The Roosting Behavior and Roosting-Site Selection of Tetraophasis obscurus during Breeding Season
Author:
Affiliation:

① Key Laboratory of Bio-Resource and Eco-Environment of Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065; ② Wanglang National Nature Reserve Administration Bureau, Pingwu 622550, China

Clc Number:

Fund Project:

  • Article
  • |
  • Figures
  • |
  • Metrics
  • |
  • Reference
  • |
  • Related
  • |
  • Cited by
  • |
  • Materials
  • |
  • Comments
    Abstract:

    [Objectives] Chestnut-throated Pheasant (Tetraophasis obscurus) is an endemic species in China and a national Class I key protected wildlife. The study of its roosting habitat selection during the breeding season can enrich the basic information of this species, improve understanding of its survival strategy, and provide a scientific basis for the conservation and in-depth study of this species. [Methods] From March to July of 2021 and 2022, roosting behavior and roosting site selection of Chestnut-throated Pheasant in Sichuan Wanglang National Nature Reserve during the breeding season were investigated by tracking and systematic search method, 34 roosting habitat samples were recorded and 24 environmental factors were measured (Table 1). We first used the chi-square test to analyze the preference of Chestnut-throated Pheasant for slope location. When analyzing the differences between the environmental factors in the roosting samples of Chestnut-throated Pheasant and the random samples, the K-S test was used to determine whether the data conformed to a normal distribution, and the T test for matched samples was used for data that conformed to a normal distribution, and the Mann- Whitney U test was used for data that did not conform to a normal distribution. Environment factors with significant differences were included in a binary logistic regression after Spearman’s correlation analysis to determine the key habitat factors affecting the choice of the roosting habitat of Chestnut-throated Pheasant during the breeding season, and all analyses were performed using SPSS 25 and MuMIn package in R 4.2.1. [Results] The Chestnut-throated Pheasant mainly roosts in coniferous trees, such as Sabina saltuaria, and it is common to roost alone or with another individual, but not in a group. Data analysis revealed significant differences in slope, diameter at breast height of the roosting tree, coverage of trees, average diameter at breast height of trees, coverage of shrub, coverage of leaf, distance to the forest edge, and distance to the nearest tree between roosting and random habitats (Table 2); roosting trees were usually located in the upper slope (χ2 = 5.124, df = 1, P = 0.024), closer to the forest edge and nearest trees, with a larger diameter at breast height and coverage of trees, perch height distance of about 6.62 ± 0.29 m from the ground, and perch length of 1.66 ± 0.13 m; roosting habitats had larger slope and coverage of leaf, while the shrub cover was smaller. A logistic regression model was established to analyze the determinants of roosting site selection for the Chestnut- throated Pheasant, and the results showed that the diameter at breast height of the roosting tree was the primary factor in determining roosting site selection, and the secondary factors were coverage of leaf and slope (Table 5). [Conclusion] our results indicated that safety factors (the diameter at breast height of the roosting tree, slope) and food factors (coverage of leaf) were the most critical factors in selecting the roosting site for the Chestnut-throated Pheasant.

    Reference
    Related
    Cited by
Get Citation

XU Lu, 赵联军, 张塔星, 白俊, 罗春平, 曹亚珍, 郑勇, RAN Jiang-hong. 2023. The Roosting Behavior and Roosting-Site Selection of Tetraophasis obscurus during Breeding Season. Chinese Journal of Zoology, 58(1): 50-59.

Copy
Article Metrics
  • Abstract:
  • PDF:
  • HTML:
  • Cited by:
History
  • Received:July 24,2022
  • Revised:January 18,2023
  • Adopted:January 17,2023
  • Online: March 02,2023
  • Published: February 20,2023