Geology Reports⌕ Search
Home/Archive/USGS

USGS · 70256420

Evaluation of fall-seeded cover crops for grassland nesting waterfowl in eastern South Dakota

Charles W. Gallman·Todd W. Arnold·Eric S. Michel·Joshua D. Stafford
View original source ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

The Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) is the primary breeding ground for many species of North American waterfowl. The PPR was historically dominated by mixed and tallgrass prairies interspersed with wetlands, but >70% of the native grassland area has been lost due to widespread conversion to croplands. Cover cropping is a reemerging farming technique that may provide suitable nesting cover for grassland nesting waterfowl in active croplands, but waterfowl nest survival in fall cover-cropped fields has not been evaluated. We studied use (nest abundance and density) and nest survival of breeding waterfowl in fall-seeded cover crops and perennial cover during 2018 and 2019. We searched 2,094 ha of cover crops and 1,604 ha of perennial cover and found 123 and 304 duck nests, respectively, in each cover type. Estimated nest success (34-day interval) was 3.7% and 16.6% in cover crops during 2018 and 2019, respectively, versus 22.1% in 2018 and 24.9% in 2019 in perennial cover, with increased success of cover-crop fields in 2019 resulting from precipitation that prevented most fields from being planted to row crops. In a model that included effects of planting, daily nest survival in perennial cover was 0.944 (SD = 0.026) in 2018 and 0.960 (SD = 0.019) in 2019. Estimated daily nest survival was 0.912 (SD = 0.040) in 2018 and 0.960 (SD = 0.019) in 2019 during intervals when planting did not occur, but was only 0.417 (SD = 0.124) in 2018 and 0.612 (SD = 0.117) in 2019 on the day that planting occurred. Estimated nest densities in 2018 and 2019, adjusted for nests that failed prior to discovery, were 5.1 (SE = 1.1) and 11.0 (SE = 3.1) nests 100-ha −1 in perennial cover, but only 2.1 (SE = 0.8) and 2.6 (SE = 0.7) in cover crops, respectively. Based on observed nest initiation and planting dates, about 70% of duck nests in cover crops would experience planting events in a typical growing season. Our results suggest that under current management techniques, fall-seeded cover crops offer poor nesting habitat for waterfowl; however, the important benefits cover crops provide to soil health, water quality, and other ecosystem services remain.

Explore related subjects

Wildlife Society BulletinArticle
90° N90° S · 180° W ← longitude → 180° E
Source-reported bounding extent: 42.51351369305877° to 45.92537600884873° latitude; -101.06563969108848° to -71.5465897901165° longitude. This indicates report coverage, not an exact sampling location. View area on OpenStreetMap.

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

Charles W. Gallman, Todd W. Arnold, Eric S. Michel, Joshua D. Stafford. 2023-09-05. Evaluation of fall-seeded cover crops for grassland nesting waterfowl in eastern South Dakota. https://doi.org/10.1002/wsb.1484

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related USGS reports

USGS2026

Considerations for using autonomous recording units to monitor northern bobwhite occupancy at large spatial scales

Northern bobwhites ( Colinus virginianus ) have experienced widespread declines across their range, increasing the need for population monitoring across broad spatial and temporal scales. Yet large-scale monitoring of post-breeding bobwhites remains limited by the time-intensive nature of fall (i.e., autumn) covey counts. Passive acoustic monitoring with autonomous recording units (ARUs) and automatic detection software may help overcome these constraints but requires further study. From 2017 to 2021, we paired in-person observer point counts with ARU surveys during the fall in southern Iowa, USA to 1) evaluate how ARU detections compare to observer detections, 2) assess the accuracy of automatic classification software for covey calls, 3) gauge the influence of weather and ordinal date on detection, and 4) offer best practices for processing ARU acoustic data. We found high correspondence (89.2%) in detection and non-detection outcomes between paired ARU and observer surveys. Across manually processed recordings, 95.7% of covey call detections occurred within a 35-min window (50–15 min before sunrise). Increasing wind speed and cloud cover were associated with reduced detection probabilities. Wind speeds ≥5 m/s resulted in detection probabilities <0.5. The cumulative probability of detecting bobwhites at a site exceeded 0.995 (95% Credible Interval [CrI] = 0.987, 0.999) after 4 survey days when technicians processed the files. Manual processing had the highest mean detection probability (0.75, 95% CrI = 0.66, 0.82) compared with automatic detection software with 2 different confidence thresholds (0.46 [95% CrI = 0.39, 0.53] and 0.45 [95% CrI = 0.36, 0.55]). Automatic detection software allowed for substantially faster processing with relatively few false positives (false positive rate of 0.014 to 0.038). Autonomous recording units coupled with automatic detection software provided a promising alternative to in-person observer point counts of bobwhite covey calls for determining site occupancy and have the potential to greatly increase capacity for landscape-level bobwhite monitoring.

Iowa↗
USGS2026

Developing a low-cost drone-based method for deploying and retrieving autonomous recording units in inaccessible areas

Autonomous Recording Units (ARUs) are increasingly used in research to support passive acoustic monitoring, but deployment in remote or inaccessible locations remains logistically challenging. Traditional manual placement is labor-intensive, time-consuming, potentially hazardous, and often limited to habitat edges, creating sampling biases and restricting spatial coverage. To address placement limitations in wetland systems, we developed and field-tested a low-cost, lightweight floating platform paired with a drone-based deployment and retrieval system. The drone-deployable ARU platform, constructed from inexpensive, off-the-shelf materials (~US $21 per unit), weighed ~560 g and was mounted with an ARU (AudioMoth) at ~1.2 m above water. The platform was designed for stability, portability, and compliance with Federal Aviation Administration Part 107 regulations. Field trials were conducted across 50 operations in various types of historical rice-field impoundments along the South Carolina coast, which provide critical habitat for secretive marsh birds such as rails (e.g ., Rallus, Laterallus , and Porzana ) and bitterns (e.g ., Botaurus and Ixobrychus ). All 50 deployments and retrievals were successful, demonstrating the robustness of the method under diverse hydrologic and vegetative conditions. Deployment times were significantly shorter than retrieval times (median 6 vs. 9 min), with retrieval requiring greater precision for hook engagement. Operation times scaled predictably with distance: deployment increased by 0.93 min/100 m (R 2 = 0.94) and retrieval by 1.17 min/100 m (R 2 = 0.95). No platform damage or displacement was observed, as emergent vegetation was likely providing natural anchoring. Our approach offers an affordable and effective solution for expanding ARU coverage in large, inaccessible wetlands, reducing sampling bias and enhancing biodiversity monitoring. With continued advances in drone payload capacity, battery endurance, and beyond-visual-line-of-sight flight regulations, our workflow could be adapted for deploying multi-sensor platforms (e.g., ARUs, eDNA samplers, water and air quality sensors, plant sample collectors, insect traps, and trail cameras) to support integrated biodiversity monitoring in challenging landscapes worldwide.

South Carollina↗