We present a genome assembly from an individual male
(the Western Capercaillie; Chordata; Aves; Galliformes; Phasianidae). The genome sequence is 1,013.2 megabases in length. Most of the assembly is ...scaffolded into 39 chromosomal pseudomolecules, including the Z sex chromosome. The mitochondrial genome has also been assembled and is 16.68 kilobases in length.
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•The capercaillie is a prominent umbrella species of conservation concern across Eurasia.•We examined forest harvesting methods and human activity impacts on ...capercaillie.•High-intensity clearfelling had a large negative impact on capercaillie abundance.•Low intensity selective logging had a positive effect.•Protection of old-growth forests and emulating partial stand disturbance is recommended.
Deforestation and fragmentation of forests worldwide are negatively impacting biodiversity. The capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus) is an endangered umbrella species of montane forests in central Europe. Despite its status, it has largely been overlooked in forest management planning in the Carpathian Mountains, a biodiversity hotspot within the European Union. Previous investigations of timber management effects on capercaillie have shown contradictory results within Europe; habitat loss and fragmentation due to intensive forest management have been implicated in population declines, while other studies have suggested neutral or positive effects. In Romania, recent changes in forest management have shifted from extensive, selective logging to intensive clearcutting; this change provides the opportunity to assess the effects of harvesting on capercaillie numbers across a full range of forest management intensities, thereby addressing discrepancies in the literature. Across the Southern and Eastern Carpathian mountains from 2009–2011, we used spring counts of capercaillie males at leks to evaluate the impact of forest management, other human activities, and habitat at two spatial scales – stand (∼2ha) and landscape (∼300ha). At the landscape level, the proportion of forest clearcuts and intensity of tourism had significant negative effects on the number of capercaillie males in the lek. In contrast, low intensity selective logging had a positive effect at the local stand (lek) level. Large scale (landscape level) forest clear-cutting had a negative effect on the capercaillie population – areas comprised of clearcuts of 30% reduced male lek counts by 76%. The protection of intact mature and old-growth forests, and forest management practices that emulate natural disturbance processes are recommended to support habitat of this critical umbrella species and associated biodiversity.
The capercaillie Tetrao urogallus - the world's largest grouse- is a circumboreal forest species, which only two remaining populations in Spain: one in the Cantabrian mountains in the west and the ...other in the Pyrenees further east. Both have shown severe declines, especially in the Cantabrian population, which has recently been classified as “Critically Endangered”. To develop management plans, information on demographic parameters is necessary to understand and forecast population dynamics. We used spatial capture-recapture (SCR) modeling and non-invasive DNA samples to estimate the current population size in the whole Cantabrian mountain range. In addition, for the assessment of population status, we analyzed the population trajectory over the last 42 years (1978–2019) at 196 leks on the Southern slope of the range, using an integrated population model with a Dail-Madsen model at its core, combined with a multistate capture-recapture model for survival and a Poisson regression for productivity. For 2019, we estimate the size of the entire population at 191 individuals (95% BCI 165–222) for an estimated 60 (48–78) females and 131 (109–157) males. Since the 1970s, our study estimates a shrinkage of the population range by 83%. The population at the studied leks in 2019 was at about 10% of the size estimated for 1978. Apparent annual survival was estimated at 0.707 (0.677–0.735), and per-capita recruitment at 0.233 (0.207–0.262), and insufficient to maintain a stable population. We suggest work to improve the recruitment (and survival) and manage these mountain forests for capercaillie conservation. Also, in the future, management should assess the genetic viability of this population.
Distribution map for the 1970's (from Castroviejo et al., 1974) and current range of the Cantabrian capercaillie. In the inset, location of the study area in Spain. Display omitted
•Cantabrian capercaillie population has recently been classified as "Critically Endangered" by Spanish Government.•To develop management plans, information on demographic parameters are necessary to understand population dynamics.•In 2019 we estimated the size of population at 191 individuals.•Since the 1970s, we estimated a shrinkage of the population range by 83%.•Apparent annual survival was estimated at 0.707 and per-capita recruitment at 0.233.
