Rangeland Ecology & Management

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Behavioral Responses at Distribution Extremes: How Artificial Surface Water Can Affect Quail Movement Patterns
Author
Tanner, E. P.
Elmore, R. D.
Fuhlendorf, S. D.
Davis, C. A.
Thacker, E. T.
Dahlgren, D. K.
Publisher
Society for Range Management
Publication Year
2015-11
Body

Supplementing wildlife populations with resources during times of limitation has been suggested for many species. The focus of our study was to determine responses of northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus; Linnaeus) and scaled quail (Callipepla squamata; Vigors) to artificial surface-water sources in semiarid rangelands. From 2012-2014, we monitored quail populations via radio telemetry at Beaver River Wildlife Management Area, Beaver County, Oklahoma. We used cumulative distribution functions and resource utilization functions (RUFs) to determine behavioral responses of quail to water sources. We also used Program MARK to determine if water sources had any effect on quail vital rates. Our results indicated that both northern bobwhite and scaled quail exhibited behavioral responses to the presence of surface-water sources. Northern bobwhite selected for areas < 700 m and < 650 m from water sources during the breeding and nonbreeding season, respectively. However, the nonbreeding season response was weak ( =-0.06, SE = < 0.01), and the breeding season ( = 0.01, SE = 0.02) response was nonsignificant on the basis of RUFs. Scaled quail selected for areas < 650 m and < 250 m from water sources during the breeding and nonbreeding season, respectively. The breeding season RUF ( =-0.31, SE = 0.07) indicated a stronger response for scaled quail than bobwhite. Conversely, there was no direct effect of surface water on quail vital rates or nest success during the course of our study. Although water may affect behavioral patterns of quail, we found no evidence that it affects quail survival or nest success for these two species. © 2015 Society for Range Management. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. The Rangeland Ecology & Management archives are made available by the Society for Range Management and the University of Arizona Libraries. Contact lbry-journals@email.arizona.edu for further information.

Language
en
Resource Type
Text
Document Type
Journal Issue/Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
10.1016/j.rama.2015.07.008
Additional Information
Tanner, E. P., Elmore, R. D., Fuhlendorf, S. D., Davis, C. A., Thacker, E. T., & Dahlgren, D. K. (2015). Behavioral Responses at Distribution Extremes: How Artificial Surface Water Can Affect Quail Movement Patterns. Rangeland Ecology & Management, 68(6), 476–484.
IISN
0022-409x
OAI Identifier
oai:repository.arizona.edu:10150/656896
Journal Volume
68
Journal Number
6
Journal Pages
476-484
Journal Name
Rangeland Ecology & Management
Keywords
Artificial water sources
northern bobwhite
resource utilization functions
scaled quail
survival