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Natural Resources and Conservation

University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Survival

Articles 1 - 11 of 11

Full-Text Articles in Natural Resources Management and Policy

Climate Impacts On North American Quail, Shelby M. Perry, Erin Moser, Jeffrey G. Whitt, Kelly S. Reyna Sep 2022

Climate Impacts On North American Quail, Shelby M. Perry, Erin Moser, Jeffrey G. Whitt, Kelly S. Reyna

National Quail Symposium Proceedings

North America’s quail population trends are often linked to regional climate. Extreme climate events such as severe drought, hard freezes, or excessive winter precipitation can reduce quail populations by as much as 84%. Above-average spring and summer temperatures coincident with drought can reduce the laying season for quail by ≤60 days. Exposure of quail eggs to high temperatures during preincubation can initiate and alter embryonic development. Here, we review the impacts of extreme climate events and a changing climate on the survival, reproduction, and population trends of 6 North American quail species: California quail (Callipepla californica), Gambel’s quail …


Northern Bobwhite Response To Vegetation Management And Recovery In South Texas, Rachel A. Smith, Leonard A. Brennan, Humberto L. Perotto-Baldivieso, Fidel Hernández Sep 2022

Northern Bobwhite Response To Vegetation Management And Recovery In South Texas, Rachel A. Smith, Leonard A. Brennan, Humberto L. Perotto-Baldivieso, Fidel Hernández

National Quail Symposium Proceedings

The northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus; hereafter, bobwhite) requires habitat structure and composition with grass cover for nesting, predator avoidance, and thermal refuge and forb cover for feeding on phytophagous arthropods and seeds. During the past 2 decades, many land managers with interest in promoting quail hunting opportunities have reduced or completely eliminated livestock across South Texas, USA, rangelands. Resting the land from grazing allows vegetation—especially grasses and forbs—to recover and thus provide nesting and foraging habitat for bobwhite and other birds. How bobwhite respond to postgrazing vegetation recovery is of keen interest to rangeland quail managers, but this …


Applying Multistate Mark-Recapture Models With State Uncertainty To Estimate Survival And Reproduction Of Quail, Rebekah E. Ruzicka Sep 2022

Applying Multistate Mark-Recapture Models With State Uncertainty To Estimate Survival And Reproduction Of Quail, Rebekah E. Ruzicka

National Quail Symposium Proceedings

Obtaining unbiased estimates of vital rates and understanding how vital rates change in response to environmental stimuli are a continual pursuit of ecologists. Multistate mark-recapture (MSMR) models provide a flexible framework for evaluating dependent vital rates in a comprehensive analysis. For example, a bird must remain alive during breeding season to initiate a nest (i.e., transition from a nonbreeding to a breeding state); thus, the probability that a bird initiates a nest is dependent on the probability that it is still alive. Traditional MSMR models allow only for the estimation of survival, detection, and state transition parameters and depend on …


Evaluating Release Strategy For Translocated Northern Bobwhites In Cross Timbers Ecoregion Of Texas: A Pilot Study, Rebekah E. Ruzicka, Dale Rollins, Ty Bartoskewitz Sep 2022

Evaluating Release Strategy For Translocated Northern Bobwhites In Cross Timbers Ecoregion Of Texas: A Pilot Study, Rebekah E. Ruzicka, Dale Rollins, Ty Bartoskewitz

National Quail Symposium Proceedings

Northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) population decline is largely driven by the loss, fragmentation, and degradation of grassland habitats. Translocation is used to reintroduce or augment populations in fragmented landscapes where natural dispersal is inhibited. Northern bobwhites have been successfully translocated in the southeastern portion of their range, but outcomes of translocations in western ranges have been mixed. Our objective was to conduct a pilot study to test the feasibility of translocating northern bobwhites to a restored, but isolated, habitat in the Cross Timbers ecoregion of Texas, USA and to evaluate the influence of release strategy for improving northern …


Translocating Wild California Valley Quail To Texas: An Evaluation Of Survival, Dispersal, Tracking Efficacy, And Roost Preference, Garrett Rushing, Jordan T. Conley, Jeffrey G. Whitt, Kelly S. Reyna Sep 2022

Translocating Wild California Valley Quail To Texas: An Evaluation Of Survival, Dispersal, Tracking Efficacy, And Roost Preference, Garrett Rushing, Jordan T. Conley, Jeffrey G. Whitt, Kelly S. Reyna

National Quail Symposium Proceedings

Quail translocations are becoming increasingly popular in regions of suitable habitat where local quail populations have declined. In northeastern Texas, USA, northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) populations have drastically declined for over a century and have reached undetectable levels in many areas. As a result, the number of quail hunters and quail conservation funding have also declined. California valley quail (Callipepla californica; hereafter, valley quail) have increased across their range and have been translocated to many states and countries. Thus, the goal of this study was to determine whether translocating wild valley quail to Texas was feasible, …


Survival, Movement, And Habitat Use Of Translocated Northern Bobwhite In Texas, Ricardo Cagigal Perez, Nova J. Silvy, Brian L. Pierce, Therese A. Catanach Sep 2022

Survival, Movement, And Habitat Use Of Translocated Northern Bobwhite In Texas, Ricardo Cagigal Perez, Nova J. Silvy, Brian L. Pierce, Therese A. Catanach

National Quail Symposium Proceedings

For decades there has been a noticeable decline in northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus; hereafter, bobwhite) populations. Few studies have assessed the survival of translocated bobwhite. We evaluated the effectiveness of reintroduction of bobwhite into the Texas (USA) Parks and Wildlife Department’s Gus Engeling Wildlife Management Area (GEWMA), where they had been extirpated but now have suitable habitat. Before reintroduction, GEWMA was surveyed (spring call counts) to make sure no bobwhite were present. Forty-six bobwhite were trapped from March–April 2019 in South Texas, banded, bled, radio-tagged, transported to GEWMA, and released. In addition, 17 bobwhite were trapped banded, bled, …


