The northern bobwhite decline: scaling our management for the twenty-first century

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Author(s)Williams, Christopher K.
Author(s)Guthery, Fred S.
Author(s)Applegate, Roger D.
Author(s)Peterson, Markus J.
Date Accessioned2023-12-12T15:16:14Z
Date Available2023-12-12T15:16:14Z
Publication Date2004-09
DescriptionThis article was originally published in Wildlife Society Bulletin. The version of record is available at: https://doi.org/10.2193/0091-7648(2004)032<0861:TNBDSO>2.0.CO;2.
AbstractNorthern bobwhites (Colinus virginianus) are one of the most broadly researched and intensively managed species in North America. However, we argue that a disadvantage of this status is that traditional management principles currently are incompatible with the spatial scale necessary to address the nationwide decline in bobwhite abundance. We maintain that halting or reversing this decline will entail 2 principal changes in the scale of management. Primarily we suggest that habitat oversight must switch from historical fine-scale management (promotion of edge habitat, weedy fencelines, disked strips, living hedges, and food plots) to regional management of usable space. Secondly, within these regional management areas, we should apply harvest management that employs risk-sensitive strategies that conservatively avoid undermining the primary goal. This entails narrowing the scale of harvest management from statewide to regional levels. If these ideological changes cannot be made and historical policies remain in force, we risk failing to stabilize, let alone increase, bobwhite populations.
SponsorWe appreciate the support of K. Sexson and Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks; the Department of Zoology at the University of Wisconsin; the Bollenbach Endowment and Game Bird Research Fund at the Department of Forestry, Oklahoma State University; and The Institute for Science, Technology, and Public Policy in the George Bush School of Government and Public Service and the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station at Texas A&M University. We thank L. Brennan, D. Brown, S. Craven, D. Fields, A. Forbes, K. Gross, C. Harvey, T. Heberlein, A. Ives, S. Lutz, B. Ruff, and K. Tilmon for reviews and advice.
ISSN2328-5540
URLhttps://udspace.udel.edu/handle/19716/33684
Languageen_US
PublisherWildlife Society Bulletin
Keywordsbroad-scale
KeywordsColinus virginianus
Keywordsfine-scale
Keywordshabitat
Keywordsharvest
Keywordsmanagement
Keywordsnorthern bobwhite
Keywordsusable space
Keywordslife on land
TitleThe northern bobwhite decline: scaling our management for the twenty-first century
TypeArticle
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