Knowledge about changes occurring in the genetic structure of populations is extremely important in the case of endangered species. Research studies conducted in space and time allow us to identify ...factors that are influencing gene flow. Especially in the case of species occurring in the form of dispersed, more or less isolated populations, this is crucial for developing effective conservation strategies. The Carpathians are one of the most important capercaillies stronghold in Central Europe. The population here is fragmented, and at least, some groups of birds are small and isolated. This study aimed to determine whether the genetic structure of the capercaillie in the Polish part of the Carpathians has changed over the last decade. The research was conducted in three Polish national parks: Babia Góra National Park (BAB), Gorce (GOR) and Tatra (TAT). A total of over 1,300 non-invasive samples were collected for genetic analyses in two periods: 2010–2013 and 2021–2022. Individuals were identified using microsatellite markers. It was found that during the research period, there were approximately 200 capercaillie individuals in the Parks. The level of genetic variability in individual strongholds has not changed significantly. However, traces of a new gene pool were found in BAB, which could have appeared from other areas of the Carpathians where the species is being reintroduced. GOR shows features of a sink population: low genetic variability, low number of individuals and gradual decline in emigration. During the period covered by the study, the genetic structure has changed little: the studied strongholds are partially genetically isolated, but gene flow between BAB and GOR appears to be increasingly limited. TAT is a hybrid and transition zone for gene flow between smaller strongholds. The results emphasize the importance of areas with stable, numerous populations for the survival of smaller, peripheral groups of the capercaillie in mountain areas.
The recovery of mammalian predators of conservation concern in Europe is a success story, but their impact on some prey species of conservation concern may cause conservation dilemmas. This calls for ...effective intervention strategies that mitigate predator impacts without compromising their recovery.
We evaluated diversionary feeding as a management intervention tool to reduce depredation on nests of rapidly declining Western capercaillies in Scotland. We studied the influence of diversionary feeding provision on the fates of artificial nests deployed using a replicated and representative randomised landscape‐scale experiment. This comprised 30 'paired' control (no diversionary feeding) and treatment (diversionary feeding applied) sites, 60 in total, each containing six artificial nests distributed across 600 km2. The experiment was replicated over 2 years, and in the second year, the control‐treatment pairs were reversed, yielding 60 treatment and 60 control sites and 720 artificial nests.
Diversionary feeding substantially reduced depredation of artificial nests, translating into an 82.5% increase in predicted nest survival over 28 days of incubation. The increase in survival was mostly accounted for by a reduction in the probability that a pine marten, the main nest predator, consumed or cached eggs. Diversionary food also significantly reduced nest predation by badgers, although the magnitude of this effect varied by year.
Synthesis and applications. Diversionary feeding is an easily employable method shown in this study to reduce predator impact (functional) without lethal (numerical) intervention. Managers should proceed with its application for conserving capercaillie in Scotland without delay.
Diversionary feeding is an easily employable method shown in this study to reduce predator impact (functional) without lethal (numerical) intervention.
Wild vertebrates usually avoid ground disturbed by humans with uncertain effects on their distribution and density. We report on a natural experiment that confirms and extends previous conclusions ...about how the local distribution of capercaillie is affected by track‐based disturbance. We surveyed the birds' droppings in two periods, before and after a predicted increase in disturbance adjacent to an expanding Scottish village, and model the probability of finding droppings in relation to period plus two disturbance gradients – distance to a much disturbed ‘entry zone' with a high density of tracks lying adjacent to the village, plus distance to the nearest track. Throughout the study, no droppings were found within the entry zone and their density was depressed up to 400 m from it. Density of droppings was also depressed within 100–120 m of tracks but, compared to a notional scenario without tracks, was threefold greater on ground 120–250 m from tracks. Although the number of cocks counted at the lek in spring showed a small increase, there was an almost threefold decline in the probability of finding capercaillie droppings on and within about 40 m of tracks. We infer that, after the development, birds were less likely to use or cross tracks in pursuit of their daily living requirements, with unknown consequences for their population dynamics and vital rates. Our results have implications for refuge design. Birds on roughly half of a 50 ha refuge should be undisturbed by direct effects of track‐based activities. However, birds shifting away from tracks may themselves cause local increases in density and associated, indirect disturbance such that a refuge would need to be over 300 ha to keep half of it undisturbed.
Mountain environments provide habitats for many wild animal species and are of great importance to recreational activities. In the European Alps, winter recreation activities such as ski ...mountaineering are becoming increasingly popular, which may lead more often to disturbance of Alpine wildlife. Assessment of ski mountaineering activities and related potential conflict zones is needed to implement protection measures and to guide skiers towards nature-friendly behaviour in sensitive locations. Yet basic data regarding frequencies of ski mountaineers is still missing at regional scale. For the Region of the Tyrol (Austria), this study therefore aimed to advance methods of assessing ski mountaineering activities for use in the spatial analysis of conflict zones with grouse species. We overlaid high-resolution information on the spatial and temporal distribution of ski mountaineers from crowd-sourced data (Strava) with distribution maps of capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus L.) and black grouse (Tetrao tetrix L.). Our results indicate that ski mountaineering activities affected 10.3% of the distribution area of black grouse and 8.6% of the distribution area of capercaillie. The raw crowd-sourced data was pre-processed with local information on skiing resorts, cross-country trails and infrastructure and use of the tested method was validated, with good spatial resolution (0.076 km2 per minimum mapping unit) for large study areas. We identified four intensity classes of ski mountaineering activity, which were randomly distributed in the study area. The spatial distribution of ski mountaineering activities showed an accumulation of activities in the south of the Inn valley. Our results could provide a valuable basis for developing mitigation measures and strategies in order to reduce the disturbance of Alpine wildlife by ski mountaineering.
