Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Estimates of annual survival, growth, and recruitment of a white-tailed ptarmigan population in Colorado over 43 years

  • Original article
  • Published:
Population Ecology

Abstract

Long-term datasets for high-elevation species are rare, and considerable uncertainty exists in understanding how high-elevation populations have responded to recent climate warming. We present estimates of demographic vital rates from a 43-year population study of white-tailed ptarmigan (Lagopus leucura), a species endemic to alpine habitats in western North America. We used capture-recapture models to estimate annual rates of apparent survival, population growth, and recruitment for breeding-age ptarmigan, and we fit winter weather covariates to models in an attempt to explain annual variation. There were no trends in survival over the study period but there was strong support for age and sex effects. The average rate of annual growth suggests a relatively stable breeding-age population (\( \bar{\lambda } \) = 1.036), but there was considerable variation between years for both population growth and recruitment rates. Winter weather covariates only explained a small amount of variation in female survival and were not an important predictor of male survival. Cumulative winter precipitation was found to have a quadratic effect on female survival, with survival being highest during years of average precipitation. Cumulative winter precipitation was positively correlated with population growth and recruitment rates, although this covariate only explained a small amount of annual variation in these rates and there was considerable uncertainty among the models tested. Our results provide evidence for an alpine-endemic population that has not experienced extirpation or drastic declines. However, more information is needed to understand risks and vulnerabilities of warming effects on juveniles as our analysis was confined to determination of vital rates for breeding-age birds.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Barbraud C, Weimerskirch H (2001) Emperor penguins and climate change. Nature 411:183–186

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Benson D (1999) Causes and consequences of the evolution of monogamy in white-tailed ptarmigan. PhD dissertation, Washington State University, Pullman

  • Berteaux D, Réale D, McAdam AG, Boutin S (2004) Keeping pace with fast climate change: can arctic life count on evolution? Integr Comp Biol 44:140–151

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Blöschl G, Kirnbauer R (1992) An analysis of snowcover patterns in a small alpine catchment. Hydrol Process 6:99–109

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Both C, Bouwhuis S, Lessells CM, Visser ME (2006) Climate change and population declines in a long-distance migratory bird. Nature 441:81–83

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Braun CE (1969) Population dynamics, habitat, and movements of white-tailed ptarmigan in Colorado. PhD dissertation, Colorado State University, Fort Collins

  • Braun CE (1971) Seasonal trends in body fat of white-tailed ptarmigan. Bull Ecol Soc Am 52:44

    Google Scholar 

  • Braun CE, Rogers GE (1967) Determination of age and sex of the southern white-tailed ptarmigan. Colorado Division of Game, Fish and Parks Game Information Leaflet 54, 1st edn. Colorado Division of Game, Fish, and Parks, Fort Collins

  • Braun CE, Schmidt RK (1971) Effects of snow and wind on wintering populations of white-tailed ptarmigan in Colorado. In: Haugen AO (ed) Proceedings of the snow and ice symposium. Iowa Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit, Iowa State University, Ames, pp 238–250

  • Braun CE, Schmidt RK, Rogers GE (1973) Census of Colorado white-tailed ptarmigan with tape-recorded calls. J Wildl Manag 37:90–93

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Braun CE, Hoffman RW, Rogers GE (1976) Wintering areas and winter ecology of white-tailed ptarmigan in Colorado. Colorado Division of Wildlife Special Report Number 38. Colorado Division of Wildlife, Fort Collins

  • Braun CE, Martin K, Robb LA (1993) White-tailed ptarmigan (Lagopus leucura). In: Poole A (ed) The birds of North America. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, Retrieved from the birds of North America. http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/068

  • Burnham KP, Anderson DR (2002) Model selection and multimodel inference: a practical information-theoretic approach, 2nd edn. Springer, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Burnham KP, Anderson DR, White GC, Brownie C, Pollock KH (1987) Design and analysis methods for fish survival experiments based on release-recapture. American Fisheries Society Monograph Number 5. American Fisheries Society, Bethusda

