The American Black Duck: Three Decades of Science-Based Adaptive Management
Date
2018-12-31
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Case Studies in the Environment
Abstract
The American black duck (Anas rubripes) population declined by 50% between 1955 and 1985, prompting more than three decades of intensive scientific research and strategic management. Analyses of band recovery data suggest that the historical declines may have been caused in part by harvest, but even with restrictive hunting regulations implemented in the mid 1980s, populations have not recovered. Increasing competition and hybridization with mallards (Anas platyrhynchos), coupled with habitat loss and fragmentation on northern breeding grounds are hypothesized to have contributed to a lower continental black duck population. Simultaneously, there is a concern that declines in the quantity and quality of wintering habitat—coastal salt marshes of the eastern United States—may have deleterious cross-seasonal effects on black duck demographics. Black ducks have a long legacy of intensive research and management, and ongoing threats to their populations make this a well-rooted and timely case study in science-based conservation.
Description
This article was originally published in Case Studies in the Environment. The version of record is available at: https://doi.org/10.1525/cse.2017.000844. © 2018 by the Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Keywords
American black duck, salt marsh, conservation, habitat loss, habitat fragmentation, life on land
Citation
Kevin M. Ringelman, Christopher K. Williams; The American Black Duck: Three Decades of Science-Based Adaptive Management. Case Studies in the Environment 31 December 2018; 2 (1): 1–8. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/cse.2017.000844