Bibliothèque Électronique Lac Saint-Pierre

Measuring Habitat Quality for Least Bitterns in a Created Wetland with Use of a Small Unmanned Aircraft.

Chabot, D. et Carignan, V. et Bird, D. M. (2014). Measuring Habitat Quality for Least Bitterns in a Created Wetland with Use of a Small Unmanned Aircraft. Wetlands , 34 . pp. 527-533. DOI: DOI 10.1007/s13157-014-0518-1.

Ce document n'est pas hébergé sur Bibliothèque Électronique Lac Saint-Pierre.

Résumé

Created wetlands play an important role in the conservation of Least Bitterns (Ixobrychus exilis) by compensating for the loss of natural wetlands. In 2011, we studied habitat relationships of a major population breeding in a 128-ha cattail- and bur-reed-dominated impoundment in Quebec. We surveyed for bitterns and recorded habitat parameters at 30 points, making novel use of a small unmanned aircraft system (UAS) to obtain fine-scale land cover data. A model-selection approach based on Akaike’s information criterion (AIC) determined that breeding density was best predicted by cattail cover in combination with water-vegetation edge density (Akaike weight = 0.88). Breeding density was unrelated to water depth, contrary to a previous study at the site after a dyke breach significantly lowered water levels, suggesting that above a certain depth threshold other habitat preferences take precedence. We recommend that management of created wetlands for Least Bitterns focus on maintaining stable water levels of at least 25 cm on average during the breeding season and manipulating them as required later on in order to promote hemi-marsh conditions. UAS can enhance wetland habitat research and monitoring by improving the precision and efficiency of data collection in the field while reducing disturbance compared to ground-based surveys.

Type de document: Article scientifique
Statut du texte intégral: Autre
Mots-clés libres: Least Bitterns, Ixobrychus exilis, Species at risk, Habitat use, Artificial wetlands, Remote sensing, Aerial survey
Sujets: 4. Faune > 4.4. Oiseaux
5. Aménagements > 5.1. Aménagement faunique
5. Aménagements > 5.2. Conservation de l’habitat
Date de dépôt: 13 juin 2016 16:13
Dernière modification: 08 avr. 2017 14:34
URL officiel: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs13157-...
URI: https://belsp.uqtr.ca/id/eprint/134

Gestion Actions (Identification requise)

Dernière vérification avant le dépôt Dernière vérification avant le dépôt
Coopérative de solidarité de la Réserve de la biosphère du Lac-Saint-Pierre
Concepteur de la BELSP : André Barabé, Ph. D.