On reversing the northern bobwhite population decline: 20 years later

Abstract

The northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) decline has become a cause ce´le´bre of wildlife conservation during the past 2 decades. With few exceptions, current broad-scale population trends show ongoing erosion in bobwhite numbers across most of the species' range. The causes of these declines are ultimate factors exacerbated by certain proximate factors. Ultimate factors are centered on the loss and fragmentation of habitat. Proximate factors such as predation and disease also may be present. The impacts of some factors, such as climate change, remain unknown but may influence bobwhite population trajectories over the long term. Progress has occurred in bobwhite conservation efforts since 1990 and has culminated in the formation of the National Bobwhite Technical Committee and the publication of the Northern Bobwhite Conservation Initiative. The vast majority of prevailing agricultural, forestry, and to some extent rangeland land uses in the United States continue as threats to bobwhite population persistence in the foreseeable future. Land-use patterns that once sustained widespread abundance of northern bobwhite during the early 20th century clearly are past and likely never to return. Landscape features that sustain and elevate northern bobwhite populations will only be maintained as a function of purposeful management actions directed at saving and creating usable space. ß 2012 The Wildlife Society.KEY WORDS adaptive management, bobwhite, Colinus virginianus, conservation planning, northern bobwhite, Northern Bobwhite Conservation Initiative, quail.Two decades ago, Brennan (1991) published an article titled, ''How can we reverse the northern bobwhite population decline?'' The publication outlined a series of observations and issues related to factors that were responsible for the nearly range-wide decline of the northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus). Northern bobwhites had been declining at a considerable rate across their geographic range prior to 1991, but very few conservationists had taken notice. The publication of Brennan (1991) seemed to awaken a complacent quail profession that did not appreciate the general status of northern bobwhite in the United States at the time.Since the publication of Brennan (1991), considerable effort has been directed at the conservation of northern bobwhite and its habitat. When cast in a broader context of the past 2 decades, it is clear that bobwhite conservation efforts have gained traction, and perhaps even an element of critical mass, that will provide a basis for further achievement. We examine what has happened to the northern bobwhite over the past 20 years in the context of ultimate and proximate factors that influence their mostly declining populations. We identify ongoing and emerging threats to bobwhite conservation and discuss the initiatives that wildlife professionals, landowners, quail hunters, and conservationists have developed in an effort to stop the decline. Lastly, we use this paper as a forum to clarify some misunderstandings that were ...

A Draft De Novo Genome Assembly for the Northern Bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) Reveals Evidence for a Rapid Decline in Effective Population Size Beginning in the Late Pleistocene

“…Although the bobwhite has clearly declined across much of its native range [5]–[6], [20]–[23], our estimates of N e up until about 9–10 kya demonstrate that genomic diversity has remained quite high despite a substantial, historic bottleneck (Fig. 3).…”

Extreme climatic events constrain space use and survival of a ground‐nesting bird

“…To better understand how space use and survival are constrained during periods of extreme thermal conditions, we studied Colinus virginianus (northern bobwhite) on the western periphery of their distribution. Colinus virginianus is a ground‐nesting, shrub‐obligate Galliform that has generally experienced distribution‐wide declines (Sauer et al ., ) due to habitat loss and fragmentation (Hernández et al ., ). However, along the western periphery of their distribution, local abundance is highly variable and driven by stochasticity in weather patterns (Lusk et al ., , ; Guthery et al ., ; Perez et al ., ).…”

A Quantitative PCR Protocol for Detection of Oxyspirura petrowi in Northern Bobwhites (Colinus virginianus)

“…petrowi has been detected in high prevalences in northern bobwhites ( Colinus virginianus ) in western Texas [3], and lesser prairie chickens ( Tympanuchus pallidicinctus ) in southwestern Kansas [2,7]. Over the last century northern bobwhite and lesser prairie chicken populations have been going experiencing declines [8,9]. The cause of these decline has been largely attributed to habitat loss, habitat fragmentation, and climatic variables [10–12] with the role of disease only recently being investigated [3,7].…”