Habitat selection by Merganetta armata and its sustainable stream flow requirements in the headwaters of a Chilean Andean river

Claire Pernollet1,2 & Rodrigo I. Meza3

1 Bioamrica Consultores, 2 Laboratorio de Ecologa de Vida Silvestre, 3 Centro de Ecologa Aplicada
STUDY AREA (MAP) : 1 BASIN, 4 RIVERS 2 old hydro power plants + 1 under construction + 1 project

Species Description
Taxonomy: Torrent Duck. 6 subspecies. Distribution: Andes from Venezuela to S Chile/Argentina. Habitat: Fast flowing mountain waters. Food : Aquatic invertebrates. Breeding: Enduring pairs, Territorial (1km) Nest : In holes, river banks. 3-4 eggs. Life story traits: Long life bird, low reproductive potential Status: Not globally threatened. 2 subspecies : vulnerable & endangered Chile : inadequately known O'Higgins Region : vulnerable Threats: erosion by deforestation, water pollution, competition or predation by non-native animals hydroelectric activity

PART 1 : Habitat selection model

Ducks monitoring: monthly, 74 points 2007-2010 (Map, Graph 1) Habitat variables: altitude, channel shape, channel & river width, bank river height, distance to the road, position in relation to the intake, n of rapids, n of emergent rocks, gradient, flow, velocity indices, density of ducks in the adjacent points STATISTICAL ANALYSIS DUCKS DENSITY (Duck/km) = f(X1+X2+X3+X4) Xi = Habitat variable RIVERS TOGETHER 1) Generalised Linear Models (Table 1) FOR EACH RIVER 2) Chi-square 2 test & Bonferroni confidence intervals TERRITORIALITY: RESULTS Negative effect of the presence of conspecifics in adjacent sites Graph 1: Ducks monitoring Table 1: Example of GLM. Territoriality may determine spatial segregation HUMAN DISTURBANCES: Negative effect of the two intakes. Avoid the presence of roads FISICAL ATTRIBUTES: N of rapids, gradient, position upstream the intake, flow & water velocity: important attributes in their habitat preferences

VELOCITY , DEPTH, REYNOLDS NUMBER*

PART 2 : Hydraulic model

RESULTS 1) Water level, flow gauge and bathymetric profiles (Map)

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS

Frequency distribution of each parameters

Ducks sightings

3) Hydraulic model: calculation values of velocities, depth and Reynolds for each profiles. 4) Parameters Frequency Distribution and Ducks density. 1st CRITERION: intervals based on the ducks sightings (minimum and optimum values for ducks).

5) Adjustments by the Chi-square 2 Test. 2ndCRITERION: 3 limits, exceedance probabilities of 95, 90 and 85 % for each parameter.

Authors emails: clairepernollet@hotmail.com romeza@ing.uchile.cl Ducks photographs: Jos Besa josebesad@hotmail.com Study made by:

2) Diary flows records associated with selected ducks points with high frequency of sightings
This is a first approach of habitat suitability estimation. On one hand, duck monitoring was made before the habitat suitability estimation. On the other hand, data were insufficient to make robust statistic analysis. Other studies based on the relationships found here between Torrent Duck habitat preferences and physical habitat conditions should be carry out to ensure an sustainable hydroelectric projects development in the Chilean Andean rivers.

Study financed by:

* Reynolds Number : ratio of inertial forces to viscous forces, turbulent flow occurs at high Reynolds number.