8 8 Craig A. Harper, James F. Parnell, and Eric G. Bolen 



ly, water-level management enhances biodiversity in wetland environments 

 (Fredrickson and Taylor 1982). Maximum benefits are achieved when water- 

 level management follows a schedule of drawdowns and flooding designed to 

 maintain suitable communities of food and cover plants ( Fredrickson and Tay- 

 lor 1982, Fredrickson and Batema (no date), Fredrickson 1991). When manag- 

 ing small impoundments for wood ducks, we recommend initiating a flooding 

 and drawdown schedule that allows maintenance of living, emergent woody veg- 

 etation at a density of > 3 - 5 stems/m 2 where possible. Drawdowns and flood- 

 ing should be completed slowly (i.e., approximately 3 weeks), thereby maxi- 

 mizing food availability (e.g., invertebrates and mast) within the wood duck's 

 foraging niche (<20 cm water depth) and allowing time for the establishment of 

 moist-soil vegetation. Drawdowns should be timed so that they coincide with 

 the spring migration of wood ducks. When managing for broods, drawdowns 

 should not be completed until August, when most wood duck broods have 

 fledged. Upon drawdown, areas inundated for brood utilization during the grow- 

 ing season should not be flooded again for 2 - 3 years to allow complete aeration 

 of soil in order to perpetuate live woody cover. Reflooding in the fall should be 

 timed so that at least 85% of the impoundment is inundated for the peak migra- 

 tion period of wood ducks (for our study, the first week of November. (See Harp- 

 er 1993 for additional details.) 



Water-level management enables managers to provide needed 

 resources for wood ducks year-round. Obviously, this would be very difficult 

 with only one wetland; however, with a complex of small, managed impound- 

 ments, the task is more feasible. With a schedule where an impoundment pro- 

 vides flooded cover only every 2 to 3 years, it is essential to have several 

 impoundments that are diverse and can be inundated on a rotation, thus meeting 

 the various needs of wood ducks each year. Three ponds, with one flooded each 

 year and with the other two recovering, appear to represent a minimal manage- 

 ment unit. 



Although it is usually possible for landowners to construct small 

 impoundments on small streams for wildlife enhancement, the regulatory office 

 of the local United States Army Corps of Engineers should always be contacted 

 prior to initiating work to determine the effect of regulations relative to section 

 404 of the Clean Water Act. 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS -We are indebted to Charles Peterson and his staff at 

 Camp Lejeune for their financial and logistical support. The counsel of Martin 

 Posey, Department of Biological Sciences at the University of North Carolina at 

 Wilmington and Hoke Hill, Department of Experimental Statistics, Clemson 

 University, was most helpful. The University of North Carolina at Wilmington 

 provided basic support. 



