Caught out in the cold: Mallard survival decreased during an extreme climatic event
Data files
Jun 06, 2024 version files 3.36 MB
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README.md
3.99 KB
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surv_datum.csv
3.36 MB
Abstract
Extreme climatic events (ECEs) can have profound impacts on individual fitness, affecting survival directly or indirectly. Late winter ECEs may be especially detrimental to fitness due to limited food resources and increased energetic requirements during this time. A polar vortex disruption ECE descended upon the mid-continental United States during 7–20 February 2021 with temperatures as low as −29ºC in areas concurrent with ongoing research on mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) movement ecology and survival in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Tennessee, USA spanning winters 2019–2022. Therefore, we opportunistically evaluated the effects of individual characteristics and latitude on daily survival during the ECE. We extended the survival analysis into March to test for lasting effects of the ECE on survival. We tracked 181 GPS-marked mallards during February 2020, 256 in February 2021, and 324 in February 2022. We documented 22 mortalities during the February 2021 ECE (i.e., 9%), but only 6 mortalities during February 2020 (i.e., 2%) and 2022 (i.e., 1%) when conditions were average. February survival (e.g., 28-day survival) during the ECE was 0.908 (85% CI = 0.879–0.937) but was 0.982 (85% CI = 0.973 – 0.991) during the two non-ECE Februaries. The ECE effect on survival was isolated to February and did not affect March survival. Mallards were 5.4 times more likely to die during the ECE in 2021 compared to non-ECE Februaries. Although large-bodied waterfowl appear cold-tolerant and less sensitive to polar vortex disruptions compared to smaller-bodied passerines, direct mortalities can occur if conditions are severe enough and persist, highlighting the need to consider the influence of ECEs on common, seemingly robust species in future global climate change scenarios.
GENERAL INFORMATION
- Title of Dataset: Caught out in the cold: Mallard survival decreased during an extreme climatic event.
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Author Information:
Abigail G. Blake-Bradshaw, School of Environmental Studies, Tennessee Tech University, Cookeville, TN 38505, USA
Nicholas M. Masto, School of Environmental Studies, Tennessee Tech University, Cookeville, TN 38505, USA
Cory J. Highway, Department of Biology, Tennessee Tech University, Cookeville, TN 38505, USA
Allison C. Keever, Department of Biology, Tennessee Tech University, Cookeville, TN 38505, USA
Paul T. Link, Louisiana Waterfowl Working Group, Lafayette, LA 70508, USA
Jamie C. Feddersen, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, Nashville, TN 37211, USA
Heath M. Hagy, United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Bismarck, ND 58501, USA
Douglas C. Osborne, College of Forestry, Agriculture, and Natural REsources, University of ARkansas at Monticello, Monticello, AR 71656, USA
Bradley S. Cohen, Department of Biology, Tennessee Tech University, Cookeville, TN 38505, USA
- Date of Collection 2019-2022
- Geographic Location of data collection: Arkansas, Louisiana, and Tennessee, USA
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Information about funding sources that supported the collection of the data:
This project was funded by Wildlife Restoration Grants administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program: Partnering to fund conservation and connect people with nature and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service National Wildlife Refuge System, Southeast Region.
DATA & FILE OVERVIEW
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Description of dataset:
These data were collected from GPS marked mallards to examine wintering ecology of mallards. These data were opportunistically used to evaluate mallard survival during an
extreme climatic event, polar vortex disruption, that occurred during February of 2021 in the middle of three separate mallard tracking studies. -
File List:
surv_datum: daily survival histories of mallards with variables used in analysis
METHODOLOGICAL INFORMATION
We captured male and female mallards from November through January 2019–2022 . We placed individually marked United States Geological Survey aluminum leg bands on all captured waterfowl. We also affixed solar rechargeable and remotely programmable, OrniTrack-20 Global Positioning System-Global System for Mobile (GPS-GSM) transmitters (Ornitela, UAB Švitrigailos, Vilnius, Lithuania) on mallards of all age and sex classes.
We took GPS locations at 1- to 2-hour intervals depending on transmitter battery level. We censored the first 4 days of GPS fixes to allow ducks to recover from capture and handling. We monitored ducks from first capture until transmitters failed to report GPS fixes (i.e., battery malfunction), ducks were harvested by hunters, or GPS fixes and tri-axial accelerometry sensors indicated mortality.
DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR: surv_datum.csv
- Number of Variables: 11
- Variable List:
- trackId: individual mallard identification
- date: date of survival history
- time1: start of day in seconds
- time2: end of day in seconds
- mortality: binary variable representing whether an individual mallard experienced mortality on that day
- ECE: binary variable representing whether it was an Extreme Climatic Event (ECE) year or not (nonECE)
- sex: binary variable representing sex of individual mallard (female or male)
- age_adjust: binary variable representing age (juvenile or adult)
- avg_lat: daily average latitude for individual mallards on that date
- mass_diff_sex: sex-corrected mass estimate whereby average mass was subtracted from each individual’s mass. Negative values represent masses lighter than average and positive values represent masses heavier than average.
- month: variable representing month (2 = February, 3 = March)