Abstract
In the West Gulf Coastal Plains (WGCP) northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) are declining faster than range-wide averages and such declines have been linked to the consequences of land management. Management for the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker (Picoides borealis) has benefitted northern bobwhite by restoring mature pine-grassland ecosystems in some areas of the region. However, at Felsenthal National Wildlife Refuge, Crossett, Arkansas, USA, the bobwhite population was not increasing despite the availability of seemingly suitable habitat from management for the endangered species. To understand factors that may be affecting bobwhite survival on Felsenthal National Wildlife Refuge we conducted a telemetry study and assessed summer survival, brood survival, and nest success from 1 April– 11 August in 2013 and 1 April– 15 August in 2014. We also calculated home-range sizes and measured microhabitat characteristics around nests. Summer survival rates were 71% (SE = 0.17) and 47% (SE = 0.14); while nest success was 47% (SE = 0.02) and 100% for 2013 and 2014, respectively. Between years, both 95% and 50% kernel home-ranges were not different (pooled, 63.92±6.07 ha and 14.94±1.75 ha); however minimum convex polygon home-range sizes were (113.8 ± 20.1 ha in 2013; and 393.1 ± 49.0 ha in 2014, P < 0.001). Only numerical differences in microhabitat vegetation characteristics of nest sites and non- nest sites were observed. We suggest management for red-cockaded woodpeckers supports bobwhite populations but only as a buffer against more severe declines. Since bobwhites are declining range-wide, we believe areas federally managed for red-cockaded woodpeckers will become increasingly more important for sustaining regional bobwhite population levels.
Highlights
In the West Gulf Coastal Plains (WGCP), an ecoregion covering parts of Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas and Oklahoma, bobwhites are experiencing declines steeper than range-wide averages [1,2]
We considered sample size limitations when choosing between the likelihood cross validation (LCV) and least squares cross validation smoothing parameter (LSCV) methods for deriving the smoothing parameter [56]
Researchers estimate that approximately 11% of the land area in the WGCP contained habitat suitable enough to support densities of at least 0.14 birds/ha [2], which is the recommended restoration goal of the National Bobwhite Conservation Initiative [96]
Summary
In the West Gulf Coastal Plains (WGCP), an ecoregion covering parts of Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas and Oklahoma, bobwhites are experiencing declines steeper than range-wide averages [1,2]. Northern bobwhite survival and fitness ownership patterns that are fragmented into small parcels [4]. In their 2011 report, the Northern Bobwhite Technical Committee [4] suggested the best opportunities for restoring bobwhite populations in the WGCP include pine and oak savanna restoration, increased use of prescribed fire, restoration of warm season grasses, and improved management of existing conservation lands. Lands under RCW management are important because management for RCWs is designed to restore mature pine-grassland ecosystems [5] and has been reported to benefit early successional species like RCW and northern bobwhite [8,9,10,11]. Several conservation areas across the WGCP, support populations of bobwhites [13,14,15]; not all of these populations are growing [15]
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