Demographic parameters of reintroduced grey partridges in central Italy and the effect of weather

A. Vidus Rosin (1) , A. Meriggi (1) , F. Pella (1) , M. Zaccaroni (2)

1 Department of Animal Biology
2 Department of Animal and Man Biology

Grey partridge populations declined in Europe from mid-1950s onwards mostly due to modifications of agricultural cropping. In Italy, the decline was even more dramatic because of over-hunting and restocking with allochthonous birds. We carried out a research on a re-introduced population in Central Italy from 1995 to 2005, with the aim of evaluating the reintroduction success and separating the intrinsic and external factors influencing year-to-year changes in partridge density with particular respect to the weather. Average spring density was 4.5 pairs per square kilometre (SD = 1.52); our population reached a peak few years after the reintroduction and then declined. Brood production rate was close to that of declining European populations (average 33.9%; SD = 10.21), and chick survival rate (average 40%; = 17.61) determined the change of breeding abundance from year to year + 1. Our population seemed to be mainly affected by brood production and chick survival rates and by the weather; in particular, higher early winter and spring temperatures increased breeding density whilst higher early summer temperatures decreased brood production rate.

Mots clés: Reintroduction success; Annual changes; Weather

A. Vidus Rosin, A. Meriggi, F. Pella, M. Zaccaroni. Demographic parameters of reintroduced grey partridges in central Italy and the effect of weather. European Journal of Wildlife Research, 2009, 56 (3), pp.369-375. ⟨10.1007/s10344-009-0329-5⟩. ⟨hal-00535258⟩