Northern bobwhite abundance in relation to precipitation and landscape structure

Parent, Chad J.; Hernández, Fidel; Brennan, Leonard A.; Wester, David B.; Bryant, Fred C.; Schnupp, Matthew J.

doi:10.1002/jwmg.992

Cited by 18 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…We observed that spring cock call‐counts were modest predictors of minimum known populations and good predictors of mark–recapture estimates at the ranch scale, but were poor and insignificant predictors of density at the point scale. At the ranch scale, our results are similar to results of Parent et al (), who demonstrated a relatively strong correlation ( r = 0.68) between spring cock counts and helicopter indices (coveys/km) at the pasture scale (2,000 ha).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

An evaluation of population indices for northern bobwhite

et al. 2019

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Northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) populations are monitored using 2 general approaches—population indices and abundance estimators. Due to their convenient sampling designs, indices are commonly used by land managers and researchers to predict or estimate hunting‐season populations. We evaluated the efficacy of 4 bobwhite indices (spring cock [adult male] call‐counts, autumn covey call‐counts, roadside surveys, and helicopter surveys) to predict hunting‐season population size by relating them to abundance estimators (minimum known population [no. unique trapped individuals each year], mark–recapture, helicopter‐based distance sampling). Data were collected at the Rolling Plains Quail Research Ranch in Fisher County, Texas, USA, during 2009–2018. Spring cock call‐counts and autumn covey call‐counts were analyzed at 2 spatial scales: ranch scale (1,781 ha) and point scale (i.e., within the presumed radius of audibility of listening points; 600 m or 113 ha). Roadside and helicopter surveys were conducted at the ranch scale along 31‐ and 90‐km transects, respectively. At the ranch scale, mean spring cock call‐counts were a modest predictor of minimum known populations (r2 = 0.54) and good predictor of mark–recapture estimates (r2 = 0.80). At the point scale, the mean number of cocks heard was a poor predictor of densities surrounding points (r2 = 0.0003) as estimated by distance sampling. The mean number of coveys heard during autumn counts was a significant predictor of both minimum known populations (r2 = 0.88) and mark–recapture estimates (r2 = 0.85) at the ranch scale but was a weak predictor of densities immediately surrounding listening points (r2 = 0.22). Helicopter surveys during November (individuals/km) were a significant predictor of minimum known populations (r2 = 0.98) and mark–recapture (r2 = 0.93). Overall, roadside surveys (individuals/km) conducted during September was the best index for predicting minimum known populations (r2 = 0.99) and mark–recapture estimates (r2 = 0.97). Our results suggest the linear relationship between indices and autumn–winter populations for bobwhite are stronger when conducted closer in time to hunting season and at larger scales. © 2019 The Wildlife Society.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

An evaluation of population indices for northern bobwhite

et al. 2019

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“…Finally, it also is possible that the lack of precipitation prior to, and during, our study (2011–2014) negatively affected the bobwhite population and limited the population response to translocation. Precipitation has a profound influence on all aspects of bobwhite demographics (i.e., survival, reproduction, abundance) and often accounts for such a large portion of the variation in bobwhite population (Rice et al , Bridges et al , Parent et al ). For example, Hernández et al () documented that a lower percentage of females nested during a dry period (52.6%) versus a wet period (100%) in southern Texas.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An evaluation of northern bobwhite translocation to restore populations

