Title: HUMAN DISTURBANCE OF WATERFOWL ON KEOKUK POOL
Abstract: Keokuk Pool, navigation Pool 19 of the upper Mississippi River, is an important migration area for diving ducks (Thompson 1973, Thornburg 1973, Serie et al. 1983, Serie and Sharp 1989). Human disturbance has affected the distribution and behavior of diving ducks on migration areas in the Mississippi Flyway (Evenson et al. 1973, Thompson 1973, Thornburg 1973, Korschgen et al. 1985, Kahl 1991). Continental populations of lesser scaup (Aythya affinis), canvasback (A. valisineria), and redhead (A. americana) are below long-term averages and below goals established in the North American Waterfowl Management Plan (Johnson et al. 1990). Fat deposition is essential to satisfying avian energetic requirements associated with migration, breeding, and survival (Haramis et al. 1986, Serie and Sharp 1989, Barzen and Serie 1990). Currently, canvasbacks have few migration areas in the Mississippi Flyway that provide abundant food resources and meet these requirements (Korschgen et al. 1988, Korschgen 1989). Korschgen et al. (1985) estimated that canvasbacks staging on Lake Onalaska in Pool 7 of the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge may have expended up to 1 hour/day in flight as a result of disturbances. Kahl (1991) reported that the energetic cost to canvasbacks by boating disturbances on Lake Poygan, Wisconsin, averaged 14-42 kcal/day for flight plus incremental feeding activity to compensate for this flight. Consequently, our objectives were to determine the extent of human disturbance of diving ducks on Keokuk Pool during spring and autumn migration, and if disturbance is a problem, to suggest how this information could be used to identify areas of the pool for consideration as a refuge.
Publication Year: 1992
Publication Date: 1992-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
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Cited By Count: 2
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