The experience of reintroduction of western capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus) and hazel grouse (Tetrastes bonasia) in the Novosibirsk Region, Russia

Forest structure following natural disturbances and early succession provides habitat for two avian flagship species, capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus) and hazel grouse (Tetrastes bonasia)

Sympatric forest grouse in intensively managed conifer-dominated forests of the southern boreal zone in Sweden occupied different forest successional stages. Black grouse (Tetrao tetrix) selected forest stands 0 – 20 years old, hazel grouse (Bonasa bonasia) selected those 20 – 50 years old, and capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus) selected those ≥90 years old. Moreover, hazel grouse also selected stands with 1 – 10% deciduous trees, whereas capercaillie selected stands with no deciduous trees. The relative numbers of each grouse species were similar in two areas of intensively managed industrial forest, but differed in an area where forestry was less intensive and where forests had old-growth characteristics, i.e., they were old and multi-layered. Black grouse dominated in the intensively managed areas, whereas hazel grouse dominated in the less intensively managed area. We suggest that under natural conditions, black grouse inhabited the early-successional stages of forest following burns, hazel grouse inhabited the next, denser, successional stage and also old-growth spruce-dominated forests in fire refugia, and capercaillie inhabited stands of open, old, pine-dominated forest maintained by forest fire. The black grouse appears to be preadapted to the modern system of clearcut forest management. However, this system is clearly detrimental to the hazel grouse and capercaillie. To maintain all three species in a managed landscape, forest managers must strive to mimic more closely the natural variation in types and sizes of forest stands.

An assessment of the species structure and size of small game prey for the spring and autumn-winter hunting seasons on the territory of the Kirov region was made, using a questionnaire survey based on the analysis of the prey of 3220 individuals. Small game includes such species (groups of species) as mallard, Northern shoveler, pintail, teal-whistle, teal cracker (Garganey), Eurasian wigeon, diving ducks, white-fronted goose, bean goose, wood grouse, black grouse, hazel grouse, woodcock, double snipe, snipe, corncrake, wood pigeon, turtle doves, white hare, European hare. The average index of production by species and groups of species per 1 hunter, who went hunting in the spring and autumn-winter seasons, has been calculated. The size of game catch during the spring hunting was 135.8 thousand individuals, in the autumn-winter hunting season -470 thousand individuals. The summation of the results obtained made it possible to estimate the volume of the total (annual) catch of small game in the amount of almost 606 thousand individuals. The main species are the mallard, hazel grouse, white hare, woodcock, black grouse, Eurasian wigeon, teal cracker (Garganey), Northern shoveler, wood grouse, white-fronted goose, bean goose, teal-whistle, their total share is 94.88% of the annual production of small game. The first five species can be assessed as the most massive in production (or popular), the share of each of them is over 10% of the total production, and in total they amount to 70.4%.

This study investigated the occurrence of 25 forest bird species in relation to stand and landscape habitat composition in managed boreal forests in central Sweden. The number of species in 10 km transects was positively correlated to the proportions of forest > 40 yrs and Mixed forest >40 yrs, as well as the number of fragments of the latter, while negatively correlated to the proportions of clear-cuts and young forest. Transects with >60% older forest including > 6% mixed habitats showed the highest number of bird species and individuals. The positive effect on species numbers of mixed forest was stronger in the study area where deciduous rich habitats were generally less abundant. Bird species richness in points of similar habitat was negatively correlated to the degree of fragmentation of the surrounding older forest. However, in a species-by-species analysis at the transect level no effects of fragmentation were found. The number of bird species at points was positively influenced by the increase from 0 to 5% deciduous trees, while no effect of higher deciduous site proportions showed. The hazel grouse (Bonasa bonasia) appeared as a significant indicator of high bird diversity at the transect (landscape) level, by all methods used. However, the conclusion was reached that forests where the hazel grouse, blue tit (Parus caeruleus), treecreeper (Certia familiaris), jay (Garrulus glandarius) and capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus) are present are most likely to hold the potential for high bird species richness.

