Seasonal Micro-Habitat Relationships of Ruffed Grouse in Southeastern Idaho

Ruffed grouse-habitat preference in the central and southern Appalachians

“…Males typically establish centers of activity immediately around drumming logs during fall or early spring (Gullion, 1967). These activity centers typically contain the highest stem densities of any area used by grouse during the year (Stauffer and Peterson, 1985;Thompson et al, 1987). On our sites, stem density was highest in 1-10 years old forests.…”

“…Therefore, understanding habitat preference is critical to accurately predicting the future distribution and abundance of grouse in these landscapes. However, differential habitat use among male, female, adult, and juvenile birds complicates this effort (Stauffer and Peterson, 1985;Whitaker et al, 2006). Typically, assessment of habitat suitability ignores this heterogeneity and assumes similar limiting factors for all ages and sexes (Cade and Sousa, 1985;Hammil and Moran, 1986;Larson et al, 2003), which can lead to models with poor predictive power (Van Horne, 1986) and management actions that enhance habitat for one group while degrading it for another (Tirpak, 2005).…”

Ruffed Grouse Selection of Drumming Sites in the Black Hills National Forest

“…Thus, characteristics of the drumming structure (e.g., height, diameter, length) and the adjacent vegetation (e.g., stem density, basal area, visibility, overstory canopy cover) might be important in the selection of drumming sites. Studies investigating the selection of ruffed grouse drumming sites throughout the United States and Canada have found that selection is positively correlated with the amount of understory cover (Stoll et al, 1979;Palmer, 1963;Thompson et al, 1987;Stauffer and Peterson, 1985;Buhler and Anderson, 2001). However, not all studies agree that drumming structure characteristics affect ruffed grouse site selection of drumming sites.…”

A Comparison of Principal Components from Real and Random Data

“…The first consisted of 120 observations of seven habitat variables (percent of surrounding area in deciduous cover or open, percent tree and ground cover, canopy height, and number of trees [> 7 cm dbh] and small stems [ < 7 cm dbh]) recorded at 0.01-ha circular plots randomly located in mixed-shrub habitats in southeastern Idaho (Stauffer 1983 (Stauffer 1983). Subsets of these data with eight variables (percent of area in deciduous cover or open, tree canopy cover, canopy height, and number of small stems, all trees, deciduous trees, and coniferous trees) and five variables (tree canopy cover, canopy height, and number of small stems, deciduous trees, and coniferous trees) were also analyzed.…”