  • Caizergues A, Ellison LN (1997) Survival of black grouse Tetrao tetrix in the French Alps. Wildl Biol 3:177–186

    Google Scholar 

  • Cattadori IM, Haydon DT, Hudson PJ (2005) Parasites and climate synchronize red grouse populations. Nature 433:737–741

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chamberlain D, Arlettaz R, Caprio E, Maggini R, Pedrini P, Rolando A, Zbinden N (2012) The altitudinal frontier in avian climate impact research. Ibis 154:205–209

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Choate TS (1963) Habitat and population dynamics of white-tailed ptarmigan in Montana. J Wildl Manag 27:684–699

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clarke JA, Johnson RE (1992) The influence of spring snow depth on white-tailed ptarmigan breeding success in the Sierra Nevada. Condor 94:622–627

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Connelly JW, Apa AD, Smith RB, Reese KP (2000) Effects of predation and hunting on adult sage grouse Centrocercus urophasianus in Idaho. Wildl Biol 6:227–232

    Google Scholar 

  • Desrochers A, Hannon SJ, Nordin KE (1988) Winter survival and territory acquisition in a northern population of black-capped chickadees. Auk 105:727–736

    Google Scholar 

  • Diaz HF, Eischeid JK (2007) Disappearing “alpine tundra” Köppen climatic type in the western United States. Geophys Res Lett 34:1–4

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elder K, Dozier J, Michaelsen J (1991) Snow accumulation and distribution in an alpine watershed. Water Resour Res 27:1541–1552

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ellison LN (1976) Winter food selection by Alaskan spruce grouse. J Wildl Manag 40:205–213

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Erickson TA, Williams MW, Winstral A (2005) Persistence of topographic controls on the spatial distribution of snow in rugged mountain terrain, Colorado, united States. Water Resour Res 41:W04014

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gardarsson A (1988) Cyclic population changes and some related events in rock ptarmigan in Iceland. In: Bergerud AT, Gratson MW (eds) Adaptive strategies and population ecology of northern grouse. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, pp 300–329

    Google Scholar 

  • Gasaway WC (1976) Seasonal variation in diet, volatile fatty acid production and size of the cecum of rock ptarmigan. Comp Biochem Phys A 53:109–114

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gaston AJ, Gilchrist HG, Hipfner JM (2005) Climate change, ice conditions and reproduction in an Arctic nesting marine bird: Brunnich’s guillemot (Uria lomvia L.). J Anim Ecol 74:832–841

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gilg O, Kovacs KM, Aars J, Fort J, Gauthier G, Grémillet D, Ims RA, Meltofte H, Moreau J, Post E, Schmidt NM, Yannic G, Bollache L (2012) Climate change and the ecology and evolution of arctic vertebrates. Ann NY Acad Sci 1249:166–190

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Grace J, Berninger F, Nagy L (2002) Impacts of climate change on the tree line. Ann Bot-London 90:537–544

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gruys RC (1993) Autumn and winter movements and sexual segregation of willow ptarmigan. Arctic 46:228–239

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guisan A, Theurillat JP (2000) Assessing alpine plant vulnerability to climate change: a modeling perspective. Integr Assess 1:307–320

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haeberli W, Beniston M (1998) Climate change and its impacts on glaciers and permafrost in the Alps. Ambio 27:258–265

    Google Scholar 

  • Hakkarainen H, Virtanen R, Honkanen JO, Roininen H (2007) Willow bud and shoot foraging by ptarmigan in relation to snow level in NW Finnish Lapland. Polar Biol 30:619–624

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hannon SJ, Martin K (2006) Ecology of juvenile grouse during the transition to adulthood. J Zool 289:422–433

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harsch MA, Hulme PE, McGlone MS, Duncan RP (2009) Are treelines advancing? A global meta-analysis of treeline response to climate warming. Ecol Lett 10:1040–1049

