UPDATE!
We had a large grouse crew this year! In spring 2008, I continued my grouse surveys at Cloquet for a 3rd season and did some additional pilot surveys at nearby sites including the Sawyer Wildlife Management Area and parts of the Carlton County Memorial Forest. The surveys at Cloquet showed us that the grouse numbers are pretty similar to last year and did not increase very much, even though they are on the upswing of their population cycle. We found 65 activity centers versus the 63 activity centers we found in 2007. I monitored 9 male grouse at their drumming logs using remote video systems for a total of 15 males that have been monitored since 2007.
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RUFFED GROUSE IN MINNESOTA:
The general goal of the Minnesota ruffed grouse project is to improve our ability to accurately assess grouse habitat use by incorporating both climate and habitat factors into models of stand occupancy. We are using data previously collected by Gordy Gullion to develop predictive models of drumming log occupancy based on weather, habitat, and their interactions. We will evaluate the performance of these models with field data that we are currently collecting. In addition, we will attempt to improve the predictability of models using multi-scale habitat variables. Many state agencies rely heavily on drumming surveys to assess population trends and habitat use. The only problem with drumming techniques is that if a surveyor does not detect/hear a drummer in a forest stand, it is uncertain whether the surveyor simply did not hear the bird or the stand is actually not occupied. Thus, we will assess the performance of drumming surveys and provide guidelines for designing future surveys.
PERSONNEL:
In spring 2006, Guthrie Zimmerman successfully defended his dissertation and graduated, and Lorelle Berkeley took over the grouse project. As expected, the grouse population began increasing this year after a few years of decline. The field crew found over 50 activity centers this season at Cloquet.
SAGE GROUSE HABITAT AND CONSERVATION
The sage grouse (Centrocercus urophaseania) has declined throughout its North American range. This decline has been particularly pronounced at the edge of the species' range. Thus, my recent M.S. student Gail Popham studied sage grouse habitat selection at the edge of its range in NE California. We will be presenting these results at the 8th International Grouse Congress in Beijing, China in August 2002.
I am also interested in the conservation of the sage grouse and the sage grouse ecosystem because of the interaction of game bird management, habitat management, and private land management. As an expression of this interest I was asked to summarize a sage grouse symposium at the 2001 TWS annual meeting in Reno, Nevada. In addition, I serve as a technical advisor for a large ranch in Wyoming/Montana for their effort to manage grouse and other wildlife.
PHYLOGENETIC RELATIONSHIPS OF GROUSE BASED ON mtDNA SEQUENCES
George Barrowclough (American Museum of Natural History) and I have been collaborating on the study of phylogenetic relationships of grouse. My interest in this research stems from a desire to provide an evolutionary framework for ecological and behavioral work on grouse. To that end we developed a classification of the grouse using mtDNA sequences (see Wildlife Biology 2000; 6:205-211). This study is being expanded to include nuclear genes.
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R.J. Gutierrez | GROUSE RESEARCH | |||||||
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Dept. of Fisheries, Wildlife,
and Conservation Biology · College
of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences |