Nest survival rate of Reeves's pheasant (Syrmaticus reevesii) based on artificial nest experiments

To explore the nest survival rate of Reeves's pheasant (Syrmaticus reevesii) and the nest-site factors that affect it,we conducted artificial nest experiments with reference to natural nests at Dongzhai National Nature Reserve (DNNR),Henan Province and Pingjingguan,Hubei Province from April to June 2014 simulating the situation in its early and later breeding season.We also determined distance characteristics of the nest sites by ArcGIS 10.0.Nest survival models were constructed in Program MARK for data analysis.Results indicated that in the early breeding season,the apparent survival rate (ASR) in DNNR (52.4％) was significantly greater than that in Pingjingguan (13.5％),and the ASR in the later breeding season in DNNR (26.7％) was not indistinctively correlated with Pingjingguan (3.2％).The daily survival rate (DSR) in the later breeding season was 93.8％ in DNNR and 92.0％ in Pingjingguan,respectively.The DSRs were both negatively correlated with nest distance to forest edges and settlements.The DSR in Pingjingguan was positively correlated with nest distance to paths and negatively correlated with nest distance to water sources.However,the DSR in DNNR was negatively correlated with nest distance to paths but positively correlated with nest distance to water sources.     

血雉育雏期家族活动和暖雏行为

1994年 11月至 1995年 9月在四川卧龙自然保护区五一棚地区 ,采用无线电追踪技术并结合野外观察 ,对血雉育雏期家族群的活动和暖雏行为进行了研究。双亲共同育雏组成家族群活动。雌鸟每次暖雏持续时间7 87± 0 45 (90 )min ,与雏鸟的日龄无关 (r =0 0 6 3 ,P =0 5 40 ) ;相邻两次暖雏的间隔时间为 13 6 0± 1 15min。随着雏鸟日龄的增长 ,暖雏次数趋势于减少 (r =- 0 878,P <0 0 0 1) ,而在多云、降雨等较冷的天气暖雏次数增多。雏鸟 40日龄后未再观察到暖雏行为。以家族群每日平均移动率计算活动性并探讨与雏鸟日龄的关系时发现 ,两者间存在显著的正相关关系 (r =0 6 80 ,P <0 0 0 1) ,育雏期第二个月家族群活动区面积 (0 17km2 )比第一个月的 (0 15km2 )大。     

卧龙自然保护区血雉的社群组织

１９９４年１１月至１９９５年９月在四川卧龙自然保护区五一棚地区,采用无线电追踪技术并结合野外观察,对血雉的社群组织进行了研究。血雉冬季集群活动,相邻群体相遇,有驱逐行为发生。分群配对时,雌鸟长距离迁移。血雉为单配偶制,配偶关系联结紧密,可维持整个繁殖季节。孵卵由雌鸟承担,取食时由雄鸟相伴,雌雄鸟共同育雏。繁殖季节不参加繁殖的亚成体雄鸟、参加繁殖的成体雄鸟或配偶对往往也有集群活动的倾向。在繁殖季节,     

Public Access for Pheasant Hunters: Understanding an Emerging Need

Ring-necked pheasant (Phasianus colchicus; i.e., pheasant) hunting participation is declining across North America, reflecting a larger downward trend in American hunting participation and threatening benefits to grassland conservation and rural economies. To stabilize and expand the pheasant hunting population, we must first identify factors that influence pheasant hunter participation. We used an extensive in-person hunter survey to test the hypothesis that hunter demographics interact with social-ecological traits of hunting locations to affect hunter decisions, outcomes, and perceptions. We built a series of Bayesian mixed effects models to parse variation in demographics, perceptions, and hunt outcomes of pheasant hunters interviewed at public access hunting sites across 3 regions in Nebraska, USA, that varied in pheasant abundance and proximity to urban population centers. Among pheasant hunters in Nebraska, access to private lands was negatively related to the human population density of a pheasant hunter's home ZIP code and the distance a hunter had traveled to reach a hunting location. Pheasant hunters interviewed closer to metropolitan areas tended to be more urban and travel shorter distances, and their parties were more likely to include youth but less likely to include dogs. Hunter satisfaction was positively associated with seeing and harvesting pheasants and hunting with youth. Whereas youth participation and the number of pheasants seen varied by study region, hunter satisfaction did not differ across regions, suggesting that hunters may calibrate their expectations and build their parties based on where they plan to hunt. The variation in hunter demographics across hunting locations and disconnects between social and ecological correlates of hunter satisfaction suggests that diverse pheasant hunting constituencies will be best served by diverse pheasant hunting opportunities. © 2019 The Wildlife Society.     

