SREL Reprint #0382
Abundance
and Diversity of Waterfowl Inhabiting Heated and Unheated Portions of a Reactor
Cooling Reservoir
I.
Lehr Brisbin, Jr.
Abstract
Census counts were made of waterfowl inhabiting both heated and unheated
portions of an 1120-ha cooling reservoir receiving heated effluents from an
atomic production reactor. Of 6544
birds, over 99% were counted between the months of October and April.
Over 66% of those identified to species were American coots.
Although the heated and the unheated study areas were less than 4 km
apart and birds could freely move between them, significant differences were
observed in the numbers and species diversity of the waterfowl.
Significantly more birds and a greater species diversity were found in
the unheated area; diversity differences were mainly attributable to a decrease
in species richness in the heated area. Dabbling
ducks were absent from the heated area and seemed more thermally sensitive than
diving ducks. Certain species of
diving ducks, such as the lesser scaup, appeared to exhibit a greater degree of
ecological thermal tolerance than other species, e.g., the ring-necked duck.
Pied-billed grebes seemed to show the greatest ecological thermal
tolerance, occurring in equal numbers in both heated and unheated areas.
SREL
Reprint #0382
Brisbin, I.L., Jr. 1974. Abundance and diversity of
waterfowl inhabiting heated and unheated portions of a reactor
cooling reservoir. p. 579-593. In Thermal Ecology, edited by J.W. Gibbons and R.R.
Sharitz. CONF 730505. Atomic
Energy Commission
