Lance Ecological Research Laboratory

04/25/2026

🦆 Calling all duck enthusiasts, hunters, landowners, and wildlife observers! 🦆

For my PhD research imm collecting data on wild mallard natural nest sites and need your help! 🎓🌿

✅ Have you ever found a natural mallard nest (in grass, wetlands, fields, etc.)?

✅ Do you know of any regular nesting locations in your area?

✅ Even rough locations or general areas are incredibly valuable.

This information will directly support my dissertation in Environmental Studies focusing on mallard biology, breeding behavior, and waterfowl ecology.

All sightings, even from years past are welcome!

📩 Please DM me:

• General location (county/area is fine)
• Habitat type (wetland, field, tall grass, etc.)
• Approximate time of year you observed it
• Any other details you remember

Thank you so much for helping! 🙏🦆

01/24/2026

Today we continued field maintenance on our mallard hen house nesting structures in preparation for upcoming research fieldwork. I was joined by Nate and Daniel, two new members of the group, who spent the morning helping maintain seven tubes.

These seven structures were productive this past nesting season, with four of the seven successfully hatching birds. We are encouraged by those results and excited to see the continued success of these tubes going into the upcoming season. This work is exactly how we build stronger local populations and support meaningful conservation on the ground.

12/15/2025

As we approach the start of the new year, our field season is right around the corner and that means it is time to begin maintenance and install new hen house nesting tubes. These artificial nesting structures play a critical role in waterfowl conservation by providing safe elevated nesting sites over water which greatly reduces predation.

In the photos you can see examples of our efforts including the awesome volunteers working to install tubes. You can also see some of our successes with a close-up of a nesting tube with a clutch of eggs, and a hen being monitored as part of our conservation work. These structures significantly improve nesting success and help sustain healthy waterfowl populations.

We are always looking for volunteers to join us in this important work so if you want to make a real impact for waterfowl conservation reach out and get involved this season.

10/10/2025

We have well over 60 out across Northeast Ohio and growing. We are always looking for volunteers as season approaches January through March!

Thanks to our partners: Delta Waterfowl Mahoning Valley Chapter, MillCreek MetroParks, Western Reserve Land Conservancy, ODNR, Stream and Wetlands Foundation, and numerous private landowners!

09/21/2025

🎉 Congratulations to James Yoder! 🎉

James is the winner of our Cooler Raffle. Enjoy your prize! 🥳

A huge thank you to everyone who purchased tickets and supported the Lance Ecological Research Laboratory. Your generosity directly fuels the work we are doing to conserve wildlife and natural ecosystems here in Northeast Ohio. Every dollar raised helps us expand our research, habitat programs, and conservation efforts for the benefit of our community and future generations.

Stay tuned. We have more exciting projects and events coming up, and we cannot wait to share them with you. 💚🦆🌱

09/09/2025

🦆 Join Us in Supporting Waterfowl Conservation Across Northeast Ohio! 🌿

We’re hosting a fundraiser to support local waterfowl research, and we need your help! Funds raised will go directly toward field supplies, lab testing, and essential tools for studying and protecting our native waterfowl and wetland habitats.

🎟️ Tickets are $20.00
We are a certified 501(c)(3) nonprofit, so any donations are tax-deductible and go straight to conservation efforts.

🔗 Visit the link for full event details and how to contribute. https://givebutter.com/y2LBQb

🙏 A huge thank you to our incredible sponsors for making this possible!

Let’s work together to protect our wetlands and the wildlife that depend on them.

Vitalize Seed
Rural King - Warren Ohio
Bass Pro Shop - Niles, Ohio
Wildlife Artistry
Creek Drone Services
@ Triple Threat Charters

09/03/2025

🦆 2025 Waterfowl Breeding Population Survey Results 🦆

The 2025 BPOP estimates 34 million breeding ducks across North America, nearly identical to 2024 but still below the long-term average. The headline this year is habitat: May pond counts fell 19% from last year and reached the lowest level since 2004, marking a dramatic loss of shallow prairie wetlands that drive waterfowl production.

Mallards held at 6.6 million, stable year-to-year but 17% below their long-term average. Pintails increased 13% to 2.2 million, though they remain well below historic levels. Canvasbacks (+22%) and redheads (+17%) climbed with the help of deeper, more stable wetlands in boreal and parkland regions. Gadwalls, shovelers, and eastern breeding species remained fairly steady.

The biggest declines were seen in blue-winged and green-winged teal. Both species nest very early in the breeding season and rely heavily on small, seasonal wetlands that are among the first to disappear in drought years. Blue-wings initiate nests quickly after arrival, and when shallow basins are dry, many pairs fail to nest at all. Green-wings, though more flexible in their foraging, also rely on these temporary wetlands for brood rearing. The combination of early nesting strategies and dependence on ephemeral water makes teal especially vulnerable to pond losses, resulting in fewer successful broods when drought strikes the prairies.

The 2025 survey underscores this reality: when prairie wetlands vanish, teal are among the first to show the impacts.

What is the BPOP Survey?

The Waterfowl Breeding Population and Habitat Survey (BPOP) has been conducted every spring since 1955 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Canadian Wildlife Service, covering over two million square miles of North America’s breeding grounds. It is not an exact count, observers use aerial transects, ground surveys, and statistical models to generate estimates. Like any wildlife survey, there can be variability due to weather, timing, and observer conditions. However, over its nearly 70-year history, BPOP has proven itself as the gold standard in waterfowl science. Its long dataset captures population trends that align with banding studies, hunter observations, and independent monitoring, making it the foundation of harvest regulations and conservation policy.

