Selected Minerals in Soils, Plants, and Pheasants: 
Pheasant Distribution in Illinois 
An Ecosystem Approach to Understanding 
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Robert L. Jones, Ronald F. Labisky, and William L. Anderson 
IN THE EASTERN HALF OF THE UNITED States the exotic 
pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) occupies a band of 
contiguous range, except along the Mississippi River, 
from Iowa and southern Minnesota across southeast- 
ern Wisconsin, northeastern and east-central Illinois, 
northern Indiana, southern Michigan, and into Ohio 
and Pennsylvania, Yet, despite repeated introductions 
following its initial establishment in the eastern United 
States during the early 1900's, the pheasant has never 
established self-maintaining populations south of the 
39th parallel. Factors potentially responsible for lim- 
iting the southward expansion of pheasant range in 
Illinois (Fig. 1) and elsewhere in the eastern United 
States, such as land use, climate, and a calcium de- 
ficiency, have been the subject of considerable research 
—and of conflicting findings (Labisky et al. 1964). 
A deficiency of soil minerals, and particularly of 
calcium, has long been considered one of the major 
factors affecting pheasant distribution. Leopold 
(1931:125) pointed out that pheasants were confined 
mainly to range within the boundary of the most re- 
cent, or Wisconsinan, glaciation. He suggested that 
some plant or substance, such as lime (calcium car- 
bonate) or gravel, present in geologically young soils 
was necessary for the establishment and maintenance 
of pheasant populations. 
Years later Dale (1954:320) revived interest in the 
‘calcium hypothesis” by reporting that pheasant abun- 
dance in the eastern half of the United States was ap- 
sarently correlated with the availability of calcium in 
oils. Dale (1955), Dale and DeWitt (1958), and 
sreeley (1962) then studied the calcium requirements 
f pen-reared pheasants to establish minimum amounts 
f calcium necessary to maintain physiological bal- 
ince, particularly during the reproductive period 
vhen demands for calcium are high. 
At this point it was apparent that the organic items 
aten by wild pheasants did not supply sufficient cal- 
ium to meet their physiological needs, particularly 
or reproduction. The logical supplementary source of 
alcium was calcium-bearing grit. McCann (1961: 
89-190) reported that wild pheasants in Minnesota 
vere most abundant on soils that contained grit that 
vas relatively rich in calcium and poor in magnesium. 
ubsequent reports by Harper (1963, 1964) and 
orschgen (1964) described the intake of calcium 
This paper is published by authority of the State of Illinois, IRS 
h. 127, Par. 58.12. Dr. Robert L. Jones is Associate Professor of Soil 
ineralogy, College of Agriculture, University of Illinois, Urbana. Dr. 
onald F, Labisky and William L. Anderson are Associate Wildlife 
att, Section of Wildlife Research, Illinois Natural History Survey, 
rbana. 
from grit and foods by wild pheasants in the midwest- 
ern United States. The finding that the wild pheasant 
hen apparently has the ability to select calcium-rich 
grit in preference to calcium-poor or noncalcareous 
grit constituted an important contribution toward un- 
derstanding how the pheasant fulfills its requirements 
for this mineral (Sadler 1961: Harper 1964; Harper & 
Labisky 1964; Korschgen 1964; Kopischke & Nelson 
1966; and Kopischke 1966). 
In Illinois Harper and Labisky (1964) investigated 
the possibility that a deficiency of calcium was a fac- 
tor limiting the southward spread of pheasants, They 
compared the availability of calcium and its ingestion 
and physiological use by wild pheasants on two areas, 
Neoga and Sibley, located on the geographically older 
Ilinoian-age drift and on the comparatively younger 
Wisconsinan-age drift, respectively ( Fig. 1). Harper 
and Labisky (1964:729-730) concluded that both the 
availability of calcium on the older drift and its inges- 
tion by pheasants were adequate to establish self- 
maintaining pheasant populations. However, as La- 
bisky et al. (1964:12) later pointed out, this conclu- 
sion does not contradict the possibility that a deficiency 
of some other mineral or of some vitamin might pre- 
vent the establishment of self-maintaining populations 
of pheasants on pre-Wisconsinan drift. 
The objectives of the research reported here were 
1) to determine if the concentrations of four essential 
elements—sodium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium 
—in the primary feathers of pheasants from a high- 
density population on Wisconsinan drift differed from 
those of pheasants from a low-density population on 
pre-Wisconsinan drift, and 2) to learn if the relative 
concentrations of minerals in feathers reflected the 
levels of these elements in the nutrient chain (i.e., 
from soil to plant to pheasant), 
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 
Mr. Emil Marcusiu, Agronomy Department, Uni- 
versity of Illinois, Urbana, assisted with analyses con- 
ducted on the optical emission spectrograph. Dr. Alvin 
H. Beavers and Mr. Victor Gabriel, Agronomy De- 
partment, University of Illinois, Urbana, expedited an- 
alyses performed on the X-ray spectrograph. Dr. 
Harlow B. Mills, Department of Biology, University 
of Wisconsin, Parkside Campus, Racine, and Dr. Gary 
L. Jackson, College of Veterinary Medicine, University 
of Illinois, Urbana, kindly reviewed the manuscript. 
Mr. Richard M. Sheets, Illinois Natural History Survey 
Illustrator, assisted in the design of the cover, and the 
