PACIFIC FLYWAY 
Breeding Ground 
ALASKA g ound Surveys 
Weather and Water Conditions - 
This year, spring was "late" in southern Alaska, but "early" 
in northwestern Alaska. No unusually high water was reported anywhere, 
‘and much of the interior began the summer with water levels below normal. 
This was particularly true of those lakes and ponds in the Ft. Yukon 
Flats that are not connected to the main river drainages. These waters 
apparently depend on periodic floods to fill them to capacity. Never- 
theless, it is not expected that water shortage will adversely affect 
production anywhere. | 
As of early June, weather and water conditions appear conducive 
to at least a normal waterfowl production in Alaska. 
Breeding Population Indices - 
The 1954 aerial surveys of Alaskan waterfowl breeding popu- 
lations were designed to obtain a stratified random sample of the major 
breeding grounds south of the Brooks Range. The Seward Peninsula, 
Aleutian Islands, and Southeastern Alaska were entirely omitted, and 
surveys were generally restricted to areas within which breeding 
densities were estimated at one pair per square mile or greater. Areas 
surveyed were combined into six strata, with sampling intensities joint- 
Ly proportional to the relative area and the variance previously 
experienced in each stratum. Sampling intensity averaged 0.2% for all 
strata. 
Table I presents the data collected during the 1954 survey and 
the total population index figures obtained during 1953. A 20 percent 
increase in breeding population is indicated. 
Production Indices - 
Aerial brood surveys, begun experimentally in 1953, were 
continued on a limited basis again this year. 
It ‘has not been possible to develop a comparative index to 
number of broods produced over any large portion of the Alaskan breeding 
grounds. In lieu thereof, indices calculated for the Minto and Ft. Yukon 
study areas are presented in Table II. Surveys in 1953 did not consider 
potential late broods, and therefore the 1954 figures are presented 
exclusive of this factor. 
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