The key takeaway: while annual numbers will fluctuate and some may question the precision of estimates, the BPOP survey remains the most trusted and scientifically rigorous tool for tracking continental waterfowl populations. And this year, it highlights once again how prairie wetland loss directly limits duck production, especially for sensitive species like teal.

08/15/2025

🦆 2025 State Waterfowl Breeding Survey: What It Means for Fall Flight 🌾

The latest breeding population surveys from across the U.S. are in, offering a snapshot of spring duck numbers. While some states like California, Wisconsin, and Minnesota saw increases, others, especially North Dakota, reported declines due to dry early-season conditions.

But remember, we hunt the fall flight, which includes not only the spring breeding population but also this year’s hatch-year birds. These young ducks, produced over the summer, are critical to boosting fall numbers and hunter success.

📉 Fluctuations in breeding numbers are natural and influenced by changing landscapes, drought, and habitat conditions. That’s why survivability on the breeding grounds is the most important factor in waterfowl production.

✅ Sound wetland management practices and innovations like mallard hen house nesting structures play a vital role in improving nesting success and duckling survival. These tools help ensure mallards, and other species, have safe, productive breeding habitats across the landscape.

Let’s keep investing in habitat and science-based conservation to support strong fall flights for years to come. 🦆🌿

08/12/2025

Excited to share the event page for the Delta Waterfowl Mahoning Valley Chapter Fall Banquet—a night dedicated to celebrating conservation, community, and the future of waterfowl in Ohio!

Our team at the Lance Ecological Research Laboratory will be there to highlight our ongoing work with artificial hen house nesting structures across ODNR-managed lands. These predator-resistant platforms are helping boost nesting success for mallards and wood ducks, and we're expanding our research in 2025 to include genetic sampling, drone surveys, and nest parasitism studies.

If you're passionate about ducks, wetlands, or just want a great night out with raffles, auctions, and good food, this is the event for you.

📅 September 27 | 📍 Avion Banquet Center, Canfield, OH
🎟️ Doors open at 5:00 PM | Dinner at 6:30 PM
📧 For tickets/info: [email protected]

Hope to see you there and share what we’ve been working on to protect Ohio’s waterfowl heritage!

08/10/2025

Great news for Ohio conservation. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife has announced new funding to help restore and enhance native grassland habitats across the state. These efforts will benefit pollinators, upland birds, and countless other species that depend on healthy grasslands for survival.

While this is a promising step forward, it is important to remember that in wildlife management no single action is the full formula for success. True conservation progress emerges from a combination of approaches working in harmony. Habitat restoration, predator control, thoughtful management, research, and long-term stewardship all play critical roles. Predator control, particularly targeting nest predators, has been shown to positively influence nesting success in species such as northern bobwhite quail.

Research from the Cooperative Predator Management Study, which monitored over 4,000 radio-tagged quail and removed nearly 5,000 predators, found a 44 percent increase in recruitment on sites where predator removal occurred compared to control sites (Tall Timbers Research Station, 2020). Similarly, the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s Northern Bobwhite Quail Management Plan reported that targeted removal of raccoons, skunks, and opossums during nesting season reduced nest predation and improved hatching success (Pennsylvania Game Commission, 2021).

However, habitat design remains a foundational strategy. Predator removal can be costly, labor-intensive, and challenging to sustain, with outcomes that vary depending on local conditions (Wildlife Management Institute, 2016). Research indicates that well-designed grassland habitat can reduce predator efficiency and lower predation rates by up to 80 percent (Quail Forever, 2023).

Together these findings reinforce that thoughtful habitat restoration combined with evidence-based predator management provides the strongest pathway for long-term success in wildlife conservation.

🔗

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife has $9 million of funding available to landowners who want to create grassland habitat that can support native wildlife, like northern bobwhite quail and other grassland-nesting birds.

06/27/2025

🦃 Wild Turkey Roosting Isn’t Random: It’s an Ecological Strategy in Action

Link to article! https://www.lanceecologylab.com/post/understanding-roosting-networks-the-ecological-role-of-hub-and-satellite-roosts-in-eastern-wild-tur

Think turkeys just “roost anywhere”? Think again. Cutting-edge GPS research from Dr. Mike Chamberlain’s Wild Turkey Lab has revealed a network of roosts that toms and hens rely on some used less frequently, but by many birds (called hub roosts) and others used more frequently (satellite roosts). 🛰️

📍 Toms only use these hub roosts ~15% of the time, but they’re spaced out logistically with satellite roosts to connect the rest of their range. Roosts aren't randomly scattered, they’re part of a smart, structured network.

🔍 Here’s where it gets interesting:
• Toms that stay close to these roosts avoid hunters...
• ...but they’re more likely to get picked off by predators who learn their patterns.
• Poults rely on leaning trees and shrubs to “roost” before they can fly, critical survival habitat.

🌳 Habitat structure matters. So does sound. Turkeys select roosts where gobbles carry, thick vegetation can muffle sound and affect breeding success.

🧠 If you only hunt a property a few times a season, you probably don’t know how the birds use it. But turkeys do. Many of these roosts have been used for generations.

🔥 Habitat loss = population loss. Protect your roosts. Understand your land. Respect the birds.

Roosting behavior plays a vital role in the spatial ecology and survival strategies of the eastern wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo silvestris). Recent advances in telemetry-based research, particularly from the Wild Turkey Lab led by Dr. Michael Chamberlain at the University of Georgia, have led to...