Brood Habitat Selection of Chinese Grouse (Tetrastes sewerzowi) at Lianhuashan, Gansu, China Author(s): Zhao Jin-Ming, Fang Yun, Lou Ying-Qiang, and Sun Yue-Hua Source: The Wilson Journal of Ornithology, 127(2):310-318. Published By: The Wilson Ornithological Society DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1676/wils-127-02-310-318.1 URL: http://www.bioone.org/doi/full/10.1676/wils-127-02-310-318.1 BioOne (www.bioone.org) is a nonprofit, online aggregation of core research in the biological, ecological, and environmental sciences. BioOne provides a sustainable online platform for over 170 journals and books published by nonprofit societies, associations, museums, institutions, and presses. Your use of this PDF, the BioOne Web site, and all posted and associated content indicates your acceptance of BioOne’s Terms of Use, available at www.bioone.org/page/ terms_of_use. Usage of BioOne content is strictly limited to personal, educational, and non-commercial use. Commercial inquiries or rights and permissions requests should be directed to the individual publisher as copyright holder. BioOne sees sustainable scholarly publishing as an inherently collaborative enterprise connecting authors, nonprofit publishers, academic institutions, research libraries, and research funders in the common goal of maximizing access to critical research. 310 THE WILSON JOURNAL OF ORNITHOLOGY N Vol. 127, No. 2, June 2015 The Wilson Journal of Ornithology 127(2):310–318, 2015 Brood Habitat Selection of Chinese Grouse (Tetrastes sewerzowi) at Lianhuashan, Gansu, China Zhao Jin-Ming,1,2 Fang Yun,1 Lou Ying-Qiang,1,2 and Sun Yue-Hua1,3 ABSTRACT.—We studied habitat selection in Chi- important bearing on brood success (e.g., Haulton nese Grouse (Tetrastes sewerzowi) hens with dependent 1999, Giroux et al. 2007). broods at Lianhuashan, Gansu, China in 2010–2012. We Such changes could be especially critical for the divided the dependent brood period into four stages near threatened (International Union for Conser- (weeks 1–2, 3–4, 5–8, and beyond 8 weeks post hatching) and compared used with available habitat, and found that vation of Nature 2014) Chinese Grouse (Tetrastes hens with broods chose sites with significantly less sewerzowi) because of their high chick mortality canopy cover (0.28 6 0.01 vs 0.49 6 0.02), greater during the short growing season in high-elevation willow cover (0.31 6 0.02 vs 0.14 6 0.01), and greater habitat in central China (Sun 2000; Sun et al. 2003, herb height (21.36 6 1.05 vs 14.43 6 0.59). Broods 2006). In general, Chinese Grouse’ range corre- used a variety of vegetation types at different stages of sponds to the distribution of montane coniferous chick development. They used more early successional forests between 2400–4300 meters asl, and the deciduous forests and shrubs during stages 2 and 3 (weeks 3–8, Kruskal-Wallis Test: x2 5 13.918, df 5 3, presence of willows (Salix spp.) is important P 5 0.003). Sites with more invertebrates were used in because willow leaves and buds are the main foods Stage 1 compared to available sites (54.5 6 7.2 vs for the grouse (Sun 2000, Wang et al. 2010). In 36.4 6 4.4), but not in Stage 2. Compared to sites used spring, females nest in male-established territories during stage 4, chicks in stage 2–3 used sites of earlier where there are many willow trees in mixed successional stages, greater herbaceous vegetation coniferous-deciduous forests, but little is known height, and closer proximity to forest edges, whereas about the movements and habitat needs of hens sites utilized during stage 1–3 showed visits in lower willow cover. Received 4 May 2014. Accepted 11 with broods after hatching. We hypothesized that December 2014. cover and food would be important for brood habitat selection in Chinese Grouse, and expected Key words: brood habitat, Chinese grouse, diet change, hens with broods to choose willow dominated areas early successional forests. with dense ground cover but possibly to change habitats when chicks shifted from invertebrate food to plant food. In 2010–2012, we conducted a radio Galliform chicks depend on invertebrate food telemetry study to address these questions at the in the first few weeks after hatching and gradually Lianhuashan Nature Reserve in Gansu Province, switch later to plant food, a development that may China. Our purposes were to compare sites used by be accompanied by changing habitat preferences hens with broods with those available to determine (Stewart 1956, Wallestad 1971, Drut et al. 1994). what habitat variables were most important in Broods of Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa umbellus), for determining brood habitat selection and to identify example, sometimes move to habitats with any changes in habitat preferences associated with ripening blueberries (Vaccinium spp.; Stewart the movement of hens with broods. 