Chapter 39
Quail Movement
The Blue Jay’s Lullaby Spiders and sowbugs and beetles and
crickets, Slugs from the roses and ticks from the thickets,
Grasshoppers, snails, and a quail’s egg or two—All to be
regurgitated for you. Lullaby, lullaby, swindles and schemes,
Flying’s not near as much fun as it seems.
(Peter S. Beagle, The Last Unicorn)
39.1 Quail Model
As in the previous chapter, we develop here a spatial model of population movement.
The species of interest are northern bobwhite quail, which move between prairie
patches that have been burned and exhibit different stages of succession. These
patches are characterized by varying vegetative species and density. While bobwhite
utilize different habitat types, they prefer open areas for most of their life activities
like brood rearing, nesting, foraging, and roosting [1]. Sites that had been burned
within a year or two produce greater amounts of food for bobwhite than older burns
[2], thus bobwhite migrate to areas where the vegetation is the least dense (i.e. 0 years
post burn). As a consequence of burning increases in bobwhite abundance can be
observed, and these increases diminish after the vegetation recovered and bare
ground decreased [3]. Regular disturbance, such as prescribed burning, is essential
for a continued positive impact on northern bobwhite quail [1]. Effective burning
tends to double the density of birds from 2.5 to 5 birds per ha [4].
Our model describes quail migration between four stocks labeled A, B, C, and
D. Each stock represents a region in a different stage of prairie succession. Births
of quail, named Birthing A, Birthing B, etc. in the model (Fig. 39.1) are the only
A save-disabled version of STELLA and the computer models of this book are available at
www.iseesystems.com/modelingdynamicbiologicalsystems.
B. Hannon and M. Ruth, Modeling Dynamic Biological Systems,
Modeling Dynamic Systems, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-05615-9_39,
© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2014
357
Quail Movement
The Blue Jay’s Lullaby Spiders and sowbugs and beetles and
crickets, Slugs from the roses and ticks from the thickets,
Grasshoppers, snails, and a quail’s egg or two—All to be
regurgitated for you. Lullaby, lullaby, swindles and schemes,
Flying’s not near as much fun as it seems.
(Peter S. Beagle, The Last Unicorn)
39.1 Quail Model
As in the previous chapter, we develop here a spatial model of population movement.
The species of interest are northern bobwhite quail, which move between prairie
patches that have been burned and exhibit different stages of succession. These
patches are characterized by varying vegetative species and density. While bobwhite
utilize different habitat types, they prefer open areas for most of their life activities
like brood rearing, nesting, foraging, and roosting [1]. Sites that had been burned
within a year or two produce greater amounts of food for bobwhite than older burns
[2], thus bobwhite migrate to areas where the vegetation is the least dense (i.e. 0 years
post burn). As a consequence of burning increases in bobwhite abundance can be
observed, and these increases diminish after the vegetation recovered and bare
ground decreased [3]. Regular disturbance, such as prescribed burning, is essential
for a continued positive impact on northern bobwhite quail [1]. Effective burning
tends to double the density of birds from 2.5 to 5 birds per ha [4].
Our model describes quail migration between four stocks labeled A, B, C, and
D. Each stock represents a region in a different stage of prairie succession. Births
of quail, named Birthing A, Birthing B, etc. in the model (Fig. 39.1) are the only
A save-disabled version of STELLA and the computer models of this book are available at
www.iseesystems.com/modelingdynamicbiologicalsystems.
B. Hannon and M. Ruth, Modeling Dynamic Biological Systems,
Modeling Dynamic Systems, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-05615-9_39,
© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2014
357