Structural complexity in managed and strictly protected mountain forests: Effects on the habitat suitability for indicator bird species

Winter habitat selection by two sympatric forest grouse in western Switzerland: implications for conservation

Introduction: The Phasianidae family belongs to Galliformes, which is basal to other Neognathae. Despite the availability of chromosome-level genome assemblies for many Phasianidae species, the karyotypes for some species remain poorly investigated. Methods: In this study, we described karyotypes using classical, differential, and molecular cytogenetic (BAC-FISH) methods. To compare chromosome-level genomes of 10 Galliformes species dot-plot analysis was performed. Results: We provide the first comprehensive description of the karyotype of two Tetraonini species: the western capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus, 2n = 78) and the hazel grouse (Tetrastes bonasia, 2n = 80). We mapped chicken BAC clones (CHORI-261) with known coordinates to the chromosomes of the western capercaillie and Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica, 2n = 78) to anchor physical chromosomes to chromosome-level assemblies. Finally, we performed dot-plot comparisons of ten available chromosome-level genome assemblies to identify inter- and intrachromosomal rearrangements in Galliformes. Conclusion: We show that the centromeric fusion of orthologs of GGA6 and GGA8 is shared by all analyzed species in the tetraonid clade: T. urogallus, T. bonasia, and Lagopus muta. We identified linage-specific intrachromosomal rearrangements on chromosomes orthologs to chicken Z (Phasianinae and Tetraoninae), 7 and 12 (Phasianinae and Tetraoninae), 5 and 13 (Perdicinae), 22 (Alectoris). Our study shows that analysis of the genomes of several closely related species allows us to identify chromosomal rearrangements characteristic of individual evolutionary lines.

To account for ecological objectives in forest management planning, potential habitats need to be mapped, characterized and evaluated for utility in alternative management practices. Airborne laser scanning (ALS) is increasingly used to derive predictive maps of habitat quality. Unlike ecologically driven approaches that require spatially and temporally co-located training data of the specific species, we tested whether indicative information on the habitat potential could be obtained by means of an unsupervised classification of ALS data. Based on a literature review, altogether five ALS features quantifying vegetation height, cover and diversity were expected to capture the essential variation in the habitat requirements of western capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus L.) and hazel grouse (Tetrastes bonasia L.), which are the most important game birds occurring in the studied area. The features were extracted from sparse density, leaf-off ALS data at a resolution of 256 m2 and partitioned using an unsupervised k-means algorithm. By analysing the persistence of the cluster ensemble formed by the partitioning, altogether 158 plots in 16 structural classes were assigned for field measurements to determine which real-world forest phenomena affected the clustering. The clustering was found to stratify the area mainly in terms of size-related attributes such as timber volume and basal area. The understorey, shrub and herb layers had less correspondence with the clustering, indicating that an unsupervised classification is not directly suitable for habitat mapping. The result was improved using empirical threshold values for the ALS features determined according to the plots labelled as the most potential habitats in the field measurements. This semi-supervised classification of the data indicated 4 per cent of the total forest area as suitable for the specific species, which appears a reasonable estimate of the core area of the habitats considered. Overall, the partitioning formed aggregated, stand-like spatial patterns, even though the neighbourhoods of the individual 256 m2 cells were not considered at all. The result could be further refined by spatial optimization to produce indicative maps for forest management planning with ALS as the sole data source.

