NATURAL HiSTORlf 3URVO 
MONTHLY WILDLIFE RESEARCH LETTER J(JN 5 1979 
Illinois Federal Aid Project W- 66 -R * iPPflpy 
Department of Conservation and Natural History Survey, Cooperating 
Glen C. Sanderson and Eva Steger, Editors 
Urbana, Illinois 
Manipulation of Pheasant Habitat 
May, 1979 
R. E. Warner 
Severe winter storms of January 1977 and of the winter of 1977-78 decimated 
nngneck populations and provided an opportunity to evaluate the importance of 
woody vegetation to the survival of pheasants during severe winter weather. A 
“ ' p LT re 'lt‘°: m ° d ! 1 t0 eva,uate this Stance was developed f™ iata 
Q * he ^ study areas: Ford County Management Unit (FCMU), Sibley 
Study Area (SSA), Anchor, Harwood, and Prairie Green. Y 
q c To .^ acl11tate data collection, the study areas were divided into 45 subunits- 
veoetaH P6r a T’ ? sections < 2 * 2 ) Per subunit. Two parameters of woody 
vegetation on each subunit were compared (MWRL 22(4):1). ^ 
lo c ated e !r a ?4 P T! ati0 r 5 "*1* astimated from cock call counts made from stations 
‘ • t ? r ° f 6 r h SUbUnit ' ThSSe counts have been conducted since 
! a assistance of personnel from the Department of Conservation. Trends 
one e pheasants •* indicated by cock call counts in May have been 
congruent with other census methods applied to the areas. 
from !eaJher n0t iac,uded in the regression model because information 
in the so O •, t r° r 'u near the study areas was insufficient to detect differences 
not included e i St °™ S that kiHed ,ar9e numbers of Peasants. Other data 
included were the presence of herbaceous and residual row crop cover. 
the ' ndepen ? ant variablas in the regression test, including data for each of 
45 subunits, were (I) cock calls per 2-minute stop in ' 976 , (2) cock calls 
non ?T mmute st °p m 1978 , (3) intersections of woody vegetation(linear and 
non-linear tracts) with a circle with a 1-mile radius, (4) total woody vegetation- 
alono ?ieTd a K Ur r ent ° f brees and shrubs >" continuous and semi-continuous spacing 
along field borders, railroad tracks, farmsteads, and tributaries, ( 5 ) linear 
(6) Une^me cont ' nu °os woody vegetation (semi-cont inuous tracts excluded), 
or eniation andT??"?' contin uous woody vegetation with a north-south 
east-wes o’ ri a 1 1" ™ easu 7 ment ° f continuous woody vegetation with an 
cock cans f™ W6 ; o j b ; 8 dependent var ' abla » aa the change in number of 
(varUMe^ ^7 indices op *«» d y cover-the circle-intersect sampling 
Sinn r 1 ! l\ measurement of total linear vegetation (variable 4)--were 
variables n ft y rh° rre i! a ^ d u P ~ °’ P* -001 )- However, none of the independent 
the regression i^dll V thS f d ? scribed woody vegetation were of importance in 
^han r I 0)! (correlation coefficients were not significantly different 
