Influence of habitat patch characteristics on the success of upland duck nests

摘要: When there is a rich guild of nest predators that use different modalities and techniques to locate hidden nests, we hypothesized no habitat patch characteristic will consistently predict success, because if such existed then would develop search image based on it increase their hunting effi ciency for nests. We tested this prediction in the Prairie Pothole region North Dakota by characterizing features 16 patches contained >1,800 dabbling duck Nest success was monitored during both early late nesting season over 2 years. generally low highly variable among across seasons found rarely correlated with size, density, predator abundance richness, alternative prey predators, visual physical obstruction provided vegetation. Those few characteristics were particular single year or not other Hence, our results supported hypothesis