Summary

Description

This protocol framework provides guidance for conducting inventories or monitoring surveys of waterbird habitat conditions and use at local scale in a way that will allow analysis of multiple sites from multiple regions in the Refuge System. This protocol provides a framework for rapidly assessing local habitat conditions and quantifying use of wetlands by waterfowl, shorebirds, and wading birds hereafter referred to as waterbirds during nonbreeding periods. The majority of survey techniques described herein involve wholewetland visual assessments of habitat conditions or counts of waterbirds conducted from the wetland perimeter. This protocol framework was developed as part of the Integrated Waterbird Management and Monitoring IWMM Initiative, a largescale waterbird habitat conservation strategy currently focused on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services USFWS Regions 3, 4, and 5. A primary purpose of this protocol is to standardize waterbird and habitat monitoring during the nonbreeding period at a localscale. Resulting data can then be compiled and analyzed across broader geographic units. IWMM is a collaborative effort including the USFWS, the U.S. Geological Survey, the States, Ducks Unlimited, and other nongovernmental agencies. The content and structure of the protocols described below follows standards set forth in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services How to Develop Survey Protocols: a Handbook Version 1.0. Each of eight elements is addressed, including a protocol introduction, sampling design, field methods, data management, analysis, reporting, personnel requirements and training, operational requirements, and references. Additionally, a series of standard operating procedures provides greater detail on recommended methods and technical aspects of this protocol. Data entry, archival, and multiscale analysis are handled through an online database that is part of the Avian Knowledge Network. When their management objectives and information needs are similar, other USFWS Regions and partners are encouraged to use this framework to develop sitespecific guidance for their waterbird and habitat condition surveys.