Abstract
Wetlands are a critical habitat for boreal mammals and birds that rely on them for breeding, foraging, and resting. However, wetlands in boreal regions are under increasing natural and human pressure, leading to a reduction in habitat availability for these species. To inform management and conservation of wildlife, camera traps can help investigate habitat preferences. We aimed to evaluate the effect of habitat features on the occupancy of mammals and birds in boreal wetlands, namely beaver ponds and peatland ponds. We used a multispecies occupancy model to estimate the habitat associations of 11 mammals and 45 avian species detected at 50 ponds during the summers of 2018 and 2019 in Northern Quebec. The patterns of habitat response do not lend support to the hypothesis that beaver ponds host higher levels of occupancy of birds and mammals than peatland ponds. Our results suggest that certain mammals, such as Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes) and River Otters (Lontra canadensis), and birds including the American Pipit (Anthus rubescens), Common Raven (Corvus corax), Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus), and Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca) preferred peatland ponds, whereas the Common Grackle (Quiscalus quiscula) preferred beaver ponds. We found a few effects of distance to roads, but no effect of amount of forest cover on species occupancy. The occupancy of 27% of mammals and 24% of birds decreased with increasing latitude. These findings offer valuable insights for the preservation of different wetland types and their associated wildlife communities.
Résumé
Les milieux humides sont vitaux pour les mammifères et les oiseaux boréaux qui en dépendent pour se reproduire, se nourrir et se reposer. Cependant, les pressions naturelles et humaines croissant menacent ces habitats dans les régions boréales, réduisant leur disponibilité pour ces espèces. Les pièges photographiques permettent d’étudier les préférences d'habitat des mammifères et des oiseaux pour une gestion et une conservation efficace. Nous avons évalué l’influence des caractéristiques de l’habitat sur l’occupation des 11 espèces des mammifères et des 45 espèces des oiseaux dans 50 étangs du Nord du Québec. Nous avons utilisé un modèle d’occupation multi-espèces pour estimer ces associations. Les résultats ne soutiennent pas que les étangs de castors attirent plus d’oiseaux et de mammifères que les étangs de tourbières. Certains mammifères, comme le Renard roux (Vulpes vulpes) et la Loutre de rivière (Lontra canadensis), ainsi que des oiseaux comme le Pipit d’Amérique (Anthus rubescens), le Grand Corbeau (Corvus corax), le Harle Couronné (Lophodytes cucullatus) et le Grand Chevalier (Tringa melanoleuca), préfèrent les étangs de tourbière, tandis que le Quiscale Bronzé (Quiscalus quiscula) préfère les étangs de castor. La distance aux routes et la couverture forestière n’ont que peu d’effets sur l’occupation des espèces. En revanche, l’occupation de 27% des mammifères et de 24% des oiseaux diminuaient avec l’augmentation de la latitude. Ces résultats offrent des informations précieuses pour la conservation des milieux humides boréaux et de leurs communautés fauniques.
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Data Availability
The datasets generated during the current study, and Multispecies single-season occupancy model structure are available in the Dryad repository (Feldman et al. 2023b).
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Acknowledgements
Special thanks to R. Chevallier and J. Arsenault for their assistance with fieldwork and M. Desrochers for assisting the extraction of spatial data in a georeferenced information system. P. Fournier helped identify mammal species. We thank Hydro-Quebec and FaunENord for providing weather data throughout the James Bay region. We also thank Hecla Québec (Casa Berardi mine), Nemaska Lithium (Whabouchi mine) and Stornoway Diamonds (Renard mine) for project support and access to study sites. Angélique Dupuch, Nicolas Lecomte and Gabriel Pigeon provided valuable comments on an earlier version of this manuscript. This study was funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada—UQAT Industrial Research Chair on Nordic Biodiversity in a Mining Context. Analyses were run on the Narval high performance computing cluster of Calcul Québec and Calcul Canada.
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This work was supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada—Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue (UQAT) industrial research chair on northern biodiversity in a mining context.
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Louis Imbeau, Nicole J. Fenton, and Mariano J. Feldman conceived the study. Mariano J. Feldman led fieldwork, collected, organized and categorized the data. Marc J. Mazerolle designed the statistical methods and analyzed the data. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Mariano J. Feldman, and all authors edited, commented, and provided input on all previous versions of the manuscript. Nicole J. Fenton secured funding.
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Feldman, M.J., Mazerolle, M.J., Imbeau, L. et al. Using Camera Traps to estimate Habitat Preferences and Occupancy Patterns of Vertebrates in Boreal Wetlands. Wetlands 44, 14 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-024-01773-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-024-01773-z