et al. 2017

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Northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) populations have been declining in Texas during the last 2 decades. This decline also is occurring in areas with apparently ample habitat such as the Rolling Plains of Texas, USA. The goal of our study was to examine the efficacy of translocating wild-trapped bobwhites into recently depopulated areas in the eastern Rolling Plains as a method of restoring population size. Our objectives were to document survival (spring-summer and annual), reproductive efforts, and site fidelity of translocated bobwhites and compare relative abundance of bobwhites between release and control sites to evaluate the efficacy of translocation. We translocated 409 wild bobwhites (n ¼ 186 radio-marked F) to 2 sites in Shackelford and Stephens counties, Texas, during March 2013 and 2014. Spring-summer (Mar-Sep) survival ranged between 0.32 and 0.38 (n ¼ 186 bobwhites), and annual survival ranged between 0.19 and 0.23 (n ¼ 186 bobwhites) during 2013-2015. Seventy-four percent of translocated females that entered the nesting season (i.e., May 1; n ¼ 112 bobwhites) produced a nest, resulting in 125 nests with an apparent nest success of 46.1% and a nesting rate of 1.1 AE 0.1 (SE) nests/female. Site fidelity post-translocation was moderate to high; 67.7% (n ¼ 44 bobwhites) and 85.1% (n ¼ 40 bobwhites) of translocated bobwhites did not disperse >2 km from their release point during the summers of 2013 and 2014, respectively. Despite this strong demographic performance, relative abundance of bobwhites did not differ between the release and control sites after 2 years as indexed by covey-call counts (2.7 AE 0.6 vs. 3.0 AE 1.2 coveys/point, respectively; P ¼ 0.71) and helicopter surveys (0.9 AE 0.2 vs. 0.7 AE 0.2 bobwhites/km, respectively; P ¼ 0.64). Thus, translocation of bobwhites failed to increase the bobwhite population beyond that of the control during this study. Future translocation research should aim to increase translocation success by investigating methods for increasing survival during the 1-month period following translocation (e.g., soft-release, vitamin E and selenium injections) and for improving site fidelity using conspecific attraction. Future research should incorporate genetic measures to assess genetic contribution of translocated individuals to improve evaluation of translocation success. Ó 2017 The Wildlife Society.

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“…Moreover, we found no differences in vegetation composition or structure between years based on sampling and only differences in percent litter cover and visual obstruction among TSF. These observations are particularly important given that woody cover has been shown to be a critical component of nonbreeding bobwhite habitat (Wiseman and Lewis 1981, Roseberry and Klimstra 1984, Hiller et al 2007) and can buffer bobwhite populations from drought effects (Parent et al 2016).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Response of Northern Bobwhite Movements to Management-Driven Disturbance in a Shrub-Dominated Ecosystem

Carroll¹,

Davis²,

Elmore³

et al. 2017

Rangeland Ecology & Management

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Despite inhabiting fire-adapted grasslands and shrublands across much of their continental distribution, northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus; hereafter bobwhite) behavior relative to disturbance (e.g., fire) is poorly understood, especially in the western fringe of their distribution. We assessed bobwhite movement and space use following dormant season burning (Jan-Mar; 2013-2014) in a sand shinnery oak (Quercus havardii; hereafter shinnery oak) plant community. We captured and radio-marked bobwhites (n = 369) and monitored them via radio-telemetry across burn treatments (averaging 254 ha) ranging from 0-12, 13-24, 25-36, and >36 months post fire (hereafter, time since fire; TSF) at the Packsaddle Wildlife Management Area in western Oklahoma, USA. Mean covey home range size was 76.6 ha ± 5.9 [SE] (range; 12-270 ha) (n= 61 coveys), which is substantially larger than covey home ranges reported for other regions. Prescribed fire affected space use of coveys (F 4, 54 = 2.95, p < 0.05) which was driven by smaller home range sizes of coveys using 25-36 TSF (52.07 ha [± 6.6]) than 0-12 (85.0 ha [± 15.53]), 13-24 (86.7 ha [± 20.7]) and >36 TSF (78.9 ha [± 6.54]). Generalized linear mixed models demonstrated that neither spring dispersal (movements or area traversed) were correlated with TSF, age, or sex (n=114), further demonstrating a minimal effect of prescribed fire; however, dispersal areas were greater in 2013 than in 2014 (p < 0.05). Our research shows that prescribed fire applied at a landscape scale had limited effects on short-term bobwhite movement and space use. These findings also suggest that in shinnery oak vegetation communities land managers can utilize prescribed fire across large spatial extents without substantially altering the space use or movement of bobwhites.

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Northern bobwhite abundance in relation to precipitation and landscape structure

Cited by 18 publications

References 48 publications

An evaluation of population indices for northern bobwhite

An evaluation of population indices for northern bobwhite

An evaluation of northern bobwhite translocation to restore populations

Response of Northern Bobwhite Movements to Management-Driven Disturbance in a Shrub-Dominated Ecosystem

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