Study On Home Range And Habitat Of Elliot's Pheasant (Syrmaticus Ellioti)

Home ranges and habitat of Elliot's Pheasant were studied systematically from August 2005 to June 2007 in Guanshan National Nature Reserve, Jiangxi province. Based on field survey, the main results by geomatics technique (3S) and multiple statistics analysis were revealed as followings:1. Seasonal variations in home range and habitat type selection by male Elliot's PheasantsThe home range size of Elliot's Pheasants showed significantly seasonal differences. The home range size was 26.11±3.89 ha(95% Fixed Kernel) in spring which was the largest in a year,however that in winter was 3.08±0.62 ha(95% Fixed Kernel)which was the least. The core area sizes of home range had not significantly seasonal differences. The move ability of Elliot's Pheasants had significantly seasonal differences. The move ability of Elliot's Pheasants in spring was the largest and exceeded those in sunmer, autumn and winter. And it was 363.74±36.21m in spring which was the largest, however, in summer it was the least and was 225.30±21.92m.Overlapping of home range was common among individuals. The overlap area was large between continuous years, but it was just a little between continuous seasons.Male Elliot's Pheasants had selectivity for the habitat types in spring and winter.They preferred the habitat of Evergreen-broadleaf forest, and avoided Evergreen-deciduous broadleaved mixed forest and bamboo forest in winter;however,they tended to select the habitat with Evergreen-broadleaf forest,and avoided conifer forest in spring.2. Habitat selection of Elliot's Pheasant(1) Wintering habitat selectionWintering habitat selection of Elliot's Pheasants was investigated in Guanshan National Nature Reserve. The factors influencing habitat selection of Elliot's Pheasants in microhabitat were mainly slope degree,slope aspect, shrubs spieces, shrubs numbers, herbage number and coverage degree of leaf litter; those at 100m scale were mainly the areas of evergreen-broadleaf forest, evergreen-deciduous broadleaved mixed forest and shrub-grassland; and those at 200m scale were mainly the area of evergreen-broadleaf forest. In addition, the distances to water and road were the factors influencing habitat selection of Elliot's Pheasant.According to the variables put into the Binary Logistic Model established in the paper, the key factors influencing habitat selection of Elliot's Pheasant were the cosine of slope direction, shrubs number, the area of Evergreen-broadleaf forest at the scale of 100m and the distance to water.(2)Habitat selection in breeding seasonElliot's Pheasant had the selectivity for habitat at multi-space scales. The factors influencing habitat selection of Elliot's Pheasants in microhabitat during breeding period were mainly slope degree, shrubs numbers, herbage number and coverage of herbage; those at 130m and 290m scale were the area of evergreen-broadleaf forest and conifer-broadleaf mixed forest; and the distance to road was also the factor influencing habitat selection of Elliot's Pheasant. According to the variables put into the Binary Logistic Model on breeding habitat selection of Elliot's Pheasant established in the paper, the key factors influencing habitat selection of Elliot's Pheasant were slope degree, number of herbs, and the areas of conifer-broadleaf mixed forest at 130m and 290m scale.(3)The difference of habitat between the breeding period and the wintering periodCharacteristics of the habitat used by Elliot's Pheasant were significantly different between the breeding period and the wintering period. At the scale of micro-habitat, they differed mainly in 5 factors such as the cosine of slope direction, number of shrubs, coverage degree of herbage, herbage number and coverage degree of leaf litter. At the scale of home range size(290m during breeding period via 200m during wintering period), they differed mainly in 3 habitat factors such as the area of conifer-broadleaf mixed forest, the area of bamboo forest and the acrea of conifer forest. In addition, the distance to water was also significantly different between breeding habitat and wintering habitat used by Elliot's Pheasant.3. Habitat suitability evaluation and landscape ecological design for Elliot's PheasantThe habitat evaluation factors were studied and confirmed for Elliot's Pheasant,based on field survey from 2005 to 2007 in Guanshan National Nature Reserve,Jiangxi province,China. Their evaluation criteria were established according to the resources selection index at different grades of every evaluation factors.Then,habitat suitability was evaluated for Elliot's Pheasant using geographic information system (GIS) analysis in Guanshan National Nature Reserve. Eventually, based on the habitat suitability evaluation,key area,buffer area and corridors of the nature reserve were designed for Elliot's Pheasant conservation.