Egg laying and incubation rhythm of the Chinese Grouse(Tetrastes sewerzowi)at Lianhuashan,Gansu,China

Background:Incubating birds must balance the conflict between thermal needs of the developing embryos and their self?maintenance needs for energy.The Chinese Grouse (Tetrastes sewerzowi) lives in high mountain conifer forests and faces energy stress,cold environment,and predation pressure.Females might adjust incubation rhythm to adapt to these constraints. Methods:Two methods were used to investigate egg laying and incubation pattern of the Chinese Grouse;25 nests were monitored by data loggers and 12 nests by infrared video cameras. Results:Female Chinese Grouses usually laid an egg every 2 days.The incubation period was 28-31 days. Overall incubation constancy for Chinese Grouse was 93%. The females took 5.0 recesses per day and 34% of all 1696 recesses were taken in the crepuscular period. The average recess duration was 20.3 min. Females took more and shorter recesses in the latter part of incubation.The females who allocated more time to foraging had a higher reproductive success. Conclusions:Probably due to its high egg/body mass ratio,the Chinese Grouse has a long laying interval of 49 h. We suggest that,due to energy stress,females have relatively more recesses and they increase the number of recesses as incubation progresses.To compensate for the embryos'thermal needs, they extend the incubation period and shorten the recess duration in this cold environment.

The past,present,and future of the Siberian Grouse(Falcipennis falcipennis)under glacial oscillations and global warming

Global climate change has a significant effect on species,as environment conditions change,causing many species'distributions to shift.During the last three million years,the earth has experienced glacial oscillations,forcing some species to survive in ice-free refugia during glacial periods and then disperse postglacially.In this study,by assessing the potential distribution of Siberian Grouse(Falcipennis falcipennis),we used Global Circular Models and Representative Concentration Pathways to model their pattern of range changes during glacial oscillations and the potential impact of present global warming.We used 158 location records of Siberian Grouse to generate a full climate model using 19 bioclimate variables in MaxEnt.We discarded variables with a correlation coefficient larger than 0.8 and relatively lower modeling contributions between each pair of correlated variables.Using the remaining variables,we created a normally uncorrelated simple climate model to predict the possible distribution of Siberian Grouse from the most recent Ice Age to present and to 2070.Then we added geographical data and the human interference index to construct a multiple factor full model to evaluate which were important in explaining the distribution of Siberian Grouse.The Total Suitability Zone(P≥0.33)of Siberian Grouse is about 243,000km^(2) and the Maximum Suitability Zone(P≥0.66)is 36,000km^(2) and is confined to the Russian Far East.Potential habitat modeling suggested that annual precipitation,annual mean temperature,and the distance from lakes are the most explanatory variables for the current distribution of Siberian Grouse.The distribution center moved to the southeast during the Last Glacial Maximum and spread back to the northwest after the ice melted and temperatures rose.The total area range of Siberian Grouse experienced a dramatic loss during the Last Glacial Maximum.Global warming is presently forcing the Siberian Grouse to migrate northward with a contraction of its range.There is an urgent need to protect its habitat,because little of its Maximum Sustainable Zone is protected,although there are some large reserves in that area.

Conservation genomics of sibling grouse in boreal forests reveals introgression and adaptive population differentiation in genes controlling epigenetic variation

The Chinese Grouse(Tetrastes sewerzowi) and Hazel Grouse(T. bonasia) are sibling species that are well-adapted to harsh high-altitude and latitude habitats. In the current study, we sampled and sequenced 29 Chinese Grouse(n=16) and Hazel Grouse(n=13) from eight locations in China, Sweden,Germany, and northeast Poland to analyze population genetic diversity and structure, introgression, and local adaptation.

大型动物的种群恢复:大象种群增长的生态学效应

博茨瓦纳北部及其毗邻地区分布着世界上最大的非洲象种群(Loxodonta africana),而在100年前,由于过度捕猎,大象的种群数量极为稀少。与此同时,有蹄类由于疾病,种群数量严重下降。大型草食性动物种群数量降低的生态学效应一定是显著的,但我们却知之甚少,不过,目前博茨瓦纳大象种群数量上升之后产生的生态系统变化却引起人们相当大的关注。调查大象种群和其它生态系统组分及过程相互作用的项目"BONIC"就是的基于这种背景。调查结果表明,生态系统随着大象和其它有蹄类的种群数量的增长而发生变化,并且可能向着原先大型草食性动物数量减少之前的方向变化。我们认为人为地改变大象的种群数量没有生态学理由,但控制大象数量有经济和社会道理,而且博茨瓦纳北部大象的分布区可能必须要受到人为限制。