Robert S. Dorney

Ecology of Marsh Raccoons

ecological relationship between raccoons (Procyon lotor) living in marsh habitat and muskrat (Ondatra zibethica) and waterfowl populations. Because marsh raccoons may occur in high densities, a knowledge of their feeding habits is necessary to predict possible injurious effects on muskrat and waterfowl populations. This paper will consider the populations, food habits and denning habits of raccoons living on a marsh managed for muskrats and waterfowl.

An Evaluation of Ruffed Grouse Drumming Counts

Wisconsin has about 16,000,000 acres of woodland inhabited by ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus). To establish intelligent hunting regulations, it is necessary to know the status of the grouse population on this large wooded area. With this objective in mind, the Wisconsin Conservation Department has used a state-wide winter flushcount index since 1950, and state-wide spring drumming counts since 1951, to estimate changes in grouse numbers. This paper describes the winter flush-count index and compares the results obtained with the drumming counts. Also described are detailed studies to determine the accuracy of drumming counts on smaller land areas.

Spring incidence of ruffed grouse blood parasites.

The summer and fall occurrence of blood parasites in ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus) of the north-central states has been well documented (Fallis, 1945; Erickson et al, 1949). However, no comprehensive spring surveys of the incidence of these parasites have been reported. This paper presents information derived from the examination of blood films taken from cocks trapped in the spring of 1954 and 1955, comparative data from smears made from fall-shot birds, and pertinent data from an experiment on leucocytozoonosis relapse conducted by Kenneth Flakes** on winter-trapped ruffed grouse.

Trapping Techniques for Ruffed Grouse

Population research on ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus) has been handicapped in the past because it has been virtually impossible to live-trap adequate samples. Fundamental information on movement and longevity has been practically unknown for this species. To manage this important game bird intelligently a knowledge of its population dynamics is essential. Therefore effort was made in Wisconsin to develop effective live-trapping methods. This paper will describe the trapping techniques we are using currently for handling ruffed grouse in spring, fall and winter.

Spring Aging Methods for Ruffed Grouse Cocks

Each spring from 1954 through 1956, personnel from the Forest Game Research Project of the Wisconsin Conservation Department have mirror-trapped 100 to 160 breeding male ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus) (for techniques, see Dorney and Mattison, 1956). Age breakdowns of these spring samples into juveniles (cocks hatched the previous year) and adults (hatched two or more years before) are vital information for the following purposes: (1) Adult turnover can be computed from these spring age ratios for a population with a known status. (2) A comparison of fall and spring age ratios will indicate differential age losses through the winter months as well as differential hunting vulnerability. Normally the juvenile sex ratio is even, while the adult sex ratio may be distorted to as many as 150 males to 100 females. Any disproportionate winter loss of juveniles, therefore, would have a depressing effect on the following years productivity. Fall-shot ruffed grouse are generally aged by means of the contour of the 9th and 10th primaries (outer two), the bursa (Bump, et al., 1947; Petrides, 1942), and the sheathinq or scale at the base of primaries 8 to 10 (Hale, et al., 1954). However, these fall techniques are not always applicable for Anril, May, and June birds, since the bursa has regressed considerably by spring, and the tins of the 9th and 10th primaries may be either wet or broken in the trap. Sheathing is a better spring age character, but may be obscure on some cocks. Accurate spring aging is, therefore, quite difficult for many birds. More objective criteria are clearly needed. This paper describes new techniques developed for accurate spring age classification. METHODS

Role of ecologists as consultants in urban planning and design

A methodology is described for the utilization of ecosystem concepts in land-use issues of urban development and urban design. The issues are discussed of utilizing science specialists to develop in-depth understanding of ecosystem structure and function, synthesizing the information into usable form, and communicating the ecosystem knowledge to engineers, architects, landscape architects, and planners. Case studies from Ontario and New York illustrate some of the difficulties and opportunities in this kind of interprofessional work. The issue of identifying who is an ecologist and the related matter of professionalization are then discussed.

