DUCK NESTING SUCCESS IN A FRAGMENTED PRAIRIE LANDSCAPE - IS EDGE EFFECT IMPORTANT

Habitat fragmentation and the creation of extensive edges have been po stulated as causes of higher nest predation in many species of birds. In this study we tested the hypothesis that predation on upland duck n ests was influenced by proximity to habitat edges in a fragmented agri cultural landscape of the Canadian prairies. Nest success was independ ent of distance to wetland edge, road edge, or different habitat ecoto nes for mallard (Anas platyrhynchos), gadwall (A. strepera) and blue-w inged teal (A. discors). The observed distribution of mallard and gadw all nests relative to wetland edges and habitat ecotones followed the random model, while nests were located closer to roads than expected. Nests of blue-winged teal were distributed closer to wetland edges and roads than predicted by random distributions, however, nests relative to habitat ecotones followed a random pattern. Overall, mammalian pre dation appeared to be the main cause of nest destruction. Nests in a f ragmented prairie landscape are subjected to heavy predation, but this is not necessarily related to proximity to edges. (C) 1998 Elsevier S cience Ltd. All rights reserved.