Abstract
Black grouse (Lyrurus tetrix) death in north and middle zones of the Russian plain were studied in 1981–2013 according to counts of the remains of perished individuals. The average annual death of birds older than 1.5–2 months is estimated as 2.0–2.5 birds/km2. Its maximum falls into spring or winter-spring season and minimum into summer. Predation is main cause of death; all other reasons (unusual weather, hunting, no established circumstances) determine only one-quarter of total loss. Raptors cause maximal death of black grouse in northern regions. No significant differences between death of males and females were detected, but seasonal patterns of their death is not the same, and factors that determine their act differently. The female losses as a result of activity of all predators are distributed relatively uniformly by seasons; male death is higher in spring than in other times of year. The dynamics of male and female removal by only raptors is similar: maximum in spring, decrease in summer, and drop to minimum in autumn and winter. Seasonal distribution of losses due to activity of carnivorous beasts is uneven; male death is higher in transitional seasons (as compared with winter and summer), and female losses are maximal in winter and minimal in spring-summer period.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Angelstam, P., Sexual and seasonal differences in mortality of the black grouse Tetrao tetrix in boreal Sweden, Ornis Scand., 1984, vol. 15, pp. 123–134.
Baines, D. and Summers, R.W., Assessment of bird collisions with deer fences in Scottish forests, J. Appl. Ecol., 1997, vol. 37, pp. 941–948.
Begon, M., Harper, J.L., and Townsend, C.R., Ecology: Individuals, Populations, and Communities, Oxford: Blackwell, 1986. Translated under the title Ekologiya: osobi, populyatsii i soobshchestva, Moscow: Mir, 1989, vol. 2.
Borchtchevski, V.G. and Kostin, A.B., Uchet ostankov zverei i ptits s tsel’yu izucheniya smertnosti (Counting of the Remains of Mammals and Birds for the Mortality Studies), Moscow: KMK, 2011.
Bowker, G., Bowker, Ch., and Baines, D., Survival rates and causes of mortality in black grouse Tetrao tetrix at Lake Vyrnwy, North Wales, UK, Wildl. Biol., 2007, vol. 13, pp. 231–237.
Caizergues, A., Fonctionnement demographique des populations de tétras-lyre (Tetrao tetrix) dans les Alpes Françaises, Thèse, Université Montpellier II, 1997, vol. 1.
Chamberlain, D.E., Bocca, M., Migliore, L., Caprio, E., and Rolando, A., The dynamics of alternative male mating tactics in a population of black grouse Tetrao tetrix in the Italian Alps, J. Ornithol., 2012, vol. 153, pp. 999–1009.
de Vos, G.J., Social behaviour of black grouse: an observational and experimental field study, Ardea, 1983, vol. 71, pp. 1–103.
Ellison, L.N., Bernard-Laurent, A., Magnani, Y., Gindre, R., and Corti, R., Le tétras lyre Lyrurus tetrix: Dinamique des populations, chasse et biotope de reproducrion dans les Alpes Françaises, Résultats d’étude et recommandations pratiques, Paris: Ed. Office National de la Chasse, 1984.
Gavrin, V.F., The ecology of grouses in the Bialowieza Forest, Cand. Sci. (Biol.) Disertation, Alma-Ata, 1956.
Gavrin, V.F., Dolgushin, I.A., Korelov, M.N., and Kuz’mina, M.A., Ptitsy Kazakhastana (Birds of Kazakhstan), lma-Ata: Akad. Nauk KazSSR, 1962, vol. 2.
Geptner, V.G., Naumov, N.P., Yurgenson, P.B., Sludskii, A.A., Chikova, A.F., and Bannikov, A.G., Mlekopitayushchie Sovetskogo Soyuza, vol. 2, part 1: Morskie korovy i khishchnye (Sea Cows and Carnivores), Moscow: Vysshaya shkola, 1967.
Helminen, M., Composition of the Finnish populations of capercaillie, Tetrao urogallus, and black grouse, Lyrurus tetrix, in the autumns of 1952–1961, as revealed by a study of wings, Papers Game Res., 1963, vol. 23, pp. 3–124.
Karpovich, V.N., Estimation of numer of grouse birds by counting routs in large areas, in Organizatsiya i metody ucheta ptits i vrednykh gryzunov (Organization and Methods of Census of Birds and Pest Rodents), Moscow: Akad. Nauk SSSR, 1963, pp. 12–19.
Kasprzykowski, Z., Decline of the black grouse Tetrao tetrix population in East-Central Poland, Vogelwert, 2002, vol. 123, pp. 253–258.
Kauhala, R. and Helle, P., The impact of predator abundance on grouse populations in Finland: a study based on wildlife monitoring counts, Ornis Fenn., 2002, vol. 79, pp. 14–25.
Lindén, H., Estimation of juvenile mortality of the capercaillie, Tetrao urogallus, and black grouse, Tetrao tetrix, from indirect evidence, Finn. Game Res., 1981a, vol. 39, pp. 35–51.
Lindén, H., Changes in Finnish tetraonid population and some factors influencing mortality, Finn. Game Res., 1981b, vol. 39, pp. 3–11.
