Northern Bobwhites and Habitat Fragmentation
WHF’s crowning achievement, under the leadership of Jim Willis, was the establishment of a 7-mile corridor of Bobwhite quail habitat linking the Atwater Prairie Chicken Refuge with other existing habitats in the Cat Spring area.
Read about Northern bobwhite and their habitat fragmentation in Caesar Kleberg Tracks – Spring 2023.
Northern bobwite have been declining across their geographic range for many decades, and habitat loss and habitat fragmentation are considered the ultimate cause of the bobwhite decline. Although bobwhites in Texas are doing relatively better than in other parts of the species’ range, bobwhite populations in the northern part of the state appear to be performaing worse than in the souther portion, and habitat loss and fragmentation have been proposed as a possible explanation. However, to date, no one had quantified or compared the amount of bobwhite habitat between these regions. Thus, we [the authors] wanted to apply a network perspective to bobwhite habitat and compare habitat characteristics (amount and connectivity) between northern and southern Texas and relate those metrics to bobwhite abundance.
What is the Cost? Northern Bobwhites and Habitat Fragmentation by Kristyn Stewart, Fidel Hernandez, Sabrina Szeto, Jon Horne, Alejandra Olivera-Mendez, Angela Guerrero, and John McLaughlin
Read the entire article here. Or on the online publication: CK Tracks Spring 2023.pdf (tamuk.edu) on page 8.
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