Habitat Utilization of the Sichuan Hill Partridge (Arborophila rufipectus) in the Non-breeding Period in Laojunshan Nature Reserve

The Sichuan Hill Partridge （Arborophila rufipectus ） requires successional broadleaf forest and their populations have declined as a result of fragmentation of endemic bird areas in subtropical forest in the mountains of southwestern China. In this paper, habitat utilization of the Sichuan Hill Partridge was studied in replanted broadleaf forests, in Laojunshan Nature Reserve of Sichuan, to determine the importance of habitat features, during the non-breeding period from November to December 2005. The Sichuan Hill Partridge utilized habitats within elevations of 1 000 to 1 600 m and with a south-facing slope of two to 15 degrees, close to road and forest edges. The birds preferred sites with smaller bamboo density, lower bamboo cover and snow cover and shrub cover was greater at used sites than at random sites. Principal components analysis indicated that food on the ground layer, topographic condition, concealment and temperature were the first four components of bird habitat selection, and the load of the first component was 29.407%. The findings indicated that the Sichuan Hill Partridge might face the well-documented trade-off between food resource and predation risk when utilizing habitat. We suggest that the conservation and restoration of successional broadleaf forest habitats will benefit the Sichuan Hill Partridge.

Population Density and Habitat Utilization of Ibex(Capra ibex)in Tomur National Nature Reserve,Xinjiang,China

Surveys was conducted to study the population density and habitat utilization of the ibex （Capra ibex） in Tomur National Nature Reserve during October- December 2005. The results are as follows： ① The mean group size of the ibex in Tomur Nature Reserve is 8.43 and the population density is 269.76/100 km^2; ② The ibex prefer areas with steep slope （between 30° -45°）, broken substrates and cliffs nearby （ 〈 100 m）. They avoid grasslands and fiat hillsides; ③The probable reason for this habitat selection is serf-protection.

Habitat utilization and resource partitioning of wintering Hooded Cranes and three goose species at Shengjin Lake

The loss and degradation of wetlands have adversely affected waterbirds, which depend on wetland habitats. Interspecific competition has an important effect on habitat utilization of wintering waterbirds. Resource utilization, including partitioning, in degraded wetlands has become a hot issue in ecological studies of wintering waterbirds. In order to have an insight into the habitat utilization and resource partitioning between a Hooded Crane(Grus monacha) population and the guild of three goose species, i.e., Anser fabalis, A. albifrons and A. erythropus wintering in lake wetlands, we carried out a study at Shengjin Lake National Nature Reserve from November 2011 to April 2012. We surveyed the Hooded Cranes and goose guild foraging in various habitats during the wintering periods with a combined method of fixed route searching and fixed site observations. Resource partitioning was studied by means of calculating habitat utilization rates and the width and overlap of spatial niches. The results showed that the habitat utilization rate and the width of spatial niches of the Hooded Crane population and goose guild shifted with the season. The habitat utilization rates of the cranes in grasslands were high at all three wintering stages. The habitat utilization rates were 0.454, 0.435 and 0.959 respectively for the Hooded Cranes and 0.627, 0.491 and 0.616 for the goose guild. This suggests that the overlap in grasslands was higher between cranes and goose guild. Most habitats were accessible at the middle stage, so the width of the spatial niche of the cranes(1.099) and goose guild(1.133) both reached their peak at this stage. The greatest niche overlap was 0.914 for these two groups at the late stage, followed by 0.906 at the middle stage and the smallest was 0.854 at the early stage. Ecological response to the changes in habitats of wintering waterbirds was clearly shown in the dynamic variations of the niche of both the Hooded Cranes and the three goose species. Coexistence among waterbirds was achieved by regulation of niche width to reduce niche overlap and relieve interspecific resource partitioning.

Home range,population density,and habitat utilization of the Sichuan Jay (Perisoreus internigrans)

We assessed habitat preference and population status of the Sichuan Jay (Perisoreus internigrans),a poorly known Chinese endemic bird,at two sites (Zhuoni and Jiuzhaigou) in the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau between 2001 and 2004.Mean group size was 3.8 jays.Each group occupied a mean home range of 42.0 ha during the breeding season,and the mean internest distance was 2.7 km.These data indicated that the jays used less than ten percent of the available habitats and occurred at an overall density of only 0.6 jays per km2.Radio-tracked Sichuan Jays had a strong preference for mature montane coniferous forests and avoided areas dominated by shrubs,while the utilization of young conifers,grassland,and human residential habitat types did not differ significantly from the values expected from the home-range availabilities of these habitats generally.

Distribution Pattern and Seasonal Variation of Bird Species from Semi-Urban Area of Taungoo Environs

The environs of Taungoo Township, Bago Region are one of the high biodiversity areas in Myanmar, locating eastern side of the high mountain ranges of Middle Yoma. The dense of every green and deciduous forest in the middle Middle Yoma were logging since 10 - 20 years ago. The birds inhabiting in that area have to refuge in suitable habitats nearby. The resent status of bird species is needed to assess the diversity of birds with the respect to distribution and seasonal variation after the construction of Yangon-Nepyitaw, Myanmar after twenty years ago. A total of 50 species of 27 genera, 22 families under nine orders were recorded. That represented 44 resident species (32 terrestrial species and 12 water bird species), and 6 species of migratory birds (1 terrestrial species and 5 water bird species). As habitat utilization, 24 bird species in paddy fields, 21 species in scattered trees, 33 species in wetland and 25 species in forest habitat types were investigated. Some species used more than one habitat types. According to the assessment of abundance categories based on the calculation of individual numbers of the birds, abundant category (3 species), common bird (1 species), frequent category (5 species), uncommon category (3 species) and rare species (28 species) were categorized. Hence, bird community was still sustainable in this area. In the aspect of conservation status, all recorded bird species were under least concern categories, according to the IUCN Redlist in the study area.

Seasonal resource selection of an arboreal habitatspecialist in a human-dominated landscape: A case studyusing red panda

Human-dominated landscapes provide heterogeneous wildlife habitat. Conservation of habitat specialists, like red pandas Ailurus fulgens, inhabiting such landscapes is challenging. Therefore, information on resource use across spatial and temporal scales could enable informed-decisionmaking with better conservation outcomes. We aimed to examine the effect of geo-physical, vegetation, and disturbance variables on fine-scalehabitat selection of red pandas in one such landscape. We equipped 10 red pandas with GPS collars in eastern Nepal in 2019 and monitoredthem for 1 year. Our analysis was based on a generalized-linear-mixed model. We found the combined effect of geo-physical, vegetation, anddisturbance variables resulted in differences in resource selection of red pandas and that the degree of response to these variables variedacross seasons. Human disturbances, especially road and cattle herding activities, affected habitat utilization throughout the year whereas othervariables were important only during restricted periods. For instance, geo-physical variables were influential in the premating and cub-rearingseasons while vegetation variables were important in all seasons other than premating. Red pandas selected steeper slopes with high solarinsolation in the premating season while they occupied elevated areas and preferred specific aspects in the cub-rearing season. Furthermore,the utilized areas had tall bamboo in the birthing and cub-rearing seasons while they also preferred diverse tree species and high shrub coverin the latter. Our study demonstrates the significance of season-specific management, suggests the importance of specific types of vegetationduring biologically crucial periods, and emphasizes the necessity to minimize disturbances throughout the year.