Habitat Use and Survival of Preflight Wild Turkey Broods
| Autor: | Phillip S. Gipson, Roger D. Applegate, Warren B. Ballard, John H. Brunjes, Richard S. Phillips, Derrick P. Holdstock, Mark C. Wallace, Michael S. Miller, Brian L. Spears |
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| Rok vydání: | 2007 |
| Předmět: |
Litter (animal)
Ecology biology ved/biology ved/biology.organism_classification_rank.species Vegetation biology.organism_classification Shrub Brood Animal science Habitat General Earth and Planetary Sciences Forb Wild turkey Meleagris gallopavo Ecology Evolution Behavior and Systematics Nature and Landscape Conservation General Environmental Science |
| Zdroj: | Journal of Wildlife Management. 71:69-81 |
| ISSN: | 1937-2817 0022-541X |
| DOI: | 10.2193/2005-676 |
| Popis: | Wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) broods spend the first several days of life on the ground until poult flight capabilities are attained. This is a critical period of wild turkey life history, with poult survival ranging from 12% to 52%. We measured vegetation in plots used by Rio Grande wild turkey (M. g. intermedia) preflight broods at 4 sites in southwest Kansas and the Texas Panhandle, USA, to determine microhabitat selection for ground roosting and to determine if microhabitat was related to poult survival. Hens selected ground-roost locations with more visual obstruction from multiple observation heights than random sites. Plots surrounding ground roosts had 1) greater visual obstruction; 2) increased tree decay; 3) higher percent grass, shrub, litter, and forb cover; and 4) lower percent bare ground cover than random sites. Grass, shrubs, and downed trees appeared to provide desired cover for ground-roosting broods. Poult survival increased with age of poult, size of brood, and density of ... |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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