We assessed supplemental feeding in a crossover design to determine its value in managing the dispersion and mortality of northern bobwhites (Colinus virginianus) in Roberts County, Texas Panhandle, during October‐March 2000–2001, 2001–2002, and 2002–2003. Nontarget species made up 98% of feeder visits (n = 152 visits in 480 hours of surveillance). The average home range (ha) on the fed site was 34% of that on the control site (95% CL=21–48%) in 2001–2002 and 63% (39–103%) in 2002–2003, suggesting that feeders localized coveys. Fall‐spring survival estimates were 0.57 (0.40–0.73) on the fed site versus 0.72 (0.53–0.91) on the control site in 2001–2002; estimates were 0.24 (0.16–0.33) on the fed site versus 0.28 (0.22–0.34) on the control site in 2002–2003, indicating null effects of feeding on fall‐spring survival. Apparent vulnerability of bobwhites to loss sources (avian or mammalian predators, other losses) was not affected by feeding. Based on our results, managers who wish to localize coveys could accomplish that objective using feeders; otherwise, food supplementation was a neutral management practice.
We derived a method of estimating the direction and magnitude of cover changes for potentially maximizing wildlife abundance on an area. We illustrate the method with data on cover selection by northern bobwhites (Colinus virginianus) collected in the Texas Panhandle from 2000 to 2003. We used radiotelemetry to determine use of cover associations, Geographic Information System analysis to determine their availability, and logic related to use‐availability analysis to collapse 95% kernel home ranges to usable space. Bobwhites selected mixed‐shrub cover consisting of sand plum (Prunus angustifolia) and fragrant sumac (Rhus aromatica), and they avoided or neutrally used 8 other cover associations. However, grass upland and sand sagebrush (Artemisia filifolia) associations occurred in ≥86% of home ranges (n = 96 bobwhites with ≥30 radiolocations). Usable space averaged 54.2% ± 1.72 SE of kernel home ranges. The data indicated that adding about 226 ha of mixed‐shrub cover or a structural homologue while simultaneously reducing the quantity of most other cover associations would maximize bobwhite abundance. An area with 30–60% mixed‐shrub cover, with the balance in grass upland and sand sagebrush, and with cover dispersed such that no point was >30 m from mixed‐shrub cover was hypothetically optimal for bobwhites in our region. Within certain constraints (e.g., financial, social, edaphic), managers can apply this method by manipulating cover types through relevant management practices (e.g., planting, prescribed burning, mechanical removal of vegetation). This method, with minor modification, could also be used to decrease usable space on an area, and thus decrease wildlife densities, should that be the manager's objective.
This paper examines the relict and endemic vegetation of mountainous southern Crimea, a transition zone between several major floristic regions. As such, its flora is characterized by high species diversity and vulnerability to disturbance, and establishing a sound basis for its protection is urgent. In this context, the authors assess the status of existing specially protected areas in the region, review recently proposed conservation priorities and their potential impact on native flora, and outline a map-overlay method that permits identification of areas of maximum conservation priority.
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