Woody vegetation is an important component of northern bobwhite habitat. Woody plants are widely used by bobwhites for loafing, escape cover, thermoregulation, and food. Several researchers have provided recommendations for optimal amounts of woody cover required by bobwhites, and their suggestions have often differed substantially. Discrepancies in these recommendations could be an artifact of inconsistent research methodologies, differences in the scale of measurement, or the ability for bobwhites to interchange the use of habitat components, a concept also known as slack. The objectives of our study were to quantify (1) the relationship between woody and herbaceous cover at bobwhite locations and (2) to quantify woody cover used at 3 different spatial scales (point-of-use, home range, and pasture scale) by bobwhites. Our study occurred from April-August (2014-2015) on 5 ranches in Goliad, Zavala, Real, and La Salle Counties in South Texas. Radio-marked bobwhites were located three times per week, and their locations were taken with a handheld GPS. Vegetation data was recorded at bobwhite and paired, random locations. Spatial data, such as woody cover within bobwhite home ranges and pastures, was analyzed in ArcGIS. From our first year of data, mean percent woody cover was greater at bobwhite locations (55%) compared to random locations (36%), however, mean percent herbaceous cover was similar between bobwhite locations (34%) and random locations (35%). Woody cover had a stronger effect on habitat use than herbaceous cover, but optimum use occurred when intermediate amounts of both were present. This research will allow bobwhite managers to refine brush management for bobwhites based on spatial scale and the amount of herbaceous cover present.
Oral presentation and poster titles, abstracts, and authors from the Society for Range Management (SRM) Annual Meetings and Tradeshows, from 2013 forward.