There is increasing recognition of the importance of wetlands in the prairie pothole region (PPR) of the northern United States for stopover habitat for spring-migrating waterfowl. The quality and quantity of stopover habitat found near breeding areas can affect speed and success of migration and subsequent breeding events. Conservation and management of wetlands in the region has traditionally focused narrowly on reproductive phases of the life cycle, and little to no research has examined how ducks use a diversity of available wetlands in the region during migration. We conducted weekly surveys on 1,061 wetlands during spring 2018 and 2019 to examine factors affecting duck use of wetlands in the intensively modified southern PPR landscape of Iowa, USA, for wetland restoration and conservation strategies. We compared wetland types, which included farmed, seasonal, and semi-permanent wetlands, and lakes. The highest duck use per unit area occurred on semi-permanent wetlands, followed by seasonal, and then farmed wetlands, and lakes. Ducks were highly clustered in our study, with 75% of all use-days occurring on only 37 wetlands comprising 41% of all wetland area surveyed. We used hurdle models to examine how local and landscape factors measured within and around wetlands influenced duck use during spring migration. Multiple factors related to duck use at local and landscape scales, such as wetland area, vegetation abundance, and number of wetlands in the surrounding landscape. Among semi-permanent wetlands, local factors within wetlands were more important than landscape factors in determining duck use. Collectively, our findings suggest semi-permanent wetlands within the PPR play a key role in transitioning birds from wintering areas to breeding areas and that management of semi-permanent wetlands should promote interspersion of emergent vegetation and open water and growth of submersed aquatic plants to improve their function for migrants. © 2021 The Authors. The Journal of Wildlife Management published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of The Wildlife Society.

中文翻译：

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影响南部草原坑洼地区春候鸭利用湿地的因素

人们越来越认识到美国北部草原坑洼地区 (PPR) 的湿地对于春季迁徙水禽的中途停留栖息地的重要性。在繁殖区附近发现的中途停留栖息地的质量和数量会影响迁徙和随后繁殖事件的速度和成功。该地区湿地的保护和管理传统上只关注生命周期的繁殖阶段，几乎没有研究调查鸭子在迁徙过程中如何利用该地区可用湿地的多样性。我们在 2018 年和 2019 年春季对 1,061 处湿地进行了每周调查，以研究影响美国爱荷华州南部 PPR 景观中鸭子利用湿地的因素，以制定湿地恢复和保护策略。我们比较了湿地类型，其中包括人工湿地、季节性湿地和半永久性湿地以及湖泊。单位面积鸭子使用量最高的是半永久性湿地，其次是季节性湿地，然后是养殖湿地和湖泊。在我们的研究中，鸭子高度聚集，所有使用天数的 75% 仅发生在 37 个湿地，占调查的所有湿地面积的 41%。我们使用障碍模型来检查在湿地内部和周围测量的当地和景观因素如何影响春季迁徙期间鸭子的使用。与当地和景观尺度的鸭子使用相关的多种因素，例如湿地面积、植被丰度和周围景观中的湿地数量。在半永久性湿地中，湿地内的局部因素在决定鸭子的使用方面比景观因素更重要。总的来说，我们的研究结果表明，PPR 内的半永久性湿地在鸟类从越冬区过渡到繁殖区方面发挥着关键作用，半永久性湿地的管理应促进挺水植被和开放水域的散布以及沉水植物的生长，以改善其功能对于移民。© 2021 作者。这由 Wiley Periodicals LLC 代表野生动物协会出版的《野生动物管理杂志》。