Tian et al. Avian Res (2018) 9:32 https://doi.org/10.1186/s40657-018-0124-7 Avian Research REVIEW Open Access Research advances of Galliformes since 1990 and future prospects Shan Tian1, Jiliang Xu1*, Jianqiang Li1, Zhengwang Zhang2 and Yong Wang3,4 Abstract Background: Galliformes are widely distributed throughout the world and economically important to humans as domesticated animals or gamebirds. They are at a unique position for advancing knowledge and techniques of wildlife conservation as the barometer of the status of applied ecology. Populations of many galliform species have declined mainly due to habitat loss and over-hunting. An assessment of knowledge of Galliformes could help to pro- vide guidelines for future research and conservation strategies. Methods: Using the Web of Science search engine, we conducted a literature review of galliform-related articles published from 1990 to 2016. We used the “research area” option to flter articles focused on the zoology, environmen- tal sciences ecology, biodiversity conservation, forestry, behavioral sciences, reproductive biology, biochemistry and molecular biology, cell biology, genetics and heredity, evolutionary biology, physiology and developmental biology. We then checked duplication based on the title, abstract and full text. In addition, we examined the reference lists of selected studies to include the publications that were missed by above searching. Results: We retained 1874 articles related to the Galliformes from the initial 243,128 publications that were found. About 91.4% focused on one or two species, and 85.0% were conducted within a short duration, typically 1–2 years. The majority of the articles concentrated on macroscopic ecology (55.5%), mainly focusing on habitat selection or habitat use. With recent advances of molecular biology, the studies of taxonomy and phylogenetics rose quickly in last two decades. The study of physiology and biochemistry was no longer limited to simple description but expanded to the mechanisms of phenotype and micro-evolutionary potential. An additional area receiving increasing attention is the conservation of Galliformes, with the assessment of the conservation status and conservation management efectiveness of Galliformes (e.g. species diversity and genetic diversity) becoming the focus. Conclusions: The studies on Galliformes have made great achievements since 1990, but there are still gaps, particu- larly in macroscopic ecology, molecular genetics, and conservation. There is an urgent need to enhance long-term monitoring and analysis of population dynamics, and applying diferent disciplines to galliform conservation. Moreo- ver, life history information of many galliform species is still lacking, which has hindered conservation eforts and efectiveness. In addition, multidiscipline studies and new technologies are not common for galliform studies, and should be encouraged. Keywords: Galliformes, Web of Science, Research advances, Future prospects *Correspondence: [email protected] 1 School of Nature Reserve, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China Full list of author information is available at the end of the article © The Author(s) 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creat​iveco​mmons​.org/licen​ses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creat​iveco​mmons​.org/ publi​cdoma​in/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated. Tian et al. Avian Res (2018) 9:32 Page 2 of 13 Background Methods Te Galliformes is one of the most important avian We conducted a search of the literatures on Galliformes groups throughout the world (del Hoyo et al. 1994; published during 1990‒2016. Te search engine, Web Zhang et al. 2003), and have played a benefcial role to of Science, was used for collecting articles with the key humans as they are widely domesticated and hunted for words “Galliformes”, “Megapodiidae”, “Cracidae”, “Melea- food, plumage and trading (Fuller and Garson 2000). grididae”, “Tetraonidae”, “Odontophoridae”, “Numididae”, Galliformes have cultural importance as seen in ancient “Phasianidae”, and the names of each genus of Galli- literatures and artworks (e.g. the characters of “pheas- formes. Te genera of Galliformes (Table 1) were decided ant” and “chicken” appeared in oracle inscriptions in according to the IOC World Bird List (Gill and Donsker the Shang Dynasty of China) (Peters et al. 2016). In 2016) and eBird/Clements Checklist (Clements et al. addition, many galliform specimens were captured by 2016). some naturalists and explorers from the start of nine- We used the “Refne