Efforts to halt the decline of the northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus; bobwhite) across its distribution have had limited success. Understanding bobwhite habitat requirements across the annual cycle and at varying scales is essential to aid efforts to conserve bobwhites. We monitored radio‐tagged bobwhites from 2016 to 2018 on a 165‐km² portion of Fort Bragg Military Installation in the Sandhills physiographic region of North Carolina, USA, to determine factors influencing non‐breeding bobwhite habitat selection at multiple scales. We used generalized linear models (GLM) and generalized linear mixed models to assess bobwhite habitat selection at the microsite scale (the immediate vicinity of an animal) and the macrosite scale (across the study area), respectively, by comparing used points to available random points. At the microsite scale, bobwhites strongly selected areas with greater woody understory cover. Also, bobwhite selection increased with greater forb and switchcane (Arundinaria tecta) cover, but this effect plateaued at 65% forb cover and 50% switchcane cover. At the macrosite scale, bobwhites generally selected areas with greater understory cover within a 200‐m radius but avoided areas with >55% understory cover; these areas primarily were located in the core areas of drainages with extensive ericaceous vegetation. Bobwhites selected areas with 3–6 m²/ha hardwood basal area in uplands, potentially because of the availability of mast, but avoided uplands when pine (Pinus spp.) or hardwood basal area exceeded 20 m²/ha or 12 m²/ha, respectively, likely because high basal area is associated with increased shading and subsequent loss of understory cover. In addition, bobwhites selected uplands 1 growing season (≥2‐month period falling entirely between 1 Apr and 1 Oct) post‐fire regardless of burn season. Overall, managers seeking to improve habitat quality for bobwhites in longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) woodlands should employ management practices that maintain available woody understory across the landscape to provide cover during the non‐breeding season. © 2020 The Wildlife Society.

中文翻译：

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长叶松林地北部山毛榉非繁殖生境的选择

阻止北部美洲白腹（Colinus virginianus ;美洲白腹）分布下降的努力取得了有限的成功。了解整个年度周期和不同规模的水牛栖息地要求对于帮助保护水牛至关重要。我们从2016年到2018年在165公里²的距离上监测了带有无线电标记的bobwhites美国北卡罗来纳州桑德希尔斯自然地理区的布拉格堡军事设施的一部分，以确定在多个尺度上影响非繁殖性bobwhite栖息地选择的因素。我们使用广义线性模型（GLM）和广义线性混合模型，分别通过比较使用的点数和可用的随机数，评估了微型站点规模（动物的紧邻区域）和宏观站点规模（整个研究区域）的短毛猫栖息地选择。点。在微型场地规模上，bobwhites强烈选择木质下层覆盖率较高的区域。同样，随着白头翁和甘蔗的增加，鲍白的选择也增加了（Arundinaria tecta）罩，但此效果稳定在65％的前叉罩和50％的开关蔗罩上。在宏观尺度上，短白通常选择在200m半径内具有较高的林下覆盖率的区域，但要避免具有> 55％的林下覆盖率的区域；这些地区主要位于排水系统的核心地区，那里有大量的白垩性植被。Bobwhites选择了山地中硬木基面积为3–6 m ² / ha的区域，可能是由于桅杆的可用性，但是当松树（Pinus spp。）或硬木基面积超过20 m ² / ha或12 m ²时避免了高地/公顷，分别可能是因为较高的基础面积与阴影增加和随后的林下覆盖率降低相关。此外，无论烧伤季节如何，bobwhites会在火后1个生长季节（≥2个月的时期，从4月1日至10月1日全部下降）中选择高地。总体而言，寻求改善长叶松（Pinus palustris）林地鲍勃白鼠栖息地质量的管理人员应采用管理措施，保持整个景观中可用的木本林下层，以在非繁殖季节提供遮盖物。©2020野生动物协会。