Sex and Age Structure of Wisconsin Ruffed Grouse Populations

From 1953 to 1957, I studied the population structure of Wisconsin ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus) by examining wings and tails of fall-shot birds. Ruffed grouse in northern Wisconsin had the highest proportion of juveniles, those in western and eastern Wisconsin the lowest. Adult sex ratios in western Wisconsin more heavily favored males than in other regions of the state. The explanation for this variation in sex and age structure must await further inquiry. This lack of population homogeneity, however, could produce fluctuations of widely differing amplitude in various regions of the state. Hunting regulations should be adjusted to these wide differences in juvenile recruitment. In the past decade, various states have studied the sex and age structure of ruffed grouse populations based on wing primaries and tail rectrices of fall-shot birds. A previous report (Dorney and Kabat 1960) summarized information on the population structure of this game bird in northern Wisconsin. This paper extends the analysis to the southern half of the state. I hope that this account of the wide variation found in ruffed grouse sex-age ratios in Wisconsin, will stimulate publication of similar data collected in other parts of North America. This paper is dedicated to the memory of Ted V. Holzer, who played a major part in collecting and analyzing the many thousands of ruffed grouse wings and tails on which this report is based. Cyril Kabat, James Hale, and Donald Thompson of the Wisconsin Conservation Department kindly contributed analytical, editorial, and statistical services. The original field study was financed by Federal Aid to Wildlife Restoration funds, Projects W-13-R and W-79-R. DESCRIPTION OF AREAS STUDIED In this analysis, I divided the state into seven major regions (Fig. 1) on the basis of topography, amount of land in forest c ver, and, to some extent, timber type. The area labeled North is characterized by having continuous hardwood and coniferous forest, interspersed with some farms and open land. In the driftless areas of the West, West Central, and Southwest, the primary land use is agricultural. Hardwood forest cover in these three western areas is located on untillable hillsides and along stream bottoms. The Central area is a level, sandy plain, with large continuous stands of aspen (Populus spp.) and Pine (Pinus spp.). The East Central area is generally open farmland, with small woodlots dominated by oak (Quercus spp.) and other hardwoods. The area labeled East is agricultural land of high value, with

Evaluation of a Microquantitative Method for Counting Coccidial Oocysts

For counting coccidial oocysts, the McMaster dilution method is commonly used. In 1939, P. P. Levine described a new quantitative method, a modification of the direct centrifugation-flotation method. However, rather than removing the cover slip from the centrifuge tube for examination, Levine directly examined the cover slip still in place on the vial. To make this direct examination possible, he substituted a short flat-bottomed vial for the usual centrifuge tube. To test the Levine vial method, fecal material from red squirrels and chipmunks was macerated, suspended in water, and placed in separate 100-ml volumetric flasks. Forty aliquots from these two flasks were processed and the oocysts counted in Levine vials, and, for comparison, an additional 40 aliquots counted in a standard hemocytometer. Average counts of oocysts in the Levine vials produced an overall estimate 5% less than the average number counted in the hemocytometer. Where only small fecal quantities (less than 0.1 g) are available for analysis, it is concluded the Levine vial method is a sensitive micro- quantitative method for counting oocysts.

A NEW METHOD FOR SEXING RUFFED GROUSE IN LATE SUMMER1

The need for objective criteria to determine the sex of molting ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbel- lus) in late summer (juveniles 13 weeks or older, and adults) led me to measure the length of a single barb of the central tail feather at a point 50 mm from the tip of the tail. In a sample of 1,518 birds whose sex and age were determined by plumage characteristics, I found that sex of individual grouse whose barb measurements fell outside the overlap (middle) size range could be determined by barb length, with an error of about 1-4 percent. Birds with barb length outside the overlap range comprised about two-thirds of the adults and one-half of the juveniles. Methods for determining sex and age of fully grown ruffed grouse by using the plucked length of the central tail feather, the shape of the outer three primaries of the wing, the diameters of primary 9 and the central tail feather, and the sheathing at the base of primaries 8 to 10 have been carefully authenticated in Wisconsin (Hale et al. 1954, Dorney and Holzer 1957). How- ever, molting adult and juvenile grouse in late summer have incompletely grown rec- trices, making it necessary to develop other criteria for determining sex. Palmer (1959) in Michigan noted that the eye patch of juvenile males had vivid to moderate pig- mentation while that of the females was colorless; he relied principally on this dif- ference in eye patch color to determine sex in molting juveniles. Palmers eye-patch method for determining the sex of molting grouse was not published when I was con- ducting field studies on ruffed grouse in Wisconsin, but because the determination of relative color intensity is subjective, it appears useful to describe a more definitive method at this time.