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Strategic Management Tools and Mapping Products:

Predicted Duck Pair Accessibility Maps  ("Thunderstorm" Maps)

 

Breeding Pair Accessibility Maps are produced from long-term 4 square mile survey data. They are commonly known as “Thunderstorm Maps” because of a perceived resemblance to a Doppler radar image of a thunderstorm. Thunderstorm maps display predictions of the number of upland nesting ducks pairs (mallards, blue-winged teal, gadwall, northern pintail, and northern shoveler) that could potentially nest in the upland portion of every 40 acre block of the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) of Minnesota and Iowa. These predictions are based on the known maximum travel distances of hens from wetlands to their nest sites, and regressions (statistical models) created from 4 square mile survey data predicting the number of ducks pairs that utilize every individual wetland in PPR during a “typical” breeding season.
          Thunderstorm maps are used to help identify priority sites for the protection or restoration of grassland habitats for breeding waterfowl. They are also useful in identifying priority wetland complexes to be protected through acquisition of Waterfowl Protection Areas and easements, and to be enhanced by private lands wetland restorations.
Click here to view maps

For additional information on thunderstorm maps and other strategic decision support tools for waterfowl conservation, contact:

Dan Hertel
Habitat and Population Evaluation Team
US Fish and Wildlife Service
18965 County Hwy. 82 S
Fergus Falls, Minnesota USA
218-739-2291
dan_hertel@fws.gov

 

Return to Strategic Management Tools

View other Strategic Management and Mapping products:

• A Landscape Approach to Grassland Bird Conservation

• Breeding Bird Survey Models

• Duck Band Recovery

• Grassland Bird Conservation Area Maps

• Land Value Maps

• Landcover Maps

• Classified Landuse/Landcover

• Percent Grass

• Percent Trees

• Landscape for Shorebirds During Migration

• Management Treatment Prioritization Process

• Marbled Godwit Expert Model

• Predicted Duck Pair Accessibility Maps ("Thunderstorm" Maps)

• Restorable Wetlands

• Targeting the Small Wetlands Aquisition Program (SWAP) in Minnesota

• The Effect of Woody Vegetation on Grassland Nesting Birds

  • Fact Sheet

  • Bibliography

• Wildlife Priority Areas defined by 14-digit hydrologic units

• Working Lands Initiative

  • Powerpoint presentation

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Last updated: July 10, 2008

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