Translocation is an important component of northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) recovery efforts, given the scale of their decline and inability to rapidly recolonize recently restored habitat. Repopulating sites in northern latitudes that are distant from reliable source populations may require long‐distance trap and transport from southern locales, potentially compounding existing obstacles for this renascent population recovery technique. The landscape connectivity hypothesis predicts that site fidelity and survival would be lower if release properties are small and fragmented and home range sizes would be smaller and dispersal distances would be lower if habitat quality at the release site is perceived to be high and the surrounding matrix is of low permeability. We evaluated this hypothesis to determine if northern bobwhite survival, site fidelity, and resource selection following translocation differed between 2 contrasting landscapes in the Mid‐Atlantic region of the United States. We translocated 508 radio‐collared northern bobwhites from northern Florida and southern Georgia, to small, fragmented properties on the eastern shore of Maryland and large, contiguous properties in southern New Jersey, USA. We monitored northern bobwhites via radio‐telemetry from approximately 1 April through 30 September, 2015–2018, 2–7 times a week. Breeding season (182 days after release) survival varied among sites, and was generally higher at the 2 New Jersey release sites than at the 2 Maryland sites, yet an acclimation period is ostensibly required to obtain reasonable breeding survival estimates to elicit population growth. Site fidelity, maximum dispersal distances, and home range sizes were lower at the smaller, fragmented Maryland properties than the larger New Jersey properties. These results support the landscape connectivity hypothesis such that reduced connectivity in our study decreased site fidelity and survival. Temporal variation in survival was potentially an artifact of translocation stress or maladaptive behavior during initial acclimation to the release sites, indicating that higher stocking rates may be needed to provide adequate founder abundance for translocation success. Northern bobwhites used early‐successional cover at all sites, though selection varied based on scale of analysis and landscape context. These vital rate estimates and resource use patterns should be used to guide future translocations within the Mid‐Atlantic, provide perspective for this population restoration technique range wide, and stimulate further investigation into limiting factors. © 2020 The Wildlife Society.

中文翻译：

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北鲍勃怀特州远距离迁移后，景观连通性影响生存和资源利用

易位是北鲍勃（Colinus virginianus）恢复工作，因为其数量下降且无法迅速重新定殖最近恢复的栖息地。在远离可靠来源种群的北纬地区重新居住的地点可能需要从南部地区进行长距离诱捕和运输，这可能使这种新生的种群恢复技术面临更多的障碍。景观连通性假设预测，如果释放特性小且碎片化，场地保真度和生存率会降低；如果认为释放地点的栖息地质量高且周围的基质是高的，则栖息地范围较小，散布距离会更小。低渗透性。我们评估了这一假设，以确定北部的bobwhite存活率，地点保真度，在美国中大西洋地区的两个对比景观之间，易位后的资源选择和资源选择有所不同。我们从佛罗里达州北部和佐治亚州南部将508只放射状的北变色龙转移到马里兰州东海岸的小型零碎物业和美国新泽西州南部的大型连续物业。从2015年4月1日至9月30日（2015-2018年），我们通过无线电遥测仪每周监测2次，监测北极北白鼬。繁殖季节（释放后182天）的存活率因地点而异，并且在新泽西州的两个释放地点通常高于马里兰州的两个地点，但表面上需要一个适应期才能获得合理的繁殖生存率估计值，以引起种群增长。站点保真度，最大散布距离，在较小的，零散的马里兰州房产中，房屋范围较小，而新泽西州的房屋范围较小。这些结果支持了景观连通性假说，以至于我们研究中连通性降低会降低站点保真度和生存率。生存的时间变化可能是在初始适应释放位点期间易位压力或适应不良行为的假象，这表明可能需要更高的放养率才能为易位成功提供足够的奠基者。尽管选择的地点根据分析的规模和景观背景而异，但北部的短吻鳄在所有地点都使用了早期的掩护。这些生命率估算值和资源使用方式应用于指导未来大西洋中部的迁移，为这一范围广泛的种群恢复技术提供了前景，并刺激了对限制因素的进一步研究。©2020野生动物协会。