Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC) is conducting pilot work this summer for a new study to better understand relationships between ducks and industry-related landscape changes (roads, seismic lines and pipelines) in the western boreal forest.

Specific objectives of the study are testing DUC’s underlying biological assumptions about the constraints of duck populations – whether from lack of food availability or increased amounts of predators – and helping strengthen the science foundation of DUC’s environmentally sustainable land use programs, which aim to find a balance between conservation and development in the boreal forest.

DUC is also conducting aerial surveys over the summer in Alberta and Manitoba just before ducks nest and when ducklings are out. The basic information collected will be combined with additional analyses, and allow DUC to finalize the study design and be better positioned to launch the full study next summer.

Two years after the last one was pulled, the Cattail Removal Project at Lakemount Marsh can finally be called complete and a success. Restoration work was undertaken at Lakemount Marsh (also known as Goose Lake) from 2007 to 2010 with funding and support provided by the Habitat Conservation Trust Fund, Wild- life Habitat Canada, Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC) and Lakemount Farms Ltd.

The purpose of this restoration was reducing the encroachment of large stands of a single type of cattail that was overtaking the open water in the marsh and reducing waterfowl habitat and marsh biodiversity. During the dry

summer conditions, water levels were lowered to allow an excavator to remove cattail and create open water areas. A total of 20.3 acres of cattail were removed to create open water habitat over the three years. Once the removal was complete, DUC assessed the area for a year to determine the amount of waterfowl food available and evaluate the effectiveness of the technique for removing cattail.

“This was a challenging project, but had a huge reward in the ultimate success of creating more habitat for waterfowl and other wildlife in the area,” says DUC biologist Jeanine Bond.

DUC launching new boreal waterfowl study

Cattail removal improves wetland quality

western regionB . C . / B o r e a l

36 Conservator | summer 2012

Above: Removal of cattail at Lakemount Marsh in progress. A total of 20.3 acres of cattail were removed to create open water habitat between 2007 and 2010.

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