NADS5 August 2009 Waterfowl modeling workshop Page 1 of 16 Meeting report Börger Luca, Nicole Barker, Steven Cumming, Tom Nudds, Marcel Darveau, Louis Imbeau Modeling the distribution and abundance of boreal waterfowl An international workshop on modeling the distribution and abundance of boreal waterfowl was held during the 5th North American Duck Symposium in Toronto, Canada, 17-18 August 2009. The workshop brought together Canadian and American researchers and managers with an interest in waterfowl habitat and population modeling and/or in biomonitoring over large spatial extents. Rationale and Background Recent years have seen many technical and methodological developments in modeling the distribution and abundance of species and of broad patterns of community composition and biodiversity. Among these approaches are hierarchical modeling (MacKenzie et al. 2006; Royle and Dorazio 2008), boosted regression trees (Elith et al. 2008) and environmental niche (Maxent) models (Phillips et al. 2006; Phillips et al. 2009). It remains unclear which methods hold the greatest potential for specific data sets; how to effectively apply these new and sometimes complex methods, especially over large spatial scales. To solve certain problems, fundamental advances in statistical methodology may be needed. Similarly, the last decade has witnessed a coming of scientific age for surveying and monitoring (Field et al. 2007; Nichols and Williams 2006). Lindenmayer & Likens (in press) argue for continual improvement and adaptation of survey and monitoring protocols to efficiently assess cause and effect in the dynamics of species’ populations as progress relative to conservation objectives is measured. This is hardly news for waterfowl researchers and managers in North America. Aerial surveys of waterfowl in North America have long undergone periodic assessment and revision (e.g., Smith 1995) in response to new requirements like expanded biological, spatial or temporal coverage. However, the rise of legislative, policy and management agendas with increasing