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•We identify potentially disturbed grouse areas in Tyrol.•Crowd-sourced data from Strava reveals the extent of ski mountaineering activities.•Strava data was available at high temporal and spatial resolution.•Potential black grouse and capercaillie distribution covers 16.1 and 8.5% of Tyrol.•10.3% of black grouse and 8.6% of capercaillie distribution areas were affected.
Growing pressure on natural resources is leading to more conservation conflicts. Governments and their statutory agencies devote increasing financial and human resources to this subject, but tend to ...adopt reactive, ad hoc approaches to management. We combined theory and empirical data about five conservation conflicts in a transdisciplinary collaboration to co‐develop a novel decision‐making tool. This tool uses a systematic stepwise approach with six distinct decision stages: (i) establishing whether there is a conflict or an impact; (ii) understanding the context of the conflict, including the stakeholders affected; (iii) developing shared understanding of the conflict and goals; (iv) building a consensus on how to reach the goals; (v) implementing measures; and (vi) monitoring the outcomes. Policy implications. We argue this new tool has wide applicability and democratic legitimacy and offers an exciting and practical approach to improve the management of conservation conflicts.
We designed a participatory monitoring program for the capercaillie population in the French Pyrenees based on lek censuses conducted during the breeding season. This program was implemented by a ...consortium of stakeholders interested in the conservation of French galliforms. The program, carried out since 2010, relied on a dual frame sampling approach: The first sampled frame was the list of all known leks in the study area. We distinguished two types of known leks: leks known to be active before the onset of the program (with at least one cock detected since 2000) and leks with an indeterminate activity status at the time of the onset of the program. The monitoring program also accounted for the existence of leks that were unknown due mainly to incomplete expert knowledge. We therefore built a complementary area frame by discretizing the study area into a set of 4‐km2 grid cells. These cells were then sampled and searched to find unknown leks. When unknown leks were found, cock censuses were organized. An additional field experiment allowed us to estimate the detection probability of unknown leks during these cell searches. We then fitted two hierarchical models: (i) An N‐mixture model fitted to the lek census data set allowed us to estimate the mean number of cocks on the three types of leks (known active, known indeterminate, and unknown leks); and (ii) another model fitted to the cell search data set allowed us to estimate the number of unknown leks in the studied mountain range. By multiplying the estimated mean numbers of cocks associated with the three types of leks by the number of leks of each type (an estimated value in the case of unknown leks), we obtained estimates of the total numbers of cocks on all leks at different spatial scales in the study area every 2 years. Our model suggests that the capercaillie cock population was stable from 2010 to 2017 over the whole range but decreased slightly in the foothill area and western part, a decrease that worsened in 2018–2019.
Outdoor recreation activities are growing in popularity, causing increasing pressure on wildlife. There are various ways in which wildlife reacts to recreation activities, ranging from behavioural to ...physiological responses, with regional variation in response-intensity within the same species. We tested whether the effects of human recreation are modulated by overall structural habitat suitability, using a model that included vegetation and topography, at both the regional and local habitat use scale. By undertaking a systematic, plot-based survey over 13 years in 13 study regions across central Europe, we studied how recreation infrastructure and habitat suitability interact and affect the variation in regional densities and local habitat use of an endangered model species: the western capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus). Both regional densities and local habitat use varied greatly between study years and regions. Capercaillie densities were positively correlated with average habitat suitability, but significantly reduced when over 50% of the area was influenced by recreation activities. Habitat suitability was the main predictor determining local habitat use. Recreation infrastructures were avoided: the effect being stronger in poor habitat conditions, while slightly mediated by high habitat suitability. Our results indicate that effects of recreation activities might be mitigated by improving habitat suitability; however this has limits because it only affects local scale habitat use but not regional densities. We stress the importance of recreation-free areas which must cover extensive (i.e. >50%) parts of the species range.
•Intensive recreational use affects local population densities.•Habitat suitability affects how wildlife reacts to recreation activities.•Strongest effects of recreation were found under poor habitat conditions.•Habitat improvements can mitigate negative effects of recreation activities.
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