Population and Habitat Assessment for Spruce Grouse in Acadia National Park and on Mount Desert Island, Maine
Whitcomb SD, Servello FA, O'Connell AF. 1994. Population and Habitat Assessment for Spruce Grouse in Acadia National Park and on Mount Desert Island, Maine. Technical Report NPS/NAROSS/NRTR-94/23. United States. National Park Service. North Atlantic Region. Boston, MA
FIELD WORK: 1992-1993. Studied the population and habitat use of spruce grouse in Acadia National Park. 'Spruce grouse on Mount Desert Island occupied 31% of patches searched each year. Occupied patches had a clumped distribution on Mount Desert Island and occurred in 3 distinct clusters. Eight of 13 occupied patches were located entirely or partially in Acadia National Park. Occupancy of habitat patches was related to patch size, interpatch distance, and patch shape. Six of 9 large habitat patches (>20 ha) were occupied in 1992 and 1993, compared with 2 of 6 medium-sized patches (10-20 ha), and 3 of 21 small patches (4-10 ha). Occupied patches were closer to other occupied patches and had a smaller perimeter to area ratio than unoccupied patches. Eighty-one percent of spruce grouse observed during surveys on Mount Desert Island were captured and marked (M=39, F=18). The estimated population for Mount Desert Island was 72 grouse in 1992 and 56 in 1993. The number of individual grouse in habitat patches ranged from 1-10, and the mean breeding density in patches >20 ha was 13.7 grouse/100 ha. All juvenile spruce grouse dispersed from summer brood range, and radius of dispersal ranged to 7.8 km. Upland conifer, deciduous, and mixed conifer and deciduous habitat types were used by dispersing juveniles, indicating that these cover types did not constitute a dispersal barrier.' 'The spruce grouse population on Mount Desert Island is small, and total acreage of suitable habitat is limited. In addition, productivity was low during this study compared to other eastern populations. Although marginal and unsuitable forest habitat was not a dispersal barrier, it is not clear if dispersal to suitable habitat was sufficient to maintain or increase population densities.' 'Spruce grouse were not found on Isle au Haut despite suitable habitat, and distance and isolation from the mainland make future colonization improbable. Mean density of spruce grouse on Schoodic Peninsula was estimated at 8.5 grouse/100 ha. This population is probably stable due to an abundance of suitable habitat and connection to mainland populations.' Includes UTM coordinates for patch locations studied /STUDY LOCATIONS:/ /MOUNT DESERT ISLAND/Big Heath/Seawall/Hio Road/Whalesback/Long Heath/Sunken Heath/Aunt Betseys Brook/Pretty Marsh/Long Pond Fire Road/China Hill/Bass Harbor/Hio Bridge/Aunt Betty Pond/Buttermilk Brook/Jones Marsh/Eagle Lake/Ship Harbor/Bernard/Dodge Point Road/Western Mountain/Fresh Meadow/French Pond/Stony Brook/Sand Beach/Wonderland/Seal Cove Road/Jordan Pond/Norumbega Mountain/Acadia Mountain/Otter Point/Indian Point/Cape Road/Hamilton Pond/The Triad/The Whitecap/Echo Lake/Round Pond/Seal Cove Pond/ISLE AU HAUT/SCHOODIC PENINSULA/ GIS-CATEGORY 1 ; Contains UTM coordinates for patches studied
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Whitcomb, Scott; Servello, Frederick; O'Connell, Allan
- Date of Issue
- 1994-08
- Publisher
- United States. National Park Service. North Atlantic Region
- Units
- ACAD
- Keywords
- Acadia Mountain, Aunt Betseys Brook, Aunt Betty Pond, Bass Harbor, Bernard, Big Heath, Birds (Aves), Breeding, Buttermilk Brook, Cape Road, China Hill, Distribution, Dodge Point Road, Eagle Lake, Echo Lake, French Pond, Fresh Meadow, Hamilton Pond, Hio Bridge, Hio Road, Indian Point, Isle Au Haut, Jones Marsh, Jordan Pond, Long Heath, Long Pond Fire Road, Mount Desert Island, Nests & Nesting, Norumbega Mountain, Otter Point, Population Density, Pretty Marsh, Productivity, Round Pond, Sand Beach, Schoodic Peninsula, Seal Cove Pond, Seal Cove Road, Seawall, Ship Harbor, Stony Brook, Sunken Heath, The Triad, The Whitecap, Western Mountain, Whalesback, Wonderland