Caught out in the cold: Mallard survival decreased during an extreme climatic event

# Caught out in the cold: Mallard survival decreased during an extreme climatic event GENERAL INFORMATION 1. Title of Dataset: Caught out in the cold: Mallard survival decreased during an extreme climatic event. 2. 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 3. Date of Collection 2019-2022 4. Geographic Location of data collection: Arkansas, Louisiana, and Tennessee, USA 5. 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 1. 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. 2. 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 1. Number of Variables: 11 2. Variable List: 1. trackId: individual mallard identification 2. date: date of survival history 3. time1: start of day in seconds 4. time2: end of day in seconds 5. mortality: binary variable representing whether an individual mallard experienced mortality on that day 6. ECE: binary variable representing whether it was an Extreme Climatic Event (ECE) year or not (nonECE) 7. sex: binary variable representing sex of individual mallard (female or male) 8. age_adjust: binary variable representing age (juvenile or adult) 9. avg_lat: daily average latitude for individual mallards on that date 10. 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. 11. month: variable representing month (2 = February, 3 = March)