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hiemstra CA, Liston GE, Reiners WA (2002) Snow redistribution by wind and interactions with vegetation at upper treeline in the Medicine Bow Mountains, Wyoming, U.S.A. Arct Antarct Alp Res 34:262–273

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hinzman LD, Bettez ND, Bolton WR, Chapin FS, Dyurgerov MB, Fastie CL, Griffith B, Hollister RD, Hope A, Huntington HP, Jensen AM, Jia GJ, Jorgenson T, Kane DL, Klein DR, Kofinas G, Lynch AH, Lloyd AH, McGuire AD, Nelson FE, Oechel WC, Osterkamp TE, Racine CH, Romanovsky VE, Stone RS, Stow DA, Sturm M, Tweedie CE, Vourlitis GL, Walker MD, Walker DA, Webber PJ, Welker JM, Winker KS, Yoshikawa K (2005) Evidence and implications of recent climate change in northern Alaska and other arctic regions. Clim Change 72:251–298

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoffman RW, Braun CE (1975) Migration of a wintering population of white-tailed ptarmigan in Colorado. J Wildl Manag 39:485–490

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoffman RW, Braun CE (1977) Characteristics of a wintering population of white-tailed ptarmigan in Colorado. Wilson Bull 89:107–115

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoffman RW, Giesen KM (1983) Demography of an introduced population of white-tailed ptarmigan. Can J Zool 61:1758–1764

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hudson PJ, Dobson AP, Newborn D (1998) Prevention of population cycles by parasite removal. Science 282:2256–2258

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Irving L, West GC, Peyton LJ, Paneak S (1967) Migration of willow ptarmigan in arctic Alaska. Arctic 20:77–85

    Google Scholar 

  • Jansson C, Ekman J, Brömssen AV (1981) Winter mortality and food supply in tits Parus spp. Oikos 37:313–322

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kéry M, Madsen J, Lebreton JD (2006) Survival of Svalbard pink-footed geese Anser brachyrhynchus in relation to winter climate, density and land-use. J Anim Ecol 75:1172–1181

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • La Sorte FA, Jetz W (2010) Projected range contractions of montane biodiversity under global warming. Proc R Soc B 277:3401–3410

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lindström J (1996) Modelling grouse population dynamics. PhD dissertation, University of Helsinki, Helsinki

  • Link WA, Barker RJ (2005) Modeling association among demographic parameters in analysis of open population capture-recapture data. Biometrics 61:46–54

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Martin K, Wiebe KL (2004) Coping mechanisms of alpine and arctic breeding birds: extreme weather and limitations to reproductive resilience. Integr Comp Biol 44:177–185

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Martin K, Holt RF, Thomas WD (1993) Getting by on high: ecological energetics of arctic and alpine grouse. In: Carey C, Florant GL, Wunder BA, Horwitz B (eds) Life in the cold. Westview Press, Boulder, pp 34–41

    Google Scholar 

  • Martin K, Stacey PB, Braun CE (2000) Recruitment, dispersal, and demographic rescue in spatially-structured white-tailed ptarmigan populations. Condor 102:503–516

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • May TA (1975) Physiological ecology of white-tailed ptarmigan in Colorado. PhD dissertation, Colorado State University, Fort Collins

  • May TA, Braun CE (1972) Seasonal foods of adult white-tailed ptarmigan in Colorado. J Wildl Manag 36:1180–1186

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McGowan JD (1969) Starvation of Alaskan ruffed and sharp-tailed grouse caused by icing. Auk 86:142–143

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McMahon CR, Burton HR (2005) Climate change and seal survival: evidence for environmentally mediated changes in elephant seal, Microunga leonine, pup survival. Proc R Soc B-Biol Sci 272:923–928

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morris WF, Doak DF (2002) Quantitative conservation biology: theory and practice of population viability analysis, 1st edn. Sinauer Associates, Sunderland

