Comparison of fecal glucocorticoid metabolite concentrations in hand- versus parent-reared whooping cranes (Grus americana)

Endangered whooping cranes (Grus americana) have been produced in captivity for reintroduction programs since the 1980s, using techniques such as artificial insemination, multiple clutching, and captive-rearing to speed recovery efforts. Chicks are often hand-reared (HR) by caretakers in crane costumes, socialized into groups and released together, unlike parent-reared (PR) cranes that are raised individually by a male/female crane pair and released singly. HR cranes historically exhibit greater morbidity rates during development than PR cranes, involving musculoskeletal and respiratory system disease, among others. We hypothesized that HR crane chicks exhibit a higher baseline fecal glucocorticoid metabolite (FGM) concentrations during the development compared with PR chicks. Fecal samples were collected between 15 and 70 days of age from HR (n = 15) and PR (n = 8) chicks to test for differences in FGM concentrations using a radioimmunoassay technique following ethanol extraction for steroids. Linear mixed model analysis suggests increasing age of the chick was associated with an increase in FGM (p < .001). Analysis also supported the interaction between rearing strategy and sex of the crane chick (p < .01). Female PR chicks had greater FGM concentrations than all other groups (PR male, p < .01; HR female, p < .001; and HR male, p < .001). This result suggests that there may be an effect of rearing strategy on stress physiology of whooping crane chicks, especially among females. Further research is needed to investigate whether the FGM concentrations are reflective of true differences in stress physiology of young cranes and whether this may impact health and conservation success.     

Spatially Explicit Assessment of Sandhill Crane Exposure to Potential Transmission Line Collision Risk

Infrastructure development can affect avian populations through direct collision mortality. Estimating the exposure of local bird populations to the risk of direct mortality from infrastructure development requires site- and species-specific data, which managers may find difficult to obtain at the scale over which management decisions are made. We quantify the potential exposure of sandhill cranes (Antigone canadensis) to collision with horizontal structures (e.g., transmission lines) within vital wintering grounds of the Middle Rio Grande Valley (MRGV), New Mexico, USA, 2014–2020. Limited maneuverability and visual acuity make sandhill cranes vulnerable to collisions with infrastructure bisecting their flight paths. We used data from 81 global positioning system (GPS)-tagged cranes to estimate the spatially explicit flight height distribution along the MRGV, the passage rate across hypothetical transmission lines, and the resulting exposure rate (exposed passes/crane/day). The exposure rate ranged from 0–0.28 exposed passes/crane/day (median = 0.015) assuming an exposure zone of 7–60 m above ground level, and identified hotspots of potential exposure within the MRGV. Mapped exposure rates can assist in the siting of proposed high-voltage transmission lines, or other infrastructure, to limit effects on sandhill cranes and other avian species at risk of collision. Our approach can be replicated and applied in similar situations where birds are exposed to possible collision with power lines. © 2021 The Authors. The Journal of Wildlife Management published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of The Wildlife Society.     

我国丹顶鹤栖息地选择研究进展

丹顶鹤(Grus japonensis)是我国Ⅰ级重点保护野生动物,被世界自然保护联盟列为濒危物种。本研究通过搜集和整理2000至2017年丹顶鹤栖息地选择和生境适宜性相关文献,分析了丹顶鹤在繁殖期、迁徙期、越冬期的栖息地选择,发现丹顶鹤在这三个时期的最偏好生境均为芦苇沼泽或芦苇滩,回避人为干扰较为严重的居民点、道路、盐田等生境。通过梳理丹顶鹤繁殖地、中途停歇地、越冬地的栖息地变化及其原因,发现丹顶鹤栖息地变化是自然因素和人为因素共同驱动的结果,以人为因素为主。本研究希望为科学评价栖息地变化对丹顶鹤野生种群的影响、针对性地开展栖息地保护管理工作、促进丹顶鹤野生种群健康可持续发展提供依据。     

黑龙江省三江平原丹顶鹤的数量分布

在地面调查的基础上,我们使用Y-11轻型飞机对黑龙江省三江平原地区的丹顶鹤的数量分布近行了调查,调查时飞行高度80米,航速140公里/小时,续航里程共3748公里。调查结果表明,丹顶鹤在三江平原主要分布在8个地区,其中嘟噜河下游、洪河自然保护区、七星河流域和兴凯湖低地是主要繁殖地,总数量共309只。     

