Influence of sanctuary disturbance, weather, and landscape characteristics on waterfowl harvest opportunity in western Tennessee

作者：Abigail G. Blake‐Bradshaw, Nicholas M. Masto, Cory J. Highway, Allison C. Keever, Jamie C. Feddersen, Heath M. Hagy, Bradley S. Cohen · 发表于：Journal of Wildlife Management · 年份：2023 · DOI：10.1002/jwmg.22470 · 被引用次数：12 · 研究领域：Avian ecology and behavior、Wildlife Ecology and Conservation、Species Distribution and Climate Change

Abstract The North American Waterfowl Management Plan (NAWMP) recognizes waterfowl hunters and non‐consumptive users as important stakeholders to sustain waterfowl populations through economic and political support for habitat conservation initiatives. Opportunities to shoot at and harvest ducks are key determinants of achievement‐oriented hunt satisfaction and quality. Therefore, identifying factors influencing harvest opportunity would help hunters and wildlife managers identify optimal days afield and promote hunter recruitment, retention, and reactivation (R3) efforts in support of NAWMP. Waterfowl extensively use spatial sanctuaries during hunting seasons, especially diurnally, which could limit their perceived availability to hunters. Thus, a possible management action to support R3 is allowing limited public access on sanctuaries, which could offer diverse recreational opportunities for non‐consumptive users and potentially increase harvest opportunities for hunters in traditional hunting areas if the limited disturbance caused waterfowl to leave sanctuaries. Therefore, we evaluated to what extent experimental sanctuary disturbance, landscape characteristics, and weather influenced local harvest opportunities. We conducted disturbance treatments including travel by a covered truck (i.e., truck with enclosed cab), a pedestrian on foot, and an uncovered vehicle (e.g., motor boat or all‐terrain vehicle [ATV]). To measure harvest opportunity, we used autonomous recording u...