Lindström, J., Modelling grouse population dynamics, Thesis, Univ. of Helsinki, 1996.
Marcström, V., Andrén, H., Angelstam, P., Cederlund, G., Hörnfeld, B., et al., Disease reveals the predator: sarcastic mange, red fox predation, and prey populations, Ecology, 1994, vol. 75, pp. 1042–1049.
Marjakangas, A. and Törmälä, L., Female age and breeding performance in a cyclic population of black grouse, Wildl. Biol., 1997, vol. 3, pp. 195–203.
Marti, Ch., Unterschiede in der winterökologie von hand und henne des birkhuhns Tetrao tetrix im Aletschgebiet (Zentralalpen), Ornithol. Beobachter, 1985, vol. 82, pp. 1–30.
Ménoni, E., Catusse, M., and Novoa, C., Mortalité par predation du grand tétras (Tetrao urogallus aquitanicus) dans les Pyrénnées: résultats d’une enquête, Gibier Faune Sauvage, 1991, vol. 8, pp. 251–269.
Montadert, M. and Léonard, P., Biologie de la reproduction de la gélinotte des bois Bonasa bonasia dans les Aplsde-Haute-Provence (France (1ère et 2ème parties)), Alauda, 2011, vol. 79, pp. 89–98.
Picozzi, N., Black Grouse Research in Northeast Scotland, Available from Institute of Terrestrial Ecology. Banchory, Kincardineshire, 1986.
Rajala, P., The structure and reproduction of Finnish population of capercaillie Tetrao urogallus and black grouse Lyrurus tetrix on the basis of late summer census data from 1963–66, Finn. Game Res., 1974, vol. 35, pp. 1–51.
Rintamäki, H., Saarela, S., Marjakangas, A., and Hissa, T.E., Summer and winter temperature regulation in the black grouse Tetrao tetrix, Physiol. Zool., 1983, vol. 56, pp. 152–159.
Selås, V., Vulnerability of black grouse (Tetrao tetrix) hens to goshawk (Accipiter gentiles) predation in relation to vole cycles, J. Ornithol., 2003, vol. 44, pp. 186–196.
Semenov-Tyan-Shansky, O.I., The ecology of grouses, Tr. Lapland. Gos. Zap., no. 5, Moscow, 1960.
Sivkov, A.V. and Hjeljord, O., Results of radio-marking of black grouse in the Pinezhskii Nature Reserve, in Dinamika populyatsii okhotnich’ikh zhivotnykh Severnoi Evropy. Materialy 4 mezhdunar. simp. (Dynamics of Game Animal Populations in Northern Europe: Proc. 4th Int. Symp.), Petrozavodsk, 2007, pp. 160–166.
Spids-, T., Hjeljord, O., and Dokk, J.D., Seasonal mortality of black grouse Tetrao tetrix during a year with little snow, Wildl. Biol., 1997, vol. 3, pp. 205–209.
Teplov, V.P., Population dynamics and annual changes in ecology of game animals of the Pechora taiga, Tr. PechoroIlych. Gos. Zap, no. 8, Syktyvkar: Komi Knizhn. Izd., 1960, pp. 5–222.
Tornberg, R., Helle, P., and Korpimäki, E., Vulnerability of black grouse hens to goshawk predation: result of food supply or predation facilitation?, Oecologia, 2011, vol. 166, pp. 577–584.
Tumanov, I.L., Biologicheskie osobennosti khishchnykh mlekopitayushchikh Rossii (Biological Features of Carnivorous Mammals of Russia), St. Petersburg: Nauka, 2003.
Ul’yanin, N.S., On the ecology of black grouse, willow ptarmigan, and gray partridge in northern Kazakhstan, Tr. Naurzum. Gos. Zap., no. 2, Moscow, 1949, pp. 5–57.
Warren, P.K. and Baines, D., Dispersal, survival and causes of mortality in black grouse Tetrao tetrix in northern England, Wildl. Biol., 2002, vol. 8, pp. 91–97.
Watson, A. and Moss, R., Grouse: The Natural History of British and Irish Species, London: Collins, 2008.
Willebrand, T., Demography and ecology of black grouse populations, Thesis, Univ. of Uppsala, Sweden, 1988.
Yurlov, K.T., Materials on ecology of willow ptarmigan and black grouse in Baraba and Kulunda, in Voprosy sistematiki i ekologii zhivotnykh (Problems in Animal Systematics and Ecology), Tr. Biol. Inst. Sib. Otd. Akad. Nauk SSSR, no. 6, Novosibirsk, 1960, pp. 3–85.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Original Russian Text © V.G. Borchtchevski, A.B. Kostin, 2014, published in Zoologicheskii Zhurnal, 2014, Vol. 93, No. 8, pp. 982–997.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Borchtchevski, V.G., Kostin, A.B. Seasonality and causes of black grouse (Lyrurus tetrix, Galliformes, Tetraonidae) death in Western Russia according to count of remains. Biol Bull Russ Acad Sci 41, 657–671 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1062359014080032
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1062359014080032