Winter habitat requirements of White Eared-pheasant Crossoptilon crossoptilon and Blood Pheasant Ithaginis cruentus in south-west China

Abstract

Understanding the habitat needs of White Eared-pheasant Crossoptilon crossoptilon and Blood Pheasant Ithaginis cruentus is important for their conservation. We carried out field surveys of the two pheasants around Zhujie Monastery, Daocheng County, Sichuan Province, China, using line transects. In total, 172 200 × 200 m grid squares were obtained, including 56 active and 116 inactive ones for White Eared-pheasant and 45 active and 127 inactive ones for Blood Pheasant. We analysed the occurrence of both species by logistic multiple regression. The most important variables in model 1 for White Eared-pheasant were distance to nearest permanent water, shrub cover, tree cover, tree height and herb cover. In model 2 for Blood Pheasant, distance to nearest permanent water, shrub cover, herb cover and herb height were most important. The occurrence of both pheasants was negatively related to distance to nearest permanent water and herb cover, and positively related to shrub cover. The occurrence of White Eared-pheasant was positively related to tree cover and tree height, and that of Blood Pheasant to herb height. Water, food and predation risk were the main ecological factors affecting the species' distribution. Based on the two predictive models, conservation management was proposed, to include management of selectively-logged areas and substituting other energy sources, such as electricity, for firewood.