Dp. Mcgowan et Dl. Otis, POPULATION DEMOGRAPHICS OF 2 LOCAL SOUTH-CAROLINA MOURNING DOVE POPULATIONS, The Journal of wildlife management, 62(4), 1998, pp. 1443-1451
The mourning dove (Zenaida macroura) call-count index had a significan
t (P < 0.01) negative trend in South Carolina and the Eastern Manageme
nt Unit (EMU) during 1988-97. We initiated a banding study in 2 areas
in the Coastal Plain of South Carolina to estimate population demograp
hic parameters of doves to generate hypotheses that address the purpor
ted population declines. During 1992-96, we banded >2,300 doves and ex
amined >6,000 individuals during harvest bag checks. An age-specific b
and recovery model with time- and area-specific recovery rates, and co
nstant survival rates, was chosen for estimation via Akaike's Informat
ion Criterion (AIC), likelihood ratio, and goodness-of-fit criteria. A
fter-hatching-year (AHY) annual survival rate was 0.359 (SE = 0.056),
and hatching-year (HY) annual survival rate was 0.118 (SE = 0.042). Av
erage estimated recruitment per adult female into the prehunting seaso
n population was 3.40 (SE = 1.25) and 2.32 (SE = 0.46) for the 2 study
areas. Our movement data support earlier hypotheses of nonmigratory b
reeding and harvested populations in South Carolina. Low survival rate
s and estimated population growth rate in the study areas may be repre
sentative only of small-scale areas that are heavily managed for dove
hunting. Source-sink theory was used to develop a model of region-wide
populations that is composed of source areas with positive growth rat
es and sink areas of declining growth. We suggest management of mourni
ng doves in the Southeast might benefit from improved understanding of
local population dynamics, as opposed to regional-scale population de
mographics.