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More than three million farmed mallards are released annually for hunting purposes in Europe. The ecological impact of these releases depends on how many birds survive to join the wild breeding population. We estimated annual survival in farmed-released and wild-caught Swedish mallards, using mark-recapture data. In 2011–2018, we ringed 13,533 farmed ducklings before release (26.5% recovered). Most recoveries were birds shot at the release site, while only about 4% were found >3 km away. In 2002–2018, 19,820 wild mallards were ringed in Sweden, yielding 1369 (6.9%) recoveries. Like in farmed-released birds, most recoveries were by hunting, but 91.1% of recovered wild mallards were >3 km away from the ringing site. Annual survival rate in farmed-released mallards (ringed as pulli) was 0.02. In wild mallards (ringed as fledged or fully grown), annual survival was lower in females (0.64) than in males (0.71). At two sites in 2018, farmed ducklings were released in two batches 3 weeks apart to study the effect of early versus late release date, while controlling for body condition (BCI). Ducklings released early had a higher BCI and were recovered earlier (lower longevity) than those released late. Individual BCI and longevity were not correlated in recovered ducklings. Based on our estimate of annual survival in farmed-released mallards, a substantial number, i.e., 5000 (95% CI, 3040–6960), join the wild population annually. Despite being fed, a large proportion of released ducklings does not survive until the hunting season. Early releases may maximize pre-hunting survival. Repeated releases may prolong hunting opportunities and increase hunting bags.

Common practices in current game management are wetland restoration and creation, as well as releases of quarry species. We studied the impact of releases of mallard ducklings on species richness of wild waterbirds and amphibians on three types of wetlands: natural, constructed and restored. Data on species richness, macrophyte cover and water characteristics (total phosphorous and pH) were collected at 32 sites in an agricultural landscape in southern Sweden. In total, 14 species of waterbirds were recorded, ranging from zero to seven per wetland and survey. Amphibians were present in 24 of the 32 wetlands; in total five species were found, ranging from zero to three per wetland. By using generalized linear modelling we found that wetland type best predicted waterbird species richness. Constructed wetlands had significantly more waterbird species, regardless of whether they were used for mallard releases or not. There were breeding amphibians in 62% of natural, 100% of restored and 77% of constructed wetlands. Breeding amphibians were present in 84% of wetlands without, and in 62% of wetlands with releases. However, included variables did not explain amphibian species richness in the wetlands. Releasing large numbers of mallards on a wetland and providing food ad libitum is likely to affect water quality, nutrient availability and predation pressure. Indeed, phosphorous levels were significantly higher in release wetlands, but no differences were found between wetland types.This means that mallard releases may increase nutrient loads in environments that are already eutrophied. However, in our study system releases did not influence species richness of waterbirds and amphibians locally. Constructing wetlands for mallard releases can thus have positive local effects on species richness.

We review the current and future threats to duck populations that breed, stage, moult and/or winter in the Nordic countries. Migratory duck species are sensitive indicators of their changing environment, and their societal value confirms the need to translate signals from changes in their distribution, status and abundance into a better understanding of changes occurring in their wetland environments. We used expert opinion to highlight 25 major areas of anthropogenic change (and touch briefly on potential mitigation measures through nature restoration and reserve management projects) that we consider key issues likely to influence Nordic duck populations now and in the near future to stimulate debate, discussion and further research. We believe such reviews are essential in contributing to development of successful management policy as well as stimulating specific research to support the maintenance of duck species in favourable future conservation status in the face of multiple population pressures and drivers.

Disruption of naturally evolved spatial patterns of genetic variation and local adaptations is a growing concern in wildlife management and conservation. During the last decade, releases of native taxa with potentially non-native genotypes have received increased attention. This has mostly concerned conservation programs, but releases are also widely carried out to boost harvest opportunities. The mallard, Anas platyrhynchos, is one of few terrestrial migratory vertebrates subjected to large-scale releases for hunting purposes. It is the most numerous and widespread duck in the world, yet each year more than three million farmed mallard ducklings are released into the wild in the European Union alone to increase the harvestable population. This study aimed to determine the genetic effects of such large-scale releases of a native species, specifically if wild and released farmed mallards differ genetically among subpopulations in Europe, if there are signs of admixture between the two groups, if the genetic structure of the wild mallard population has changed since large-scale releases began in the 1970s, and if the current data matches global patterns across the Northern hemisphere. We used Bayesian clustering (Structure software) and Discriminant Analysis of Principal Components (DAPC) to analyze the genetic structure of historical and present-day wild (n = 171 and n = 209, respectively) as well as farmed (n = 211) mallards from six European countries as inferred by 360 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Both methods showed a clear genetic differentiation between wild and farmed mallards. Admixed individuals were found in the present-day wild population, implicating introgression of farmed genotypes into wild mallards despite low survival among released farmed mallards. Such cryptic introgression would alter the genetic composition of wild populations and may have unknown long-term consequences for conservation. published

