Proposed Assessment and Decision Making Framework to Inform Harvest Management of Wood Ducks in the Atlantic and Mississippi Flyways

摘要

Harvest management for wood ducks has generally been quite conservative in the latter 20th and early 21st century, largely due to a history of over-exploitation. Wood duck seasons were closed entirely from 1918 to 1940. Bag limits of one were generally the rule in the Atlantic and Mississippi Flyways from 1941 through 1961, and, with the exception of a few special seasons, the daily bag limit has remained at 2 since 1962 (Bellrose and Holm 1994). Conservative wood duck harvest regulations can also be attributed to limitations in population monitoring programs. While breeding population estimates and midwinter indices are available for most duck species, wood ducks cannot be accurately surveyed from the air due to their preference for heavily wooded habitats. The lack of a range-wide population estimate for wood ducks has frustrated attempts to develop a harvest strategy for them. Over the past 3 years, I have worked with US Fish and Wildlife Service, US Geological Service, and state personnel to update and improve available monitoring data for wood ducks.