine Habitats on the James River

<p>Waterfowl breeding pair and brood surveys were conducted along 250 km of the James River and adjacent oxbows in Brown and Spink Counties, South Dakota during 1987-88. Invertebrates were sampled at brood survey sites in 1988. All of the oxbows and river segments in 1987 contained sufficient water for waterfowl surveys. Drought conditions in 1988 resulted in 32 out of 38 oxbows without water. River segments were also very low or dry in 1988. Waterfowl pairs declined from 4.2 pairs/km in 1987 to 1.1 pairs/km in 1988 on the river segments. In 1987, blue-winged teal (Anas discors) pairs located on river segments were the most corrmon (2.5 pairs /km) species; pair surveys were not conducted on oxbows in 1987. In 1988, mallard (Anas olatvrhynchos) pairs located on oxbows were the most corrrnon (2.3 pairs/km) species with pairs for all species combined on oxbows (5.7 pairs/km) greatly outnumbering those on the river segments (1.2 pairs/km). River segments averaged 1.0 broods/km in 1987 with blue-winged teal the most corrmon (0.4 broods/km). No broods were located on the river segments in 1988. Oxbows averaged 1. 7 and 0. 8 broods/km in 1987 and 1988 respectively with wood duck (Aix sponsa) broods the most common each year at 0. 6 and 0. 7 broods/km in 1987 and 1988. Oxbows contained higher densities of invertebrates than river segments for 9 of 12 groups analyzed. Oxbows contained more emergent and submergent vegetation than the James River channel but also appeared more susceptible to desiccation from drought.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science (MS)

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis - University Access Only

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Wildlife and Fisheries Science

Year

1990

Author dc:creator

• Larson, Scott V.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Lester D. Flake

• Natural Resources and Conservation

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright © 1990 Scott V. Larson. All rights reserved.

Language dc:language

en

Repository record dc:identifier

https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/etd/516

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:openprairie.sdstate.edu:etd-1516