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Morphometrics of mallards in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley and associated climate variables from 1979-2021

Metadata Updated: July 20, 2024

Body mass in overwintering waterfowl is an important fitness attribute as it affects winter survival, timing of spring migration, and subsequent reproductive success. Recent research in Europe and the western United States indicates body mass of mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) has increased from the late 1960s to early 2000s. The underlying mechanism is currently unknown; however, researchers hypothesize that increases are due to a more benign winter climate, increased food availability through natural and artificial flooding, introgression of wild mallard populations by game-farm mallards, or shifting of wintering distributions northward. Further investigation of factors related to winter mallard body mass increases and whether this phenomenon is occurring in other major flyways could increase understanding of intrinsic and extrinsic variables influencing waterfowl fitness. We collected and analyzed mallard body mass data in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley from 1979 to 2021 to determine sources of temporal variation. We measured hunter-harvested mallards from private hunting clubs, public hunting areas, and duck-plucking businesses. Mallard body mass increased by approximately 6% among all age-sex classes from 1979 to 2021. We also compiled weather data (rainfall [cm], weather severity index information [WSI], river gage discharge [cfs] and height [m]) to relate to mallard body mass measurements.

Access & Use Information

Public: This dataset is intended for public access and use. License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

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Dates

Metadata Created Date July 20, 2024
Metadata Updated Date July 20, 2024

Metadata Source

Harvested from DOI EDI

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Dataset
Metadata Created Date July 20, 2024
Metadata Updated Date July 20, 2024
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Maintainer
@Id http://datainventory.doi.gov/id/dataset/bc8067dd792637366aa17a83eaa2ad38
Identifier USGS:26e67fde-fbf5-4eb3-923f-fcde8539e682
Data Last Modified 20240611
Category geospatial
Public Access Level public
Bureau Code 010:12
Metadata Context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
Metadata Catalog ID https://datainventory.doi.gov/data.json
Schema Version https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
Catalog Describedby https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
Harvest Object Id 0dcc188d-64f2-4b44-8050-53f2391ea61e
Harvest Source Id 52bfcc16-6e15-478f-809a-b1bc76f1aeda
Harvest Source Title DOI EDI
Metadata Type geospatial
Old Spatial -92.1533,30.9776,-89.4727,36.5273
Publisher Hierarchy White House > U.S. Department of the Interior > U.S. Geological Survey
Source Datajson Identifier True
Source Hash fa51d426e6f4039bc7268624ac381d7d4abcbd35eeb201b1515182e1bb31118d
Source Schema Version 1.1
Spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": -92.1533, 30.9776, -92.1533, 36.5273, -89.4727, 36.5273, -89.4727, 30.9776, -92.1533, 30.9776}

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