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Background: Galliformes are widely distributed throughout the world and economically important to humans as domesticated animals or gamebirds. They are at a unique position for advancing knowledge and techniques of wildlife conservation as the barometer of the status of applied ecology. Populations of many galliform species have declined mainly due to habitat loss and over-hunting. An assessment of knowledge of Galliformes could help to provide guidelines for future research and conservation strategies. Methods: Using the Web of Science search engine, we conducted a literature review of galliform-related articles published from 1990 to 2016. We used the "research area" option to filter articles focused on the zoology, environmental sciences ecology, biodiversity conservation, forestry, behavioral sciences, reproductive biology, biochemistry and molecular biology, cell biology, genetics and heredity, evolutionary biology, physiology and developmental biology. We then checked duplication based on the title, abstract and full text. In addition, we examined the reference lists of selected studies to include the publications that were missed by above searching. Results: We retained 1874 articles related to the Galliformes from the initial 243,128 publications that were found. About 91.4% focused on one or two species, and 85.0% were conducted within a short duration, typically 1-2 years. The majority of the articles concentrated on macroscopic ecology (55.5%), mainly focusing on habitat selection or habitat use. With recent advances of molecular biology, the studies of taxonomy and phylogenetics rose quickly in last two decades. The study of physiology and biochemistry was no longer limited to simple description but expanded to the mechanisms of phenotype and micro-evolutionary potential. An additional area receiving increasing attention is the conservation of Galliformes, with the assessment of the conservation status and conservation management effectiveness of Galliformes (e.g. species diversity and genetic diversity) becoming the focus. Conclusions: The studies on Galliformes have made great achievements since 1990, but there are still gaps, particularly in macroscopic ecology, molecular genetics, and conservation. There is an urgent need to enhance long-term monitoring and analysis of population dynamics, and applying different disciplines to galliform conservation. Moreover, life history information of many galliform species is still lacking, which has hindered conservation efforts and effectiveness. In addition, multidiscipline studies and new technologies are not common for galliform studies, and should be encouraged.

Summary As threats to biodiversity proliferate, establishment and expansion of protected areas have increasingly been advocated in recent decades. In establishing a network of protected areas, recurrent assessments of the biodiversity conservation actually afforded by these areas is required. Gap analysis has been useful to evaluate the sufficiency and performance of protected areas. We surveyed Reeves’s Pheasant Syrmaticus reevesii populations in 2018–2019 across its distribution range in central China to quantify the distribution of habitat suitable for this species. Our goal was to ascertain the current distribution of Reeves’s Pheasant and then identify the gaps in protecting Reeves’s Pheasant of the existing national nature reserve (NNR) network to provide suggestions for improving the conservation of this important species. The existing NNR network encompassed only 17.0% of the habitat suitable for Reeves’s Pheasant. Based on the current distributions of both suitable habitat and NNRs for Reeves’s Pheasant, we suggest most currently unprotected areas comprised moderately suitable habitat for species and should be prioritized in the future. A multiple species approach using Reeves’s Pheasant as a flagship species should be considered to understand the extent of mismatch between the distributions of protected areas and suitable habitat to improve the management effectiveness of NNRs. This case study provides an example of how the development of a conservation reserve network may be based on species distribution and habitat assessments and is useful to conservation efforts in other regions and for other species.

Human infrastructure development drives habitat loss and fragmentation worldwide. In China, over the last 20 years, rapid infrastructure development impacted the habitats of endangered species. To facilitate conservation efforts, studies of how human infrastructure affects the distribution of Reeves’s pheasant (Syrmaticus reevesii), an endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and a nationally protected species in China, are critically needed. We assessed how the distribution of Reeves’s pheasant was impacted by human infrastructure development over the past 20 years in the Dabie Mountains, the main distribution range of the species. We surveyed Reeves’s pheasants by direct sightings and indirect evidence through line transects which were randomly distributed in the Dabie Mountains from 2001 to 2002 and 2018 to 2019. We evaluated the variation of the roads and buildings in these areas in the last 20 years, and then modeled the relationship of the distribution of this pheasant with the road and building data from 2000 and 2017. Human infrastructure became more extensively distributed throughout the Dabie Mountains during the period, with all lands within 10 km of a road or a building. The distribution of Reeves’s pheasants became closer to the buildings and roads and there was a significantly positive relationship between the occurrence of Reeves’s pheasants and the distance to the nearest buildings and roads in 2018–2019. These results suggest that the increased density of buildings and roads in the Dabie Mountains may have caused negative effects on Reeves’s pheasants.

