‘The Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) of North America is the primary breeding ground for
many ducks; about 80% of the Region is in Canada’ (Batt et al. 1989 cited in Greenwood
et al., 1995). ‘The region is characterized by a high density of shallow, productive
wetlands that support an abundance of waterfowl and other water birds’ (Kantrud et al.,
1989 cited in Austin et al., 2000). ‘The PPR of Canada (Fig. 1) is composed of about
480,000 km2
and spreads across southeastern Alberta, southern Saskatchewan, and
southwestern Manitoba with a flat to gently rolling landscape dissected by several rivers’
(Greenwood et al., 1995).
‘The Blue-winged teal is one of the migratory North American waterfowl scientifically
known as Anas discors’ (Sandilands 2005). According to Ducks Unlimited Canada
(2008), ‘the blue-winged teal ranks fourth in numbers among North American ducks but
their numbers have dropped as low as three million or less in recent years from a high of
more than 5 million in the 1950s.’ They found out that the Blue-winged teal populations
are highly sensitive to drought and removal of their habitat and its conversion by humans
to other uses such as agriculture, suburban expansion and road-building.
The decline of Blue-winged teal with several other migratory ducks in the Canadian PPR
is an area of big concern and is the main reason behind carrying out this study. The Bluewinged
teal’s habitat is taken into account by considering its population density, which is
the main dependent variable, and factors such as precipitation, pond density, conserved
soil moisture and land cover suitability are considered as the independent variables.
This study makes use of secondary data from various websites. The nature and scope of
this study is huge and it is almost impossible to capture all the factors that affect the
population density of species such as the Blue-winged teal. However, the initiation of this
study is crucial to understand the factors contributing to the decline of this species and
provides a sound basis for further studies linked broadly with similar objectives set out in
this study. Read entire article
