The Influence of Fine-Scale Habitat Features on Regional Variation in Population Performance of Alpine White-Tailed Ptarmigan

The condor

Bradley Fedy¹ 

关键词: Lagopus leucura;    grouse;    alpine;    resource selection;    habitat use;    White-tailed Ptarmigan;    fragmentation;    metapopulation;   

DOI  :  10.1525/cond.2011.100070

学科分类：动物科学

来源: Central Ornithology Publication Office

【 摘 要 】

Abstract. It is often assumed (explicitly or implicitly) that animals select habitat features to maximize fitness. However, there is often a mismatch between preferred habitats and indices of individual and population measures of performance. We examined the influence of fine-scale habitat selection on the overall population performance of the White-tailed Ptarmigan (Lagopus leucura), an alpine specialist, in two subdivided populations whose habitat patches are configured differently. The central region of Vancouver Island, Canada, has more continuous and larger habitat patches than the southern region. In 2003 and 2004, using paired logistic regression between used (n = 176) and available (n = 324) sites, we identified food availability, distance to standing water, and predator cover as preferred habitat components . We then quantified variation in population performance in the two regions in terms of sex ratio, age structure (n = 182 adults and yearlings), and reproductive success (n = 98 females) on th...

【 授权许可】

CC BY