Human disturbance has a strong impact on the movement of wild animals. However, it remains unclear how the movement patterns of the Reeves’s Pheasant (Syrmaticus reevesii) respond to human disturbance in human-dominated landscapes. We tracked the movement of 40 adult individual Reeves’s Pheasants during the breeding season, and used the dynamic Brownian bridge motion model and kernel density estimation to analyze the diurnal movement patterns of Reeves’s Pheasants and their response to human presence. We analyzed the paths of Reeves’s Pheasants based on a partial least squares path model, considering habitat conditions, body characteristics, and reproductive behaviors. We found that males had two clear diurnal movement peaks, whereas reproductive and non-reproductive females did not show such movement peaks. Males shifted their movement peaks to earlier times in the day to avoid the presence peaks of humans. The correlation between human-modified habitat and the movement intensity of Reeves’s Pheasant differed between sexes. For males, the distance to forest paths had a positive correlation with their movement intensity through affecting body conditions. For females, the distance to forest paths and farmland had a negative correlation with their movement intensity through affecting habitat conditions and reproductive behaviors. Our study provides a scientific basis for the protection of the Reeves’s Pheasant and other related terrestrial forest-dwelling birds.

Understanding the impact of human disturbance on the breeding habitat selection of endangered species is critical to improving their conservation. Blue-crowned Laughingthrush Pterorhinus courtoisi (Ménégaux, 1923) syn. Garrulax courtoisi (Passeriformes: Leiotrichidae) is an endangered species in China. To explore the nesting habitat selection of the Blue-crowned Laughingthrush and its response to human disturbance during the breeding period, we conducted a field survey at its nesting sites in Wuyuan County and Dexing City, Jiangxi Province, from March to July 2021 and in June 2022. At the home range scale (200 m) the results of a principal component analysis (PCA) showed that this species had a clear preference for infrastructure construction, grassland, farmland and bare land. At the microhabitat scale (12.26 m), we compared the ecological parameters of a nest plot and control plot using a Kruskal–Wallis H test and found that there were significant differences in the vegetation coverage, crown breadth, shrub coverage, herb maximum height, herb average height and herb species number of the nesting area between the two groups. Ensemble species distribution models showed that the suitable habitat of the Blue-crowned Laughingthrush covered an area of 108.63 km2. Distance to waterways, deciduous broadleaved forests and roads were the main factors impacting the habitat distribution of the Blue-crowned Laughingthrush. Our study suggests that (1) it is highly important to improve the protection of breeding sites and suitable living areas close to the settlements and preserve a certain nesting habitat selection space for the Blue-crowned Laughingthrush during the breeding period; and (2) it is necessary to continue to monitor the potential suitable breeding habitat. This study provides a scientific basis for the protection of the Blue-crowned Laughingthrush by local forestry bureaus and conservation departments in the future.

Abstract.As an important region in the Silk Road, Xinjiang is getting a good chance of developing economy. However at the same time, its natural environment is facing a big challenge. To better protect the plant diversity, it is urgent to make a thorough conservation plan. With a full database of vascular and medicinal plant distributions and nature reserve plant lists and boundaries in Xinjiang of China, we analysed the plant diversity hotspots, protection gaps and proposed the plant conservation priorities of this region. Differed from the widely accepted viewpoints that lots of plants were not included in nature reserves, we found that most of the plants ( > 90%) were actually included in the current nature reserves. We believe that compared with establishing more nature reserves, improving the management of the existing ones is also important. Furthermore, the very few unprotected plants ( < 10%) were distributed mostly in the regions of Aletai, Tacheng, Zhaosu, Manasi, Qitai and Hetian which could be the future conservation priorities.

Dispersal is an important life history trait that plays a crucial role in avoiding inbreeding. Uncovering the dispersal pattern of a threatened species facilitates conservation efforts. Most species of Galliformes are forest-dwelling terrestrial birds with a weak dispersal ability and high conservation priorities. However, little is known about the dispersal behavior and dispersal pattern of Galliformes species such as Reeves’s pheasant Syrmaticus reevesii, a globally vulnerable species endemic to China. Here, we integrated behavioral and genetic analyses to investigate the dispersal pattern of Reeves’s pheasant. Our results revealed that both females and males would disperse, although the overall dispersal pattern was more likely to be male-biased. Reeves’s pheasant population had a low level of genetic diversity, and a mild level of inbreeding. With speculating low genetic diversity was resulted by fragmented habitat, and male-biased dispersal may reduce the opportunity of inbreeding. Our research indicated that sex-biased dispersal patterns may be a behavioral mechanism adopted by wildlife to avoid inbreeding in a fragmented habitat.