In this blog post, Taylor Craft discusses the use of GPS tracking and satellite imagery to uncover the lives of Black-tailed Godwits in the Senegal Delta. You can read their latest study, published alongside co-authors, here.
A pressing challenge
The landscapes of the endangered continental Black-tailed Godwit face increasing pressures at nearly every key site along their migratory route. With poor recruitment limiting population growth, protecting the long-lived adult birds is essential to maintain this trans-continental migrant’s dwindling population.
The secret lives of Godwits
Until recently, the lives of godwits outside of Europe were largely a mystery. Ring recoveries and sporadic re-sightings provided limited insight into their non-breeding habits or responses to environmental changes in West Africa. Enter satellite telemetry: a rapidly advancing tool allowing for real-time monitoring of individual animals anywhere in the world.
Equipped with GPS tracking devices during the spring 2022 breeding season, 22 godwits from Dutch and German breeding populations migrated south to the Senegal Delta, a vital non-breeding habitat.
Combining satellite imagery with field expeditions, we created a detailed land cover map of the Senegal Delta with key habitats such as floodplain wetlands and rice fields, as well as large areas dominated by invasive plants. Tracks from our GPS-tagged birds showed that during the early stages of the non-breeding (wet) season, godwits used both floodplain wetlands and rice fields, while later in the year (dry season), they abandoned rice fields and concentrated in floodplain wetlands within Protected Areas.
Management recommendations
Based on our analysis, two key management recommendations emerge:
- Enhancing Rice Fields for Wader Habitat: Rice fields serve as vital alternative habitats for godwits and other waders during the wet growing season from July to November. To optimize their value for godwits, phased cultivation – staggering rice planting at different times – can create a mosaic of habitats that remain suitable throughout the season. As early-planted fields become densely vegetated and less accessible for foraging, godwits can shift to later-planted fields with sparser vegetation, ensuring continuous access to feeding grounds. Additionally, preserving lower-lying drainage areas by limiting the use of diversion pumps can further enhance habitat quality. Limiting the use of agrochemicals is also crucial, as the runoff often seeps into neighboring protected areas and affects the invertebrates that godwits feed on.
- Eradicate Invasive Plants in Protected Areas: Protected areas are critical godwit habitats throughout the wintering season, particularly during the drier months at the end of their wintering period. However, large swaths of protected areas are currently dominated by cattail vegetation, which limits their suitability for godwits. Prioritizing the removal of invasive cattail will expand available habitat, especially during the dry season, when wetland habitats become scarce.
Read the full article ‘Remote sensing and GPS tracking reveal temporal shifts in habitat use in nonbreeding Black-tailed Godwits‘ in Journal of Applied Ecology.