Research Insights

Northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) populations continue to decline across most of the species’ range. Many states have used conservation triage approaches to identify areas where conservation actions are likely to be effective versus areas likely to never experience population recovery. The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) has identified over 2.3 million acres as Quail Restoration Landscapes (QRL) to focus bobwhite conservation to “provide higher cost-share and incentive rates within quail focus areas, Grassland-focused conservation opportunity areas or on private land adjoining conservation areas (CAs).” Multiple QRLs exist in each MDC Region: four in the Northwest, Northeast, and Southwest, and three in the Southeast. One or more CAs are typically nested within each QRL and serve as a focal point for management. About 96% of the QRLs are privately owned. Bobwhite habitat management requires biannual disturbance, and unless the disturbance is a byproduct of land use, it costs money to implement. Thus, the problem faced by Missouri and many other states is how much of the land can we manage for bobwhites to achieve the desired objectives given the constraints of a limited budget and lack of ownership of 96% of the land base.

Recent research in Missouri has been conducted predominately on public land that increased understanding of how disturbances such as fire and grazing can be used to manage grassland vegetation. However, there are remaining questions as to the best way manage bobwhite populations on private working lands that will be inherently fragmented. As previously mentioned, most of the QRLs encompass mostly private land. Fall covey monitoring in the QRLs suggests that populations are typically below target densities. But, despite a lot of attention, resources committed, and biological understanding about the species the erosion continues. The final product will be a conservation planning and delivery support tool that prioritizes areas of land for bobwhite restoration that includes feasibility (i.e., can we afford it?). Priority will be a function of several parts including cost of completed proposed management practices, landowner opportunity costs, and the likelihood bobwhite populations would respond to proposed management. Additional products will include biannual updates to interested MDC staff, and private landowners (if involved in trapping and monitoring efforts), a dedicated project page on the MDC Science Sharepoint site, and relevant communications to internal and external partners as needed.

Funder: State of Missouri government 

Amount: $1,299,823 

PI: James Martin, Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources