An Evaluation of Northern Bobwhite Conservation Research: A Call for Large-Scale Studies

Gomez, Lex J.; Reyna, Kelly S.

doi:10.7290/nqsp08zw7s

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 167 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…U.S. quail species are economically important gamebirds (Johnson et al ., 2012; Wszola et al ., 2020) and part of a $3.7 billion per year upland gamebird hunting industry (Sportsmen’s Alliance, 2021). For over 150 years, a variety of PRTs like translocations have been used in attempts to bolster populations (Hernández et al ., 2013; Gomez and Reyna, 2017; Whitt et al ., 2017). Quail Translocations in general are rarely successful (Perez et al ., 2002; Scott et al ., 2013; Whitt et al ., 2017), especially when used for reintroduction (Martin et al ., 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For over 150 years, a variety of PRTs like translocations have been used in attempts to bolster populations (Hernández et al, 2013;Gomez and Reyna, 2017;Whitt et al, 2017). Quail Translocations in general are rarely successful (Perez et al, 2002;Scott et al, 2013;Whitt et al, 2017), especially when used for reintroduction (Martin et al, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Biological validation of fecal corticosterone metabolites as a non-invasive stress assessment in translocated California valley quail (Callipepla californica)

Currier,

Whitt,

Reyna

2023

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

U.S. quail species are vulnerable to population declines as a result climate change, habitat loss, and habitat fragmentation; all of which can induce physiological stress. Additionally, population restoration techniques (PRTs), like translocations, also induce stress. Traditional stress assessments include capturing and handling birds to extract blood, methods which are inherently stressful and can compound stress analyses. However, the stress hormone corticosterone is metabolized from the blood and excreted in feces as fecal corticosterone metabolites (FCMs). FCMs have been used as a non-invasive measurement of stress in a variety of species, but must be validated for each species. The objective of this study was to biologically validate the use of FCMs as a non-invasive measurement of stress-hormone levels in California valley quail (Callipepla californica). Reference and treatment quail were acclimated for 3 wks in an outdoor aviary. Subsequently, treatment quail were subjected to a simulated, 48-h translocation, a common and stressful PRT. Fecal samples were collected every 4 h and processed using an enzyme immunoassay. Mean FCM concentrations of treatment quail (41.50 ±16.13 ng/g) were higher than reference FCM concentrations (24.07 ±10.4 ng/g). These results biologically validate the use of FCMs as a non-invasive method to assess stress hormone levels in California valley quail, demonstrate diurnal variation in quail stress levels, and confirms that quail translocations are a stressful PRT. Ultimately, this research validates a new non-invasive tool for stress measurement to advance quail research, management, and conservation.Lay summaryThis study biologically validates the use of fecal corticosterone metabolites as a non-invasive method for detecting stress in quail, demonstrates diurnal variation in quail stress levels, confirms that translocations elevate stress which likely impacts success, and establishes a new non-invasive tool for stress measurement in quail research, management, and conservation.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biological validation of fecal corticosterone metabolites as a non-invasive stress assessment in translocated California valley quail (Callipepla californica)

Currier,

Whitt,

Reyna

2023

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Biological validation of faecal corticosterone metabolites as a non-invasive stress assessment in translocated California valley quail (Callipepla californica)

Currier,

Whitt,

Reyna

2024

Conservation Physiology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

US quail species are vulnerable to population declines as a result of climate change, habitat loss and habitat fragmentation, all of which can result in physiological stress. Additionally, population restoration techniques (PRTs), like translocations, also induce stress. Traditional assessments of avian stress hormone levels include capturing and handling birds to extract blood, methods that are inherently stressful and can compound stress analyses. However, the stress hormone corticosterone (CORT) is metabolized from the blood and excreted in faeces as faecal corticosterone metabolites (FCMs). FCMs have been used as a non-invasive measurement of stress hormone levels in a variety of species, but must be validated for each species. The objective of this study was to biologically validate the use of FCMs as a non-invasive measurement of CORT levels in California valley quail (Callipepla californica). Reference and treatment quail were acclimated for 3 weeks in an outdoor aviary. Subsequently, treatment quail were subjected to a simulated 48-h translocation, a common and stress hormone-inducing PRT. Faecal samples were collected every 4 h and processed using an enzyme immunoassay. Mean FCM concentrations of treatment quail (41.50 ± 16.13 ng/g) were higher than reference FCM concentrations (24.07 ± 10.4 ng/g). These results biologically validate the use of FCMs as a non-invasive method to assess CORT levels in California valley quail, demonstrate diurnal variation in quail CORT levels, and confirm that quail translocations are a stress-inducing PRT. Ultimately, this research validates a new non-invasive tool for stress response measurement to advance quail research, management and conservation.

show abstract

Northern Bobwhite Occupancy Patterns on Multiple Spatial Scales Across Arkansas

Lassiter

Asher²,

Christie

et al. 2021

Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Northern bobwhite Colinus virginianus populations have been rapidly declining in the eastern, central, and southern United States for decades. Declines have been driven by land use change and an incompatibility between northern bobwhite resource needs and human land use practices. Here, we applied occupancy analyses on two spatial scales (state-level and ecoregion-level) to more than 5,000 northern bobwhite surveys conducted over six years across the entire state of Arkansas to explore patterns in occupancy and land use variables, and to identify priority areas for management and conservation. At the state level, northern bobwhite occupied 29% of sites and northern bobwhite were most likely to occur in areas with a high percentage of early successional habitat (grassland, pasture, and shrubland). The statewide model predicted that northern bobwhite were likely to occur (≥75% predicted occupancy) in <20% of the state. Arkansas is comprised of five distinct ecoregions, and analyses at the ecoregion spatial scale showed that habitat associations of northern bobwhite could vary between ecoregions. For example, northern bobwhite occupancy in both the Arkansas River Valley and Ozark Mountains ecoregions was best predicted by early successional habitat, but was further refined by other habitat associations such as the proportion of herbaceous habitat and hay-pasture habitat, respectively. Contrastingly, northern bobwhite occupancy in the Ouachita Mountains ecoregion was best predicted by richness of landcover classes alone. Ecoregion-level models were thus more discerning than the state level model and should be more helpful to managers in identifying priority conservation areas. However, in 2 of 5 ecoregions, northern bobwhite were too rarely encountered to accurately predict their occurrence. We found that likely occupied northern bobwhite habitat lay primarily on private properties (95%), but that numerous public entities own and manage land identified as suitable or likely occupied. We conclude that management of northern bobwhite in Arkansas could benefit from cooperation among state, federal, and military partners, as well as surrounding private landowners and that ecoregion-specific models may be more useful in identifying priority areas for management. Our approach incorporates multiple landscape scales when using remote sensing technology in conjunction with monitoring data and could have important application for the management of northern bobwhite and other grassland bird species.

show abstract

An Evaluation of Northern Bobwhite Conservation Research: A Call for Large-Scale Studies

Cited by 3 publications

References 167 publications

Biological validation of fecal corticosterone metabolites as a non-invasive stress assessment in translocated California valley quail (Callipepla californica)

Biological validation of fecal corticosterone metabolites as a non-invasive stress assessment in translocated California valley quail (Callipepla californica)

Biological validation of faecal corticosterone metabolites as a non-invasive stress assessment in translocated California valley quail (Callipepla californica)

Northern Bobwhite Occupancy Patterns on Multiple Spatial Scales Across Arkansas

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About