    Google Scholar 

  • Morrison SF, Hik DS (2007) Demographic analysis of a declining pika Ochotona collaris population: linking survival to broad-scale climate patterns via spring snowmelt patterns. J Anim Ecol 76:889–907

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moss R (1974) Winter diets, gut lengths, and interspecific competition in Alaskan ptarmigan. Auk 91:737–746

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moss R (1983) Gut size, body weight, and digestion of winter foods by grouse and ptarmigan. Condor 85:185–193

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nott MP, Desante DF, Siegel RB, Pyle P (2002) Influences of the El Nińo/Southern Oscillation and the North Atlantic Oscillation on avian productivity in forests of the Pacific Northwest of North America. Global Ecol Biogeogr 11:333–342

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pauli H, Gottfried M, Grabherr G (1996) Effects of climate change on mountain ecosystems – upward shifting of alpine plants. World Res Rev 8:382–390

    Google Scholar 

  • Piersma T, Drent J (2003) Phenotypic flexibility and the evolution of organismal design. Trends Ecol Evol 18:228–233

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pradel R (1996) Utilization of capture-mark-recapture for the study of recruitment and population growth rate. Biometrics 52:703–709

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sæther BE (1997) Environmental stochasticity and population dynamics of large herbivores: a search for mechanisms. Trends Ecol Evol 12:143–149

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sandercock BK, Martin K, Hannon SJ (2005) Demographic consequences of age-structure in extreme environments: population models for arctic and alpine ptarmigan. Oecologia 146:13–24

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sandercock BK, Nilsen EB, Brøseth H, Pedersen HC (2011) Is hunting mortality additive or compensatory to natural mortality? Effects of experimental harvest on the survival and cause-specific mortality of willow ptarmigan. J Anim Ecol 80:244–258

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sandvik H, Erikstad KE, Sæther BE (2012) Climate affects seabird population dynamics both via reproduction and adult survival. Mar Ecol-Prog Ser 454:273–284

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sanz JJ, Potti J, Moreno J, Merino S, Frías O (2003) Climate change and fitness components of a migratory bird breeding in the Mediterranean region. Global Change Biol 9:461–472

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schwab FE, Simon NPP, Nash S (2005) Age and sex segregation of wintering willow ptarmigan in Labrador. Northeast Nat 12:113–118

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Skalski JR, Hoffman A, Smith SG (1993) Testing the significance of individual- and cohort-level covariates in animal survival studies. In: Lebreton JD, North PM (eds) Marked individuals in the study of bird population. Birkhauser Verlag, Basel, pp 9–28

    Google Scholar 

  • Small RJ, Holzwart JC, Rusch DH (1991) Predation and hunting mortality of ruffed grouse in central Wisconsin. J Wildl Manag 55:512–520

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith A, Willebrand T (1999) Mortality causes and survival rates of hunted and unhunted willow grouse. J Wildl Manag 63:722–730

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steen JB, Unander S (1985) Breeding biology of the Svalbard rock ptarmigan Lagopus mutus hyperboreus. Ornis Scandinavica 16:191–197

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stenseth NC, Ottersen G, Hurrell JW, Mysterud A, Lima M, Chan KS, Yoccoz NG, Ådlandsvik B (2003) Studying climate effects on ecology through the use of climate indices: the North Atlantic Oscillation, El Nińo Southern Oscillation and beyond. ProcR SocB-Biol Sci 270:2087–2096

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stokken KA (1992) Energetics and adaptations to cold in ptarmigan in winter. Ornis Scandinavica 23:366–370

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Theurillat JP, Guisan A (2001) Potential impact of climate change on vegetation in the European Alps: a review. Clim Change 50:77–109

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Thomas VG (1984) Winter diet and intestinal proportions of rock and willow ptarmigan and sharp-tailed grouse in Ontario. Can J Zool 62:2258–2263

