Spatially-Explicit Decision Support Tool for Guiding Habitat Conservation for Western Gulf Coast Mottled Ducks

The mottled duck, a focal species for the Gulf Coast Prairie Landscape Conservation Cooperative, is one of only a few duck species adapted to breeding in southern marshes. A major part of its population spends its entire life cycle within a relatively small coastal area in eastern Texas and western Louisiana. This is a thriving part of the Mississippi and Central Flyways, two of four major waterfowl migration routes in North America. In recent years, the mottled duck’s habitat and surrounding areas have been compromised by urbanization, agricultural development, and changes to the area’s hydrology affecting coastal wetlands. The latter threat includes the ramifications of climate change, such as sea level rise and atypically variable precipitation patterns. Survey data suggest the mottled duck population has experienced a long-term decline in Texas and is stable-to-declining across the rest of its range.