Water depth influences survival and predator-specific patterns of nest loss in three secretive marsh bird species

Wetlands have become increasingly rare in the United States, negatively influencing wetland-dependent birds, and many remaining wetlands are intensively managed through seasonal dewatering mimicking historic flood pulses during spring and summer. However, water around nests may provide protection from terrestrial predators, and lowering water levels during the breeding season of wetland birds may increase predation risk and exacerbate marsh bird population declines. Understanding interactions between water depth, nesting marsh birds, and nest predators is critical to aid managers in developing a multi-species management approach in emergent wetlands. During the 2020 and 2021 breeding seasons, we examined nest survival of 148 marsh bird nests (American Coot, Fulica americana, n = 1; Common Gallinule, Gallinula galeata, n = 64; and Least Bittern; Ixobrychus exilis, n = 83) and installed cameras at 78 nests to identify predators at a large, restored floodplain wetland in Illinois where the..., The data was collected through measurements and video data at marsh bird nests located at Emiquon Preserve, IL in 2020 and 2021. We used ArcGIS to locate nests and collect measurements to continuous shoreline and analyses were completed in R. , , This README file was generated on 2024-01-06 by Stephanie M Schmidt.
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GENERAL INFORMATION

1. Title: WETLAND DEWATERING INFLUENCES PREDATOR-SPECIFIC PATTERNS OF NEST LOSS IN THREE SECRETIVE MARSH BIRD SPECIES

2. Author Information:
Principal Investigator Contact Information
Name: Stephanie M Schmidt
Institution: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Address: Champaign, IL, USA
Email:

3. Date of data collection (single date, range, approximate date): 2020-2021

4. Geographic location of data collection: Emiquon Preserve, Havana, Illinois, USA

5. Information about funding sources that supported the collection of the data:
Illinois Department of Natural Resources (Award: T-122-R)
United States Fish and Wildlife Service
Illinois Ornithological Society
American Ornithological Society

SHARING/ACCESS INFORMATION

1. Licenses/restrictions placed on the data: CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain

2. Link...