Ruffed grouse selection of drumming sites in the Black Hills National Forest

Abstract

Ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus) are important game birds that depend on multiple forest age-classes of aspen (Populus spp.) for food and cover, which makes them an appropriate management indicator species for the condition of quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) communities in the Black Hills National Forest of western South Dakota and northeastern Wyoming (BHNF). Recent landscape-scale drumming surveys showed that occupancy of ruffed grouse in the BHNF depended primarily on the amount of aspendominated vegetation within a 95 ha site. However, an investigation of drumming site characteristics is lacking. To evaluate drumming site selection, we located and measured the drumming structure and surrounding vegetation for 49 primary drumming sites and 147 paired unused sites during 2007 and 2008. We used discrete-choice modeling with an information-theoretic approach to evaluate resource characteristics of drumming sites associated with use.

Citation

Hansen, Christopher P.; Rumble, Mark A.; Millspaugh, Joshua J. 2011. Ruffed grouse selection of drumming sites in the Black Hills National Forest. The American Midland Naturalist. 165(2): 400-411.