IMPACT OF HEAVY RAINS AND WET COLD WEATHER ON GREY PARTRIDGE Perdixperdix CLUTCH DESERTION AND BREEDING SUCCESS

摘要

The reproductive success is an important parameter in population dynamics of Galliform species (Trouviixiez et al, 1988). This is especially the case in the Grey Partridge Perdix perdix (e.g. Aebischer & Potts, 1995; Bro et al, 2000a), a sedentary farmland species that has largely declined during the second part of the XXth century (see reviews Kuijper etal, 2009 and PEBCMS 2013). The breeding success of the Grey Partridge is influenced by a series of ecological factors, predator abundance (e.g. Potts & Aebischer, 1995; Tapper et al, 1996), invertebrate abundance (e.g. Rands 1985; Bro & Ponce-Boutin, 2004 and references therein) and weather conditions (e.g. Birkan & Jacob, 1988; Potts, 2012). Climatic changes are thus likely to influence the breeding success and the population dynamics of this species and may be an additional driver of a further decline in the future, as discussed by Moss et al. (2001) for the Capercaillie Tetrao urogallus.