Captive-bred mallards Anas platyrhynchos have been released for hunting purposes at a very large scale in Europe since the mid-1970s. In spite of a potential genetic impact, the actual contribution of restocked mallards to the genome of the target population has received little attention. The genetic structure of modern wild mallards in the Camargue, Southern France, was assessed from two samples: one originating from shot birds in hunting bags and one from presumed wild ducks captured alive in a hunting-free reserve. Reference samples originated from five mallard farms, as well as from museum samples collected before the mid-1970s (i.e. before massive mallard releases started). Our results revealed that the genetic signature of wild wintering mallards has not changed significantly because museum and presumed wild samples from the Camargue hunting-free nature reserve were genetically similar, and clearly differentiated from the farm mallards. This suggests that mallard releases in the Camargue or elsewhere in France, although massive, have not actually translated into complete admixture of wild and captive genomes, most likely due to low survival of released birds once in the wild. Nevertheless, although genetic introgression of the wild population by captive-bred was contained, we found significant rates of hybridization between wild and captive-bred mallards in modern samples. This result suggests that long-term releases of captive-bred mallards, if carried on at such large scale, could compromise irreversibly the genetic structure and composition of European mallards. This work contributes to fill in the gap on the monitoring of the genetic consequences of large-scale game releases for exploitation.

The mallard Anas platyrhynchos is the world’s most widespread and numerous dabbling duck. It is also farmed and released to the wild by the millions each year, but the effects of this on wild populations remain little studied. By using historical national ringing–recovery data from Sweden and Finland, we here address three predictions based on previous studies: (1) longevity is higher in wild than in hand-reared mallards, (2) wild mallards migrate longer than hand-reared, and (3) migration distance in wild ducks surviving long enough to start fall migration has decreased over the last 50 years. Indeed, wild mallards lived longer than hand-reared (19 versus 9 months in Swedish birds and 13 versus 4 months in Finnish birds). Compared to wild mallards, a smaller proportion of hand-reared birds survived long enough to have the chance to enter the wild breeding population; less than 25 % of the Swedish birds and less than 10 % of the Finnish birds lived a year or longer. Wild birds migrated farther than hand-reared (mean distance in Swedish birds, 676 versus 523 km; in Finnish birds, 1,213 versus 157 km), a pattern caused by both shorter life span and lower migration speed in hand-reared birds. Mean migration distance in wild Swedish mallards was 787 km in 1947–1972 but 591 km in 1977–1993. This difference was not statistically significant, though, possibly due to the limited sample size and lack of data from the last two decades. In general, our study provides a conservative test of the predictions addressed, calling for more research about the consequences of restocking duck populations.

The mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) is a focal species in game management, epidemiology and ornithology, but comparably little research has focused on the ecology of the migration seasons. We studied habitat use, time-budgets, home-range sizes, habitat selection, and movements based on spatial data collected with GPS devices attached to wild mallards trapped at an autumn stopover site in the Northwest European flyway. Sixteen individuals (13 males, 3 females) were followed for 15-38 days in October to December 2010. Forty-nine percent (SD = 8.4%) of the ducks' total time, and 85% of the day-time (SD = 28.3%), was spent at sheltered reefs and bays on the coast. Two ducks used ponds, rather than coast, as day-roosts instead. Mallards spent most of the night (76% of total time, SD = 15.8%) on wetlands, mainly on alvar steppe, or in various flooded areas (e.g. coastal meadows). Crop fields with maize were also selectively utilized. Movements between roosting and foraging areas mainly took place at dawn and dusk, and the home-ranges observed in our study are among the largest ever documented for mallards (mean = 6,859 ha; SD = 5,872 ha). This study provides insights into relatively unknown aspects of mallard ecology. The fact that autumn-staging migratory mallards have a well-developed diel activity pattern tightly linked to the use of specific habitats has implications for wetland management, hunting and conservation, as well as for the epidemiology of diseases shared between wildlife and domestic animals.

Wild populations of the world’s most common dabbling duck, the mallard (Anas platyrhynchos), run the risk of genetic introgression by farmed conspecifics released for hunting purposes. We tested whether bill morphology of free-living birds has changed since large-scale releases of farmed mallards started. Three groups of mallards from Sweden, Norway and Finland were compared: historical wild (before large-scale releases started), present-day wild, and present-day farmed. Higher density of bill lamellae was observed in historical wild mallards (only males). Farmed mallards had wider bills than present-day and historical wild ones. Present-day wild and farmed mallards also had higher and shorter bills than historical wild mallards. Present-day mallards thus tend to have more “goose-like” bills (wider, higher, and shorter) than their ancestors. Our study suggests that surviving released mallards affect morphological traits in wild population by introgression. We discuss how such anthropogenic impact may lead to a maladapted and genetically compromised wild mallard population. Our study system has bearing on other taxa where large-scale releases of conspecifics with ‘alien genes’ may cause a cryptic invasive process that nevertheless has fitness consequences for individual birds.