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Wetland Seed Availability for Waterfowl in Annual and Perennial Emergent Plant Communities of the Rainwater Basin

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Abstract

The Rainwater Basin (RWB) provides critical habitat for many species of migrating waterfowl during spring migration. Conservation planners are currently using a bioenergetic approach to evaluate waterfowl habitat needs for this region, yet forage availability is currently unknown. We evaluated wetland-derived seed availability on publically-managed wetlands to determine mass available in emergent plant communities dominated by annual moist-soil species (MSA) and perennial moist-soil (MSP) stands. Prior to spring migration, 10-cm deep core samples were collected from 12 wetlands (n = 97) in 2010 and 13 wetlands in 2011 (n = 107) across 5 counties throughout the RWB. Available seed biomass for all areas sampled was 685.7 ± 45.9 kg/ha). Between these two common plant communities, mean seed mass was significantly greater (Z = 4.78, P < 0.0001) in MSA stands (\( \overline{x} \) = 907.2 ± 84.6 kg/ha) than in MSP stands (\( \overline{x} \) = 488.7 ± 33.5 kg/ha). Carrying capacity estimates can now be estimated for publically-managed RWB wetland habitats by determining if stands are dominated by annual or perennial species. In addition, land managers can now determine if management treatments will maximize seed biomass for spring migrants based on stand composition during the growing season.

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Acknowledgments

Financial support was provided by the Region 6 Inventory and Monitoring Program. The Rainwater Basin Wetland Management District provided field equipment. The University of Nebraska at Kearney provided laboratory space and equipment funded through a NIH grant (P20 RR016469) from the INBRE Program of the National Center for Research Resources. We also thank the Whooping Crane Trust for providing laboratory facilities. We thank Tim Smith, Mark Pfost, and Dustin Casady for field data collection; and Kaci Drahota, Mallory Irvine, and Alyx Lingenfelter for assisting with seed sorting. We also thank Aaron Pearse, Keith Geluso, Mark Vrtiska, and Joe Springer for general feedback on study design and data analysis techniques. We also thank Mike Brasher, Sarah Fleming, Rick Kaminski, Jennifer Kross, Luke Naylor, and Alicia Wiseman for assisting us in understand previous study designs, sampling techniques and establishing consistent laboratory methods. We are particularly grateful to Dr. H. Hagy and Dr. B. Beas for their critique of our study design and helpful guidance refining this manuscript.

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  1. Rainwater Basin Wetland Management District, 73746 V Road, P.O. Box 8, Funk, NE, 68940, USA

    Jeff Drahota

  2. University of Nebraska Kearney, 2401 11th Avenue, Kearney, NE, 68849, USA

    Letitia M. Reichart

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Drahota, J., Reichart, L.M. Wetland Seed Availability for Waterfowl in Annual and Perennial Emergent Plant Communities of the Rainwater Basin. Wetlands 35, 1105–1116 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-015-0698-3

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