Nesting Success Research

Ensuring effective and efficient prairie conservation

Although dabbling ducks once returned each spring to prairie breeding areas to find diverse wetland communities scattered amidst large expanses of grassland, many of the prairie landscapes today have been altered. And the changes to these landscapes have detrimentally impacted the ability of the birds to successfully reproduce. Thus, the challenge is to understand how ducks fare in the different landscape settings they experience today so we can develop and deliver conservation programs that improve their breeding success. Previous research has identified nesting success as the single most important factor influencing the growth of dabbling duck populations. Thus, Ducks Unlimited has had research ongoing since 2000 to refine our understanding of the landscape and habitat characteristics that influence nesting success.

The ultimate goal of this work is the constant refinement of the information we have to guide our important conservation work across the prairies. Here you can learn more about our research and follow along with our researchers as the breeding season progresses in 2008. We hope you’ll enjoy the frequent updates of what is happening on the prairies! Get More Details

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Pre-season Research Update 2008

April 28, 2008

Late April finds pairs of mallards and pintails defending their breeding territories and prospecting for nest sites across the Coteau region of North and South Dakota. Meanwhile the first passes are being made with ATV’s towing chains as our research staff begins collecting valuable information about how the nests of those ducks will fare in landscapes of differing habitat quality. Welcome back to our research web-site as we prepare to share the trials and tribulations of doing research on breeding ducks across the Missouri Coteau in North and South Dakota.

The 2008 research season represents the ninth year of our long-term research across North and South Dakota. It seems like only a short time ago that I remember the very first mallard flushing from the tall grass in a field of expired Water Bank grassland; nest number one entered our data set. However, our research crews have collected data from the nests nearly 15,000 duck nests and by the end of this summer that number could climb over 16,000. Those nests have facilitated substantial improvement in our understanding of the factors that are related to the nest survival and ultimately duckling production. With that advanced understanding, DU’s conservation programs are better able to be targeted to the most critical landscapes and habitats that the ducks will need if their populations are to be maintained. And more efficient conservation programs will be needed as many new threats exist to maintaining the prairie landscapes that the ducks, many other species of wildlife, and ranchers depend upon.

Wetland conditions across most of our research sites are unfortunately quite dry. In the past six months, the average total precipitation we’ve received across North Dakota has been 1.38” which is the lowest amount of precipitation for a six month period on record since data collection began However, precipitation that falls during May will now determine how many resources are available for the breeding birds to take advantage of.

And the landscapes the birds are breeding in and we are working in are undergoing change too. Over 400,000 acres of Conservation Reserve Program grasslands have expired from the program and been brought back into production in North Dakota in 2007. Unfortunately, as I traveled around last fall, it was far too common to encounter a field of CRP being burned or plowed in preparation for planting. Meanwhile, native grassland continues to be lost with nearly 49,000 acres going under the plow in 2007 in ND, SD and MT. All of this means longer odds for the ducks trying to hatch a nest on the landscape.

We hope you’ll enjoy following along with the research crews and watching the breeding season unfold! Stay tuned for the first maps and data to be updated.

Scott Stephens
Director of Conservation Planning