Summertime resource selection and reproductive effects on survival of Ruffed Grouse

Abstract

ABSTRACT Theory suggests that animals should select resources on the basis of perceived fitness benefits, and avoid other available resources that may result in fitness costs. However, resource selection is both a scale- and a life-stage-specific process, in which the importance of different resources may vary among spatial scales of selection and phases of species' life cycles. We investigated multilevel resource selection and summer survival of Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa umbellus) in Maine, USA, to understand life-stage-specific resource selection and the cost of brood rearing. At the landscape level, male Ruffed Grouse selected areas with greater densities of woody stems taller than breast height, while females avoided these areas and selected areas with greater ground coverage by Rubus. Males further selected areas with greater stem densities at the local level, while females again avoided areas with greater stem densities and selected locally available areas with greater ground coverage by Rubus. Weekly s...