Find Workable Solutions

For the Pintail Initiative to be successful, it is clear that pintail populations will need not only the conservation of existing uncropped habitat, but a better chance for success in annually cropped lands as well. This challenges DUC to find “workable” agricultural solutions that impact large acreages. To do so, DUC launched two pintail-focused studies in Saskatchewan. The first was done in co-operation with the Saskatchewan Wetland Conservation Corporation and examined the potential conservation value of a “cropland conversion program”, where marginal cropland would be converted to hayland. In this two-year study, over 2,000 acres of hayland were searched for duck nests each year. We found that pintails on average hatched one nest every 142 acres, nearly 10 times the ratio that is typically observed in spring-seeded cropland. This suggested that conversion of cropland to perennial forages would improve pintail productivity.

The second study focused on pintail productivity in fall-seeded cereal fields. Given that pintails often nest in cropland, DUC recognized the potential of fall-seeded crops, such as fall rye and winter wheat, to reduce the destruction of nests by tillage. This research compared the use and breeding success of pintails in spring-seeded versus fall-seeded crops. Nearly 4,000 acres of both fall-seeded crops and spring-seeded fields were searched over the two-year study. The results were compelling. Pintails on average hatched one nest every 72 acres in fall-seeded crops in contrast to one nest every 1,332 acres in spring-seeded cropland. This improved production resulted from both higher nest densities of nests in fall-seeded crops and higher hatching rates as well. The study provided a solid endorsement for the use of fall-seeded crops as a pintail-friendly cropping alternative in areas where annual cropping has encroached on traditional pintail breeding areas.

Knowing what tools to use is only part of the challenge DUC faces when designing conservation programs. We must also know where to implement those tools. As a first step, DUC needed to know what areas of Canada’s prairies typically attract the highest densities of pintails. To determine this, DUC’s Geographic Information Systems (GIS) specialists and scientists from the Institute for Wetland and Waterfowl Research worked together to develop a map depicting long-term expected pintail pair densities across prairie Canada. The resulting product or “thunderstorm map”, nicknamed so because these kinds of maps resemble the images we see from weather radar, uses different colours to illustrate duck densities (Figure 2). Cutting-edge GIS technology has helped DUC target habitat programs to areas that make the biggest difference to improving waterfowl populations. This means solid investment decisions.

With GIS tools in hand, and with an assessment of habitat change since the 1970s, the habitat goals of the Pintail Initiative could be developed with greater confidence. When the objective is to increase continental populations, as is the case with the Pintail Initiative, habitat change must occur on a large scale. For pintails, this is especially imperative because they are nomadic in nature and will settle wherever the prairies offer the best wetland conditions each spring. Therefore, targeting small landscapes, which may be wet only every few years, is not adequate. Of course a widespread international program comes with a hefty price tag. Over the next 25 years, the Canadian prairie portion of the Pintail Initiative is projected to cost $50 million.

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