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang G, Hobbs NT, Giesen KM, Galbraith H, Ojima DS, Braun CE (2002a) Relationship between climate and population dynamics of white-tailed ptarmigan Lagopus leucurus in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado. Clim Res 23:81–87

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang G, Hobbs NT, Galbraith H, Giesen KM (2002b) Signatures of large-scale and local climates on the demography of white-tailed ptarmigan in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, USA. Int J Biometeorol 46:197–201

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Watson A, Shaw JL (1991) Parasites and Scottish ptarmigan numbers. Oecologia 88:359–361

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Watson A, Moss R, Rae S (1998) Population dynamics of Scottish rock ptarmigan cycles. Ecology 79:1174–1192

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Watson A, Moss R, Rothery P (2000) Weather and synchrony in 10-year population cycles of rock ptarmigan and red grouse in Scotland. Ecology 81:2126–2136

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weeden RB (1964) Spatial separation of sexes in rock and willow ptarmigan in winter. Auk 81:534–541

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • West GC, Meng MS (1968) Seasonal changes in body weight and fat and the relation of fatty acid composition to diet in the willow ptarmigan. Wilson Bull 80:426–441

    Google Scholar 

  • White GC, Burnham KP (1999) Program MARK: survival estimation from populations of marked animals. Bird Study 46(Supplement):120–138

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • White GC, Burnham KP, Anderson DR (2001) Advanced features of program MARK. In: Field R, Warren RJ, Okarma H, Sievert PR (eds) Wildlife, land, and people: priorities for the 21st Century. Proceedings of the Second International Wildlife Management Congress. The Wildlife Society, Bethesda, pp 368–377

  • Wilson S, Martin K (2011) Life-history and demographic variation in an alpine specialist at the latitudinal extremes of the range. Popul Ecol 53:459–471

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zwickel FC, Bendell JF (1967) A snare for capturing blue grouse. J Wildl Manag 31:202–204

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

Long-term research studies require sustained financial and administrative support. We thank Glenn E. Rogers and Wayne W. Sandfort of the then Colorado Division of Game, Fish and Parks (now Colorado Division of Parks and Wildlife) for administrative and financial support over long periods. Support from the National Science Foundation was instrumental during two important periods. We also thank the U.S. Geological Survey and Grouse Inc. for financial support for portions of this project. Several graduate students and field technicians participated in data collection at times as did Kathy Martin as an invited researcher during a portion of this project’s tenure. Graduate support for GTW was provided by the Research and Scholarly Excellence Fellowship through Colorado State University and the Rocky Mountain Nature Association’s Bailey Fellowship. Mike Monahan and the University of Denver provided logistical support for many years of the project. Larissa Bailey and Paul Doherty provided valuable suggestions using Program MARK. Weather data were provided by the National Science Foundation supported Niwot Ridge Long-Term Ecological Research project and the University of Colorado Mountain Research Station. The content of this manuscript was greatly improved by suggestions from two anonymous reviewers.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, Colorado State University, 1231 East Drive, Fort Collins, CO, 80523, USA

    Gregory T. Wann & Cameron L. Aldridge

  2. Department of Ecosystem Sciences and Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, Colorado State University, in Cooperation with U.S. Geological Survey, Fort Collins Science Center, 2150 Centre Avenue Bldg. C, Fort Collins, CO, 80526, USA

    Cameron L. Aldridge

  3. Grouse Inc., 5572 North Ventana Vista Road, Tucson, AZ, 85750, USA

    Clait E. Braun

Authors
  1. Gregory T. Wann
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Cameron L. Aldridge
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Clait E. Braun
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gregory T. Wann.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (PDF 246 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Wann, G.T., Aldridge, C.L. & Braun, C.E. Estimates of annual survival, growth, and recruitment of a white-tailed ptarmigan population in Colorado over 43 years. Popul Ecol 56, 555–567 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10144-014-0452-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10144-014-0452-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation