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Willow Ptarmigan Study Alaska Peninsula April-May 2012

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Willow Ptarmigan Study Alaska Peninsula April-May 2012 WILLOW PTARMIGAN STUDY Alaska Peninsula April - May 2012 Photo: USFWS, L. Julian Kevin J. Payne and Susan E. Savage December 2012 KEY WORDS: Alaska Peninsula; Alaska Peninsula NWR, Becharof NWR, Lagopus lagopus, line transect surveys, willow ptarmigan U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Alaska Peninsula / Becharof National Wildlife Refuge PO Box 277 King Salmon, AK 99613 i The mission of the National Wildlife Refuge System is to administer a national network of lands and waters for the conservation, management and where appropriate, restoration of the fish, wildlife, and plant resources and their habitats within the United States for the benefit of present and future generations of Americans. Suggested Citation: Payne, K.J. and S.E. Savage. 2012. Willow Ptarmigan Study - Alaska Peninsula, April - May 2012. USFWS, Alaska Peninsula/Becharof NWR Report, King Salmon, Alaska. ii CONTENTS CONTENTS .................................................................................................................................................... iii List of Figures ............................................................................................................................................... iv List of Tables ................................................................................................................................................ iv List of Appendices ......................................................................................................................................... v INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................. 1 STUDY AREA .................................................................................................................................................. 2 METHODS ...................................................................................................................................................... 2 Setting Up and Transect Conditions ......................................................................................................... 2 Conducting the Count ............................................................................................................................... 3 Summarizing Results ................................................................................................................................. 3 RESULTS ........................................................................................................................................................ 5 Survey Summary ....................................................................................................................................... 5 Ptarmigan Abundance............................................................................................................................... 5 Nests ......................................................................................................................................................... 8 Transect Vegetation Associations ............................................................................................................. 8 Incidental Birds and Mammals ............................................................................................................... 10 Project Costs ........................................................................................................................................... 13 DISCUSSION ................................................................................................................................................. 14 Willow Ptarmigan Density Estimates ...................................................................................................... 14 Willow Ptarmigan Habitat ....................................................................................................................... 18 Recommendations for This Survey ......................................................................................................... 18 Recommendations for Future Investigation ........................................................................................... 18 Incidental Observations .......................................................................................................................... 19 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................................................... 19 LITERATURE CITED ...................................................................................................................................... 20 iii List of Figures Figure 1. Survey locations, general topography, and land status for the area of the Willow Ptarmigan Study, Alaska Peninsula April - May 2012 ......................................................... 4 Figure 2. Percent cover of shrub communities and the number of male ptarmigan clusters per 1000 meters (within 350 m of the transect line), Willow Ptarmigan Study, Alaska Peninsula April - May 2012 ................................................................................................. 9 Figure 3 Detection probability versus distance for male willow ptarmigan clusters using distance sampling model with a Half-normal key function, distance truncated at 350m, 50m bins, Willow Ptarmigan Study, Alaska Peninsula April - May 2012 .......................... 16 List of Tables Table 1. Information about the locations visited and transects surveyed during the Willow Ptarmigan Study, Alaska Peninsula April - May 2012 ......................................................... 6 Table 2. Transect length and the number of male, female, and unknown sex ptarmigan detected in each transect, Willow Ptarmigan Study, Alaska Peninsula April - May 2012 .. 7 Table 3. Results of selected Distance Analysis models using observations of males (except first model*), Willow Ptarmigan Study, Alaska Peninsula April - May 2012 ............................. 8 Table 4. Percent cover of major land-cover types identified within a 350 m band on either side of each transect, Willow Ptarmigan Study, Alaska Peninsula April - May 2012 ................ 9 Table 5. Willow ptarmigan habitat use determined from field data and from the intersection of bird position and land cover classification, Willow Ptarmigan Study, Alaska Peninsula April - May 2012. ............................................................................................................... 10 Table 6. Incidental bird sightings at the 2012 willow ptarmigan survey sites, Willow Ptarmigan Study, Alaska Peninsula April - May 2012. ................................................................. 11 - 12 Table 7. Mammal occurrence recorded at each survey location during the Willow Ptarmigan Pilot Study, Alaska Peninsula April - May 2012. .............................................................. 13 Table 8. Approximate costs of the Willow Ptarmigan Pilot Study, Alaska Peninsula April - May 2012 .................................................................................................................................. 14 iv List of Appendices Appendix I. Scientific names of species recorded during the Willow Ptarmigan Pilot Study, Alaska Peninsula April - May 2012. ................................................................................... 23 Appendix II. Logistics and transect descriptions for locations visited during the Willow Ptarmigan Pilot Study, Alaska Peninsula April - May 2012 .............................................. 24 Appendix III. Steps used to map willow ptarmigan detections, Alaska Peninsula 2012 Willow Ptarmigan Surveys ............................................................................................................ 32 Appendix IV. .Results details of Distance Analysis using observations of males only, Half-normal key function, distance truncated at 350m, 50m bins ...................................................... 33 v INTRODUCTION Willow ptarmigan (Lagopus lagopus; see Appendix I for scientific names of birds observed during this study) are a species of management interest because they are heavily used by both sport and subsistence harvesters; adults, chicks and eggs are important prey items for several species of raptorial birds (Hik et al. 1986, Hannon et al. 2003), foxes, wolves, and potentially lynx (Klausen et al. 2010, O’Reilly and Hannon 1989). They are a sentinel species for climate change as they are heavily dependent on subarctic, arctic, and alpine habitats (see conference abstracts: Gyrfalcons and Ptarmigan in a Changing World 2011, The Peregrine Fund). Because they are a resident species in areas with low point-source pollution they may be used as indicators of any contaminants that may be transmitted to the subarctic environment from distant sources (Pedersen et al. 2006). Although the conspecifics red grouse (L. l. scoticus) and willow grouse (L. l. lagopus) have been extensively studied in Europe (see Hannon et al. 1998) and some work has been done in North America (see review in Hannon et al. 1998), relatively little work has been done in Alaska (Weeden 1965, West and Meng 1966, West et al. 1970). Taylor (1999 and 2000) has led the only recent population studies in Alaska in Game Management Unit 13. Currently, studies focused on the impacts of ptarmigan on willows and other shrubs and the impact of climate change are underway in Northern Alaska (Tape et al. 2010, Christie et al.
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