Waterbird Use of Wetlands Along a Conserved Rural to Urban Landscape Gradient

Wetlands are ecologically valuable due to their high biological diversity and productivity, with many avian species depending on them. Understanding why species use different habitats is essential to successful wildlife management and can enhance predictions of animal responses to land use change. Despite the importance of coastal wetlands for waterbirds, habitat use studies are limited, especially along the rural-to-urban gradient. Our primary objective was to determine what environmental factor(s) are contributing to waterbird wetland use along the northcentral coast of South Carolina on conserved and developed lands. Between January and April 2022 and 2023, we conducted point-count surveys, secretive marshbird surveys, macroinvertebrate surveys, and collected other wetland-level data in a total of 156 wetlands. We found that waterbird diversity is influenced by water level, flooding regime of the wetlands and the proximity to other nearby wetlands. The results of this project have helped to identify key variable in both rural and urban landscapes that wetland managers can focus on to promote waterbird diversity. This information can be highly useful for wetland managers and professionals looking to protect to increase habitat for rare and threatened birds that frequent their lands.