1956). However, many studies on brood habitat have covered only part of the brood rearing period METHODS (e.g., Steen and Unander 1985, Jones et al. 2008) Study Area.—We studied Chinese Grouse at the and may therefore have missed short-term Shahetan station in the core area of the Lianhua- changes in habitat preference that could have an shan Nature Reserve in Gansu Province of central China (34u 409 670 N, 103u 309 840 E) during 1 Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation 2010–2012 (Fig. 1). Of four major local vegetation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, types that can be used by Chinese Grouse, conifer Beijing 100101, People’s Republic of China. 2 University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing forests in the center of the reserve’s core area were 100049, People’s Republic of China. dominated by spruces (Picea asperata, P. purpurea 3 Corresponding author; e-mail: [email protected] and P. wilsonii), and firs (Abies faxoniana, SHORT COMMUNICATIONS 311 FIG. 1. Location of Lianhuashan Nature Reserve in Gansu province. Main vegetation types are indicated as black (conifer forest), dark gray (conifer-deciduous forest), medium gray (deciduous forest), light gray (shrub areas), white (other habitat types including farmlands, villages, rocks, bare ground, alpine meadows, and water bodies), and white flag designates Shahetan research station. A. fargesii) with few understory species, primarily canopy. We therefore consider the order of willows (Salix rehderiana, S. sinopurpurea, succession to be shrubs, deciduous forests, co- S. cathayana, S. taoensis, S. paraplesia, S. tangii) niferous-deciduous forests and conifer forests. and roses (Rosa omeiensis, R. tsinglingensis). Other habitat types include alpine meadow, rock Coniferous-deciduous forests, surrounding the and bare ground, farmland, villages, water bodies, conifer forests, were dominated by spruces, firs, and highway corridors. See Sun et al. (2003) for birches (Betula utilis, B. chinensis, B. albo- a more detailed description of Lianhuashan climate sinensis, B. platyphylla), and willows, with an and vegetation. understory composed of various small shrubs plus Radio Telemetry.—We attached necklace trans- birches, willows, spruces, and firs. Deciduous mitters (Model RI-2B, Holohil Systems Ltd., forests, beyond the coniferous-deciduous mixed Carp, Ontario, Canada) to 50 female Chinese forests, were dominated by birches and large Grouse during the pre-laying or incubation willows. Shrub areas, mostly at forest edges and periods of 2010–2012. Transmitters weighed openings, were dominated by willows, birches, about 9 g (less than 3% of body weight) and roses, honeysuckles (Lonicera hispida, L. cae- had an expected battery life of 12 months. We rulea), sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides), used ground nets in spring (from 28 Apr to 10 and barberry (Berberis kansuensis). Ground veg- May) and caught 15 females prior to egg-laying. etation is variable, from little vegetation to dense We then caught 35 grouse during the last week of shrubs (of a great variety of species) and also incubation (16–22 Jun) with the nets set 3–5 m grasses, arrow bamboo (Sinarundinaria nitida), from the nest and two persons walking slowly forbs, and mosses (Sun et al. 2003). Illegal logging toward the incubating hen to flush it into the net. of conifers, common before the reserve’s estab- In most cases, the hens ran off of their nests and lishment in 1983, significantly altered the forest into the nets. A few flew directly into the nets, and composition of the study area. When conifer forests one that was reluctant to flush was caught by hand were clear-cut, second-growth deciduous trees on the nest. We attached transmitters at the dominated the sites until conifers reclaimed the capture sites and released the birds within 10 312 THE WILSON JOURNAL OF ORNITHOLOGY N Vol. 127, No. 2, June 2015 TABLE 1. Comparison of sites used by hens with broods of Chinese Grouse and available sites using a general linear mixed model (PROC GLIMMIX) at Lianhuashan, Gansu, China, 2010–2012. Used sites and paired available sites as a random effect (n 5 107). Used Sites Available Sites Variables Mean SE Range Mean SE Range FP Canopy Cover (%) 0.28 0.01 0–0.7 0.49 0.02 0–0.8 16.86 ,0.001 Tree Number 12.81 0.75 0–39 19.64 0.95 0–52 0.70 0.4024 Tree Species 1.74 0.08 0–3 1.71 0.07 0–3 2.58 0.1096 dbh (cm) 18.47 0.77 0–36 20.73 0.64 0–41 0.39 0.5335 Tree Height (m) 15.90 0.71 0–28 19.14 0.64 0–38 0.20 0.6549 Shrub Height (m) 2.94 0.09 0.6–5.4 2.60 0.09 0.5–5 0.35 0.5549 Shrub Cover (%) 0.43 0.01 0.2–0.8 0.32 0.01 0.1–0.8 0.49 0.4867 Willow Cover (%) 0.31 0.02 0–0.7 0.14 0.01 0–0.7 10.15 0.0017 Willow Height (m) 3.02 0.13 0–7 2.23 0.19