Natal dispersal of hazel grouse Bonasa bonasia in relation to habitat in a temperate forest of South Korea

Home range and habitat selection of hazel grouse Bonasa bonasia in a temperate forest of South Korea

Population dynamics for voles (Cricetidae), Tengmalm's owl (Aegolius funereus (L.)), red fox (Vulpes vulpes (L.)) willow grouse (Lagopus lagopus (L.)), black grouse (Lyrurus tetrix (L.)), capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus L.), hazel hen (Tetrastes bonasia (L.)), mountain hare (Lepus timidus L.) and tularemia (Francisella tularensis (McCoy & Chapin)) and game bird recruitment were studied by index methods in northern Sweden. In addition contemporary temperature records and spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) and pine (Pinus silvestris L.) cone crops (as indices for plant production) and the occurrence of forest damage, caused by voles eating bark, were studied.During 1970-80 two synchronous 4-year cycles were observed for voles, predators (Tengmalm's owl and red fox) and their alternative prey species (grouse and mountain hare). In grouse the change of numbers was correlated with that of recruitment. Autumn vole numbers peaked about a year before the other species and extensive forest damage occurred at winter peak densities of voles. These population fluctuations are consistent with a predator-prey model for their regulation. In short the model suggests that vole-food plant interactions trigger the cycle of voles, that voles generate the cycle of predators and that these in turn synchronize alternative prey populations to the others at vole declines.For voles, grouse and red fox the amplitude was higher in the first cycle compared to the second one whilst the opposite was true for the mountain hare. Although temperature and cone crops showed large interannual variations they still implied that herbivore food conditions were 'better' during the former cycle. Hence, the reduction of the amplitude of the vole cycle may be explained by inter-cyclic differences in plant food conditions, implying food shortage (as indicated by bark-eating) at different population levels. The similar decrease of grouse and red fox populations may also be explained by deteriorated food conditions and/or for the fox by an outbreak of sarcoptic mange (Sarcoptes scabiae var. vulpes). The increased amplitude of the mountain hare cycle was part of a long-term rise in numbers after a tularemia epidemic in 1967. This is interpreted as a recovery, probably towards the generally higher pre-epidemic population level.

The epidemiological and historical aspects of some important and representative wildlife diseases from Scandinavia are discussed. In noninfectious diseases, examples include cataract in moose (Alces alces), atherosclerosis in hybrid hares (Lepus timidus X L. europaeus), and ethmoid tumors in moose. The epizootiological and historical aspects of the recent epizootics of myxomatosis in European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) and rabies and sarcoptic mange in red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) are reviewed. The decline and subsequent increase in population abundances of tetraonids including the capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus), black grouse (Lyrurus tetrix), and hazel hen (Tetrastes bonasia) are discussed, and an hypothesis on predation by foxes is presented as a possible explanation for these population fluctuations. The potential impact of environmental pollution on wildlife populations is emphasized with reference to mercury in wildlife from Sweden and the possible effects of cadmium and selenium resulting from acidification. A bibliography of important references is presented pertaining to these and other diseases of wildlife from Scandinavia.

Distribution of grouse and their predators in peatland forest landscapes: A case for ecological integrity

Remotely sensed forest structural complexity predicts multi species occurrence at the landscape scale

An epizootic of sarcoptic mange was prevalent among Scandinavian red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) during the late 1970s and 1980s. By substantially reducing the population density of foxes, the epizootic created a natural experiment on the importance of fox predation for prey density. The fox population started to recover during the late 1980s. We monitored the populations of the fox and its prey [voles (Cricetidae), mountain hare (Lepus timidus), European hare (L. europaeus), Capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus), Black Grouse (T. tetrix), Hazel Grouse (Bonasa bonasia), and roe deer (Capreolus capreolus)] throughout the event, on a local (101—102 km2), a regional (104 km2), and a national scale. Methods included den counts, snap—trapping, pellet/dropping counts, counts of displaying birds, young/adult ratio from incidental observations of deer, regional questionnaires, and national hunting records. The study revealed red fox predation as a crucial factor in limiting the numbers of hares and grouse as well as fawns per doe of roe deer in autumn, and in conveying the 3—4 yr cyclic fluctuation pattern of voles to small game. The classical view, that predators take but a doomed surplus of their prey, was false for these species in Scandinavia.