Ecosystem service flows from a migratory species: Spatial subsidies of the northern pintail

Ambio. 2019 Jan;48(1):61-73. doi: 10.1007/s13280-018-1049-4. Epub 2018 Apr 10.

Abstract

Migratory species provide important benefits to society, but their cross-border conservation poses serious challenges. By quantifying the economic value of ecosystem services (ESs) provided across a species' range and ecological data on a species' habitat dependence, we estimate spatial subsidies-how different regions support ESs provided by a species across its range. We illustrate this method for migratory northern pintail ducks in North America. Pintails support over $101 million USD annually in recreational hunting and viewing and subsistence hunting in the U.S. and Canada. Pintail breeding regions provide nearly $30 million in subsidies to wintering regions, with the "Prairie Pothole" region supplying over $24 million in annual benefits to other regions. This information can be used to inform conservation funding allocation among migratory regions and nations on which the pintail depends. We thus illustrate a transferrable method to quantify migratory species-derived ESs and provide information to aid in their transboundary conservation.

Keywords: Migration; Northern pintail duck; Spatial subsidies; Species conservation; Telecoupling; Transborder conservation.

MeSH terms

  • Animal Migration
  • Animals
  • Canada
  • Ducks*
  • Ecosystem*
  • North America
  • Seasons