Newbold, S. & Eadie, J.M. Using species-habitat models to target conservation: A case study with breeding mallards. Ecological Applications 14, 1384-1393 (2004).

This study sought to improve on practices for choosing habitat restoration sites to benefit wildlife abundance.  To accomplish this they created a habitat preference model and used GIS to locate high priority restoration zones. They then integrated this information with maps characterizing the habitat types surrounding these high priority areas to take into account their influence on the selected site as well as the environmental preferences of the animals to make the best possible decision for locating a new wildlife restoration site.  They applied these techniques to wetland restoration for breeding Mallard ducks in California with great success.  The authors combined Breeding Bird Survey count estimates with land-use datasets for California to build an abundance model for mallards in the breeding season based on surrounding habitat types.  It was found that Mallards are positively associated with wetlands in close proximity to rice fields or other wetlands and negatively associated with proximity to orchards and urban areas.  It was also found that the specific spatial configuration of preferred habitat type in an environment is a significant factor in predicting Mallard abundance, not only total amount of preferred habitat.  ArcGIS was then used to predict what specific areas of restoration would be the most cost-effective to pursue, taking into account cost and location of land parcels, predicted bird abundance, proximity to preferred habitat and local habitat matrix.   This was a good paper for understanding the link between scientific research and effective management strategies.  It has given me some new management application ideas for my thesis project involving the habitat matrix of a colony and how this relates to reproductive success.