Presenter: Victoria Fasbender, Natural Resources and Ecology Management, GIS Certificate Candidate

Advisor: Dr. Stephen Dinsmore 

ABSTRACT: Migratory birds rely on stopover sites as a place to rest and refuel before continuing their migration. One site, Lake Red Rock in central Iowa, has implemented a water drawdown by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to benefit migrating waterbirds as part of the Sustainable Rivers Program. My objectives are to document space use, movement patterns and estimate residency time of fall migrating Pectoral Sandpipers (Calidris melanotos) in relation to the drawdown timing. I fitted Pectoral Sandpipers with GPS satellite tags to gather movement information in 2023 and 2024. Movements varied between years on the local and global scale. The average daily distance moved at Lake Red Rock in 2023 was 1.64 km and 5.42 km in 2024. The mean home range in 2023 was 10.5 km2 (SD = 11.7) and 44.21 km2 (SD = 44.1) in 2024. Identified core areas of use were in areas of exposed mud. Birds that left Lake Red Rock in 2023 flew an average of 3,935 km (SD = 1,640) before stopping again and an average of 1,583 km (SD = 1,220) in 2024. Year differences could be the result of a delay in the 2024 drawdown due to flooding in 2024. This work showed that sandpipers tracked the shallow water/mud interface during their stopover and that refueling efforts were sufficient to fuel a non-stop flight to northern South America. This work highlights the benefits the SRP can have for migrating waterbirds and encourages similar management at other dammed lakes.

The seminar starts promptly at 12:05 p.m. and ends at 12:55 p.m. The GIS Seminar @ ISU is open to the public. If you are interested in attending, the location is Design 362.

If you have any questions, please Monica Haddad (haddad@iastate.edu).