Matthieu Guillemain,^* Johan Elmberg,^** Michel Gauthier-Clerc,^*** Grégoire Massez,^**** Richard Hearn,^***** Jocelyn Champagnon,^****** Géraldine Simon<sup>*******


*</sup>Matthieu Guillemain () is an Engineer at the French Hunting and Wildlife Service, where he is in charge of duck research programmes. He is particularly interested in population dynamics of harvested birds and the consequences of habitat changes on these species. Address: Office National de la Chasse et de la Faune Sauvage, CNERA Avifaune Migratrice, La Tour du Valat, Le Sambuc, 13200 Arles, France. e-mail: matthieu.guillemain@oncfs.gouv.fr
^**Johan Elmberg is a Professor in Animal Ecology at Kristianstad University. He studies the ecology of dabbling ducks throughout their flyway in Western Europe. Address: Aquatic Biology and Chemistry Group, Kristianstad University, 291 88 Kristianstad, Sweden. e-mail: johan.elmberg@hkr.se
^***Michel Gauthier-Clerc is a Research Officer at the Tour du Valat, France, where he is coordinator of the “Global changes and population dynamics” programme. Address: Centre de Recherche de la Tour du Valat, Le Sambuc, 13200 Aries, France. e-mail: gauthier-clerc@tourduvalat.org
^****Grégoire Massez is a technician at the Marais du Vigueirat, a protected wetland in the Camargue, where he is in charge of bird monitoring schemes. He is also a bird ringer and the representative of the National Museum of Natural History for bird ringing in South-Eastern France. Address: Les Marais du Vigueirat, Mas Thibert, 13200 Arles, France. e-mail: gestion.mdv@wanadoo.fr
^*****Richard Hearn is Head of the Species Monitoring Team at the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust, UK. He has been involved in the coordination of WWTs ringing activities since 1995 and is particularly interested in ensuring such work provides useful information for conservation priority setting. Address: Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust, Slimbridge, Gloucester GL2 7BT, UK. e-mail: richard.hearn@wwt.org.uk
^******Jocelyn Champagnon is a PhD student in Ecology at Montpellier University, France, with a triple affiliation to the Office National de la Chasse et de la Faune Sauvage, the Tour du Valat and the Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive (CNRS) in Montpellier. He works on the consequences of hand-reared Mallard releases for the natural populations of this species. Address: Office National de la Chasse et de la Faune Sauvage, CNERA Avifaune Migratrice, La Tour du Valat, Le Sambuc, 13200 Arles, France Address: Centre de Recherche de la Tour du Valat, Le Sambuc, 13200 Arles, France Address: Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 1919 Route de Mende, 34 293 Montpellier Cedex 5, France e-mail: jocelyn.champagnon@oncfs.gouv.fr
^*******Géraldine Simon is an Environmental Engineer who worked with the Tour du Valat for the present study. She handled the Tour du Valat duck ringing databases, which have been and still are being used in a variety of research programmes dealing with migration patterns, population dynamics and habitat change. Address: Centre de Recherche de la Tour du Valat, Le Sambuc, 13200 Arles, France. e-mail: matthieu.guillemain@oncfs.gouv.fr