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Researchers begin bioenergetics and food‑availability studies for waterbirds at Great Salt Lake
Summary
Utah State University researchers reported field and lab work to quantify invertebrate prey, vegetation and bird densities and to develop bioenergetic models for shorebirds and waterfowl across managed and unmanaged wetlands at Great Salt Lake.
Lauren Head (PhD candidate, Utah State University) and Brian (master's student) presented ongoing field and analytical work to quantify food availability and to build bioenergetic models for shorebirds and waterfowl.
Lauren described a multi-site observational study (April, August, November sampling windows) at impounded and sheet-flow wetlands. Field methods include forage-sample collection (stovepipe cores and sweep nets) and paired bird distance-sampling surveys. The project maps depth and submerged aquatic vegetation using aerial-surface polygons and plans to combine those spatial products with benthic prey-density estimates. Lauren said managed impoundments show different depth and vegetation distributions than unmanaged sheet-flow habitats, and that shallow waters in some impoundments concentrate submerged aquatic vegetation in depth ranges used by dabbling ducks and shorebirds.
Brian described a bioenergetics plan focused on two focal species (American avocets and black‑necked stilts): quantify invertebrate prey density and energy content (by taxon and size class), estimate bird densities with distance-sampling point counts, then compute total kilocalories required (bird-days) and compare supply and demand to detect seasonal or habitat-specific bottlenecks. Field sampling includes paired stovepipe cores and sweep-net sampling at active foraging points, plus adjacent control sites; samples will be identified to taxonomic resolution appropriate for energetic conversion and weighed for biomass.
Both presenters emphasized the importance of accurate inundation and depth mapping (LIDAR plus water polygons) to scale point-sample results across entire wetlands, and Lauren noted hunting pressure and site management influence bird distributions. The research teams plan to release processed food-availability results when lab sample processing completes (processing underway; year-1 sample processing expected complete by August). No management actions were adopted; the work is designed to inform future habitat management and adaptive water-level decisions.