Sensitivity Analyses of a Population Projection Model of Ring-Necked Pheasants

Abstract A large literature exists on population dynamics of ring-necked pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) in North America, but there has not been an attempt to formulate a matrix model nor a sensitivity analysis of the relationships between vital rates and population finite growth rate (Λ) that can be used to guide management. We summarized demographic data available from a 5-year field study in Iowa, USA, collected in Kossuth County (low composition of perennial habitat) and Palo Alto County (high composition of perennial habitat) into a 2-stage (young and adult) matrix projection model. We estimated Λ₁ (the dominant eigenvalue of the deterministic matrix), the stable age distribution (ω), relative reproductive value vector (n̈), other demographic parameters, and Λ_iid, a bootstrap estimate of growth that includes interannual variation in life history parameters. We analyzed the relative importance of vital rates on population growth rate using sensitivity and elasticity of both matrix elements and lower-level parameters such as winter survival and nest success. We first characterized general life history using averaged data from both areas and all years that yielded Λ₁ = 1.086, and a stable stage distribution of. Minimum success of the initial nesting attempt (H₁) that would maintain Λ ≥ 1 under average conditions was estimated to be 42%. Changes in Λ₁ were most sensitive to survival of chicks during brood rearing (S_B), followed in importance by survival during the subsequent winter (S_W), followed by H₁. We followed the general analyses with analyses that helped us to focus on the differences in the landscapes of northwest Iowa. Λ_iid was ≥1 in only 9% of simulations of data from Kossuth whereas estimated Λ_iid was ≥1 in 88% of simulations from Palo Alto. Our analyses of the relative importance and interactions between S_B, S_W, and total recruitment (M, including H₁ and renesting), if combined with data more specific to a local area, would guide management aimed at affecting multiple life history stages whose relative importance will vary across the landscape.     

黑颈长尾雉的巢址选择

2004年至2005年,在广西百色岑王老山自然保护区对黑颈长尾雉(Syrmaticus humiae)的巢址选择进行了研究。野外工作中共发现5巢,其中3巢在针叶林中,2巢在灌草丛中。结果表明,黑颈长尾雉的巢都是选择在向阳的东南坡且位于坡的下位,靠近林缘、水源和林间小道。对巢址10 m×10 m和1 m×1 m植被样方不同层次盖度作统计发现,黑颈长尾雉巢址选择更多的依赖于灌木层和草本层的盖度。     

血雉卵的人工孵化

2008～2010年,北京动物园在陕西洋县长青自然保护区采集血雉卵进行人工孵化研究。卵的保存及运输期为5～7d,卵保存温度17.14～18.66℃,湿度73.5%～87.1%,卵使用防震运输箱经34h运输后入孵,运输过程温度在16.38～25.95℃之间。孵化前使用碘氟稀释液擦拭卵表面。35枚受精卵中,19枚使用3台孵化机孵化,孵化温度37.4～37.5℃,使用14%～33%、40%～45%和60%～70%3个湿度梯度孵化;16枚卵使用乌鸡代亲孵化,袖珍温度记录仪测量乌鸡孵化温度在34.81～39.18℃之间,孵化环境湿度为23.4%～72.4%。记录孵化过程中的卵重量变化和孵化期。结果表明:研究期间血雉卵平均孵化率为76.5%,其中机器孵化率为84.2%,代亲孵化率为68.8%;平均孵化期为27d11h;卵失重率11.23%～16.54%,平均为13.77%±1.51%。     

Snow and land use alter pheasant survival in South Dakota

We examined survival of ring-necked pheasants (Phasianus colchicus) occupying fragmented landscapes within the Prairie Pothole Region in South Dakota, USA, where severe winter weather events historically limited pheasant population growth through increased mortality. Recent landscape transformations could further affect overwinter adult female survival by reducing critical winter resources. Assessing the influence of time-dependent landscape features on survival at small focal scales may reveal spatially important relationships. We captured and monitored 321 adult female pheasants from 2017–2019 and recorded 110 pheasant winter mortalities. Female pheasant winter survival was 0.66 (85% CI = 0.62–0.70) and was inversely correlated to snow depth. We generated Cox proportional hazard models to determine risk of mortality associated with landscape features. Pheasants using landscapes other than perennial cover (i.e., emergent wetland, tall vegetation, woody, food plots) experienced a 2.22 times greater risk of raptor predation than pheasants using perennial cover. Additionally, pheasants experienced a 58% reduced risk of weather mortality when using emergent wetlands. We analyzed resource selection ratios to understand how perceived landscape risks at the population level scaled down to land use selection at the individual level. Female pheasants selected for emergent wetlands, showed no selection for woody features, and avoided tall vegetation (non-aquatic herbaceous vegetation >75 cm) during severe winters. Pheasants would greatly benefit from conservation of emergent wetlands and integrating perennial cover into harvested cropland.     