Effect Of Food Distribution On Northern Bobwhite Resource Selection, Rachel R. Gardner, John Maerz, Theron M. Terhune Ii, Ira B. Parnell, James A. Martin Sep 2022

Effect Of Food Distribution On Northern Bobwhite Resource Selection, Rachel R. Gardner, John Maerz, Theron M. Terhune Ii, Ira B. Parnell, James A. Martin

National Quail Symposium Proceedings

Supplemental feeding is a common management tactic used to increase survival and reproduction of northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus; hereafter, bobwhite). Different supplemental feeding methods alter the distribution of resources across a landscape in unique ways and may influence the space use and resource selection of target species differently. Predators may concentrate their movements near fed sites, and different distributions of supplemental feed may encourage bobwhite to concentrate their movements closer to feed than other areas, thereby altering the potential for predator-prey interactions near feed. We used radio-tracked locations and movements in areas with stationary feeders (“feeder fed”) and …


Measuring Multiple Demographic Rates In Two Populations Of Northern Bobwhite, Alexander L. Jackson, D. Clay Sisson, Justin A. Rectenwald Sep 2022

Measuring Multiple Demographic Rates In Two Populations Of Northern Bobwhite, Alexander L. Jackson, D. Clay Sisson, Justin A. Rectenwald

National Quail Symposium Proceedings

Demographic rates of northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus; hereafter, bobwhite) may vary spatially and temporally, and understanding the significance of these individual rates to population performance is critically important to bobwhite management. We present descriptive evidence from 2 populations that were simultaneously monitored from 2015–2020 that suggests different demographic rates can be more important to population performance than other demographic rates within the same region. Our objective was to understand the relative importance of various demographic rates to population performance in separate and seemingly stable populations. We monitored bobwhite seasonal survival and reproductive demographics on 2,475 bobwhites via radio-telemetry …


Diurnal Occurrence Of Great-Horned Owls On Northern Bobwhite Hunting Properties In Southwest Georgia, Justin A. Rectenwald, Philip M. Coppola, Theron M. Terhune Ii, D. Clay Sisson, James A. Martin Sep 2022

Diurnal Occurrence Of Great-Horned Owls On Northern Bobwhite Hunting Properties In Southwest Georgia, Justin A. Rectenwald, Philip M. Coppola, Theron M. Terhune Ii, D. Clay Sisson, James A. Martin

National Quail Symposium Proceedings

Understanding interactions between prey species and their predators is essential to discerning the ecology and management fundamentals of a species. Great-horned owls (Bubo virginianus) have long been considered an opportunistic predator of northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus; hereafter, bobwhite) and recent studies have demonstrated that bobwhite survival is reduced at higher great-horned owl densities (Rectenwald et al. 2021). Managers on quail properties often mechanically remove live oak (Quercus virginiana) hammocks as part of larger predation management plans to reduce the amount of suitable predator habitat. While scattered live oaks are typically left for aesthetic purposes, …


Breeding Season Survival And Reproduction In A High-Density Bobwhite Population: A Case Study, William E. Palmer, Shane D. Wellendorf, D. Clay Sisson Sep 2022

Breeding Season Survival And Reproduction In A High-Density Bobwhite Population: A Case Study, William E. Palmer, Shane D. Wellendorf, D. Clay Sisson

National Quail Symposium Proceedings

The demographic behavior of northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus; hereafter, bobwhite) populations at high densities could provide important insights into why bobwhite populations fluctuate. Therefore, we documented breeding season demographics of bobwhites to understand how prebreeding density influenced reproductive effort and postbreeding density on an intensively managed property in Leon County, Florida, USA, 2002–2006. We estimated prebreeding bobwhite density each April using multi-observer strip-transects and postbreeding densities each November using covey call grid surveys. We radio-tagged 217 bobwhites in March and located bobwhites at least 5 days/week, 15 April–30 September to determine vital rates. Prebreeding density ranged from 1.5–8.6 …


Northern Bobwhite Demographics And Resource Selection Are Explained By Prescribed Fire With Grazing And Woody Cover In Southwest Missouri, Frank R. Thompson Iii, Mitch D. Weegman, Emily A. Sinnott, Alisha R. Mosloff, Kyle R. Hedges, Frank L. Loncarich, Thomas R. Thompson, Nicholas C. Burrell, Stasia Whitaker, David E. Hoover Sep 2022

Northern Bobwhite Demographics And Resource Selection Are Explained By Prescribed Fire With Grazing And Woody Cover In Southwest Missouri, Frank R. Thompson Iii, Mitch D. Weegman, Emily A. Sinnott, Alisha R. Mosloff, Kyle R. Hedges, Frank L. Loncarich, Thomas R. Thompson, Nicholas C. Burrell, Stasia Whitaker, David E. Hoover

National Quail Symposium Proceedings

Understanding the effects of landscape management on northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus; hereafter, bobwhite) population growth requires information about seasonal- and stage-specific demographic parameters linked across the annual cycle. We review results to date from 3 years (2016–2018) of an intensive field study evaluating drivers of bobwhite population dynamics and resource selection during the breeding and non-breeding season in southwest Missouri, USA using data from adult and juvenile bobwhite fitted with radio-transmitters. Land cover of our study sites ranged from large blocks of native grasslands maintained with prescribed fire and grazing to more traditional management resulting in small patches …