兴凯湖湿地丹顶鹤迁徙与繁殖数量调查

兴凯湖作为亚太地区水鸟重要的迁徙停歇地以及繁殖地,对丹顶鹤(Grus japonensis)的局域保护有着重要意义。2012~2014年通过样点与样线相结合的方法对兴凯湖保护区春、秋两季丹顶鹤的迁徙数量以及夏季的繁殖数量进行了调查。这3年中兴凯湖地区丹顶鹤的迁徙数量较为稳定,春季迁徙数量51~84只,秋季迁徙数量178~213只;繁殖个体数量呈轻微下降趋势,由2012年的105只下降至2014年的83只;栖息本地的丹顶鹤数量有了明显的增多,2013和2014年分别增长15和9只。丹顶鹤数量调查对了解其地理分布和种群数量变动规律具有重要意义,也为制订保护措施提供科学依据。     

哈拉海湿地丹顶鹤现状、受胁原因及保护

2000年4月至5月对哈拉海湿地丹顶鹤的数量、分布、现状进行了调查,共统计到迁徙丹顶鹤120只次,丹顶鹤夏季种群为14只;其中繁殖个体为10只,另有4只亚成体,此外对本区丹顶鹤受胁原因进行了分析并提出了保护措施。     

Duet structure provides information about pair identity in the red-crowned crane (Grus japonensis)

We studied the acoustic features of the endangered red-crowned crane (Grus japonensis), and, specifically, whether or not the duets carry information about a mating pair identity. The population of this species in the wild is only approximately 2,000 individuals. In 2003–2006, we recorded 343 duets from eight captive and two wild pairs. All of the duets contained an introduction, an unordered alternation of pair mate calls, followed by the main part, representing the regular sequence of syllables, containing 1–2 male and 1–4 female calls per syllable. We subdivided the syllables into five types, by the number of male and female calls per syllable, and analyzed the occurrence of the different syllable types in the duets of the ten pairs. The analysis showed the sustainable pair-specific use of particular syllable types through the years. The discriminant analysis standard procedure, based on seven frequency and temporal parameters of male and female calls, showed 97.7% correct assignment to the pair, which is significantly higher than random values. The high pair specificity of the duet acoustic structures provides the basis for call-based censuses. This would enable the monitoring of the red-crowned crane mating pairs in their natural habitat.     

江苏盐城国家级珍禽自然保护区丹顶鹤的承载力

江苏盐城沿海滩涂地区是世界上最大的丹顶鹤(G rus jap onensis)越冬地。如今全球的丹顶鹤仅约2700只,而每年在此越冬的丹顶鹤接近世界野生个体总数的一半。因此,盐城滩涂的环境状况对于保护该物种的意义不言而喻。该地区能够容纳承养多少丹顶鹤?这是一个关键性的问题。此前尚无人就盐城滩涂对丹顶鹤的承载力作过详细分析。处于保护下的野生动物应按照“生态承载力”来分析其容纳量。由于滩涂上水源较充足,食物和隐蔽物就是丹顶鹤对生境的主要两方面需求,也即限制因子。根据2004~2005年越冬期统计的鹤数及其分布,运用N eu方法分析丹顶鹤对盐城8种不同栖息地的选择性,结果显示它们最偏爱的生境是稻田和草滩,可以栖息在芦苇(P hragm ites comm un is)地、淡水养殖塘或大米草滩,而回避的生境是泥滩、盐田、盐地碱蓬(Suaed a sa lsa)滩。之后,作者用“热量法”计算了射阳基地圈养丹顶鹤的饲料成分,基本符合营养定额标准;而人工投放的玉米饲料难以保障野生鹤的生存。又按“重量法”,以丹顶鹤对各生境的利用程度为权重,估算得盐城保护区可利用的食物总量远远大于鹤群一个越冬期所需量,表明食物并非生境的决定性因子。此外,作者分析了丹顶鹤对各种主要食物的选择性,发现植物在食物总量中占比例极小,但其喜爱的食物却是植物性的稻谷和人工的玉米饲料。总而言之,其种群喜爱居留在淤长型海岸带及食物量大、距道路(人类活动)远、盐度小的栖息地。核心生境丹顶鹤的分布密度约0.8~2.5只/km2,则1000km2最适宜生境的容纳量为800~2500只;实际上,近10a来80%~90%的鹤群分布收缩在核心区与缓冲区(面积共641km2),则整个保护区容纳量为570~2004只。结合这两方面考虑,作者预测盐城保护区的丹顶鹤承载力为2000~2500只,目前其数量未达饱和,种群还将增长。