Structural insights into the non-additivity effects in the sequence-to-reactivity algorithm for serine peptidases and their inhibitors

Sequence-to-reactivity algorithms (SRAs) for proteins have the potential of being broadly applied in molecular design. Recently, Laskowski et al. have reported an additivity-based SRA that accurately predicts most of the standard free energy changes of association for variants of turkey ovomucoid third domain (OMTKY3) with six serine peptidases, one of which is streptogrisin B (commonly known as Streptomyces griseus peptidase B, SGPB). Non-additivity effects for residues 18I and 32I, and for residues 20I and 32I of OMTKY3 occurred when the associations with SGPB were predicted using the SRA. To elucidate precisely the mechanics of these non-additivity effects in structural terms, we have determined the crystal structures of the unbound OMTKY3 (with Gly32I as in the wild-type amino acid sequence) at a resolution of 1.16 A, the unbound Ala32I variant of OMTKY3 at a resolution of 1.23 A, and the SGPB:OMTKY3-Ala32I complex (equilibrium association constant K(a)=7.1x10(9) M(-1) at 21(+/-2) C degrees, pH 8.3) at a resolution of 1.70 A. Extensive comparisons with the crystal structure of the unbound OMTKY3 confirm our understanding of some previously addressed non-additivity effects. Unexpectedly, SGPB and OMTKY3-Ala32I form a 1:2 complex in the crystal. Comparison with the SGPB:OMTKY3 complex shows a conformational change in the SGPB:OMTKY3-Ala32I complex, resulting from a hinged rigid-body rotation of the inhibitor caused by the steric hindrance between the methyl group of Ala32IA of the inhibitor and Pro192BE of the peptidase. This perturbs the interactions among residues 18I, 20I, 32I and 36I of the inhibitor, probably resulting in the above non-additivity effects. This conformational change also introduces residue 10I as an additional hyper-variable contact residue to the SRA.     

Ultrastructure and elemental composition of the eggshell of Reeve’s pheasant ( Syrmaticus reevesii )

The eggshell of Reeve’s pheasant (Syrmaticus reevesii) collected from the Dongzhai National Nature Reserve in Henan Province, China was studied. By using scanning electron microscopy and inductively coupled plasma (ICP) spectrometry, the ultrastructure and elemental composition of the eggshell was determined. The study showed that the average thickness of the surface layer of crystals, the palisade and cone layer, and the eggshell membrane were 20.8, 220.8 and 62.5 μm, respectively, accounting for 6.8%, 72.6% and 20.6% of the total thickness of the eggshell. There were many vesicular holes in the palisade layer with an average diameter of 0.32 ± 0.08 μm (n = 30). The function of these holes might be significant to air exchange. The shape of the eggshell pore on the surface layer of crystals is round or elliptical. The fracture surface of the pore is funnel-shaped. Some granules filled the upper part of the eggshell pores. The content of 21 elements in the eggshell of wild and captive Reeve’s pheasants was compared and presented. It indicated that among the elements that made up the eggshell of the wild pheasant, the content of Ca, Mg, P and S was much higher, ω > 1 mg/g, with ω (Ca) being higher than 40% of the eggshell. The contents of Na, Si, Sr, K and Al were ω = 0.1–1 mg/g, while Fe, Zn, Pb, Mn, Cu, V and Ti had lower concentrations (ω = 1–100 μg/g). The ω of Ni, Cr, Co, Se, Cd were lower than 1 μg/g. The elemental composition in the eggshell of the captive Reeve’s pheasant kept in the Dongzhai National Natural Reserve was significantly different from that of the wild species, with a difference of over 20% on S, Cu, Fe, Al, Mn, Si, Sr, Se and Cr. The lower intake of Fe, Mn, Si and Sr on the one hand and the higher intake of S, Cu, Al and Cr on the other hand might be responsible for the low fertility of captive Reeve’s pheasants in the Dongzhai National Nature Reserve. In order to ensure that the pheasants are receiving the proper amount of nutrition and to improve their breeding success, the amount of certain elements in the food should be adjusted. Translated from Journal of Beijing Normal University (Natural Science), 2006, 42(1): 78–82 [译自: 北京师范大学学报 (自然科学版)]