Results” option in Web of Sci- teenth century to the 1960s. Hence, it contributed ence to flter articles and retained the articles written partly to the accelerated decline of some Galliformes in English. Ten we used the “research area” option to because of the great interest in the gorgeous looking flter the articles focused on the zoology, environmen- and economic value of wild animals (Hennache 2009). tal sciences ecology, biodiversity conservation, forestry, Besides hunting, many species of Galliformes have also behavioral sciences, reproductive biology, biochemistry been threatened by habitat loss (Lawes et al. 2006; Zhou et al. 2015a), human disturbance (Storch 2013), and urbanization (McNew and Sandercock 2013). In par- ticular, the population of many species of Galliformes Table 1 The genera of the Galliformes used as keywords for searching declined dramatically (Kurhinen et al. 2009; Johnson et al. 2014), such as the Hazel Grouse (Bonasa bonasia), No. Genus No. Genus No. Genus Reeves’s Pheasant (Syrmaticus reevesii) and Tibetan 1 Aburria 30 Eulipoa 59 Peliperdix Eared-pheasant (Crossoptilon harmani) (Lu and Zheng 2 Acentrortyx 31 Excalfactoria 60 Penelope 2007; Rhim 2010; Zhou et al. 2015a). 3 Acryllium 32 Falcipennis 61 Penelopina Galliformes have been in a unique position to 4 Aepypodius 33 Francolinus 62 Perdicula advance wildlife conservation and research (McGowan 5 Afropavo 34 Galloperdix 63 Perdix and Garson 1995; McGowan et al. 2012) because of 6 Agelastes 35 Gallus 64 Phasianus their close relationship with human and some species 7 Alectoris 36 Guttera 65 Philortyx being model animals in animal/avian studies (del Hoyo 8 Alectura 37 Haematortyx 66 Polyplectron et al. 1994; Fuller and Garson 2000). Since 1975, the 9 Ammoperdix 38 Ithaginis 67 Pternistis conservation and research of Galliformes have been 10 Anurophasis 39 Lagopus 68 Ptilopachus greatly promoted after the establishment of the World 11 Arborophila 40 Leipoa 69 Pucrasia Pheasant Association (WPA) (Tang 1990; Moss et al. 12 Argusianus 41 Lerwa 70 Rheinardia 2010). During this time, many techniques (e.g. DNA 13 Bambusicola 42 Lophophorus 71 Rhizothera testing and artifcial insemination) were also devel- 14 Bonasa 43 Lophura 72 Rhynchortyx oped and applied in the research of Galliformes (Gee 15 Callipepla 44 Lyrurus 73 Rollulus 1983; Hennache 2009). A brief summary on galliform 16 Caloperdix 45 Macrocephalon 74 Scleroptila research before 1989 was presented in the 4th Interna- 17 Canachites 46 Margaroperdix 75 Synoicus tional Symposium on Galliformes in 1989 (Tang 1990). 18 Catreus 47 Megapodius 76 Syrmaticus Although there are some recent reviews of Galliformes 19 Centrocercus 48 Melanoperdix 77 Talegalla with focuses on either one topic (e.g. taxonomy or phy- 20 Chamaepetes 49 Meleagris 78 Tetrao logeny) (Crowe et al. 2006; Zheng 2015) or targeted a 21 Chrysolophus 50 Nothocrax 79 Tetraogallus single species (Moss et al. 2010), the global research 22 Colinus 51 Numida 80 Tetraophasis status and study areas of Galliformes were not well 23 Coturnix 52 Odontophorus 81 Tetrastes documented. 24 Crax 53 Ophrysia 82 Tragopan Here, we reviewed the literatures on Galliformes pub- lished since 1990, and aimed to (1) review the current 25 Crossoptilon 54 Oreophasis 83 Tropicoperdix study areas on Galliformes, (2) analyze the potential 26 Cyrtonyx 55 Oreortyx 84 Tympanuchus implications of defciency in the knowledge for a com- 27 Dactylortyx 56 Ortalis 85 Xenoperdix plete understanding of Galliformes, and (3) provide sug- 28 Dendragapus 57 Pauxi gestions for future research on Galliformes. 29 Dendrortyx 58 Pavo Tian et al. Avian Res (2018) 9:32 Page 3 of 13 and molecular biology, cell biology, genetics and hered- and used the country of the frst author to report the ori- ity, evolutionary biology, physiology, and developmental gin of study. We divided authors’ countries into seven biology. Topics focusing on agriculture, psychology, virol- regions: Asia (China, Japan, Korea, etc.), Europe (Finland, ogy, medical science, surgery, energy fuels, history, social Spain, United Kingdom, etc.), Africa (South Africa, Nige- issues, business economics and food science that was not ria, etc.), Latin America (Brazil, Mexico, etc.), Middle related to our topic were removed. Finally, all the articles East (Iran, Turkey, etc.), United States of America/Can- retained were checked manually based on their titles, ada, Australia/New Zealand (Marzluf 2016). Meanwhile, abstracts and full texts to reduce duplications and were the papers were grouped into six subject areas based on confrmed the