Rock ptarmigan management

Towards a science based Rock ptarmigan (Lagopus muta) management

Compared to other grouse species, not much is known about the status of the rock ptarmigan (Lagopus muta) in many parts of its range. Recently there has been increasing pressure on ptarmigan populations due to climate change, land use changes causing habitat loss and fragmentation. Although Rock ptarmigan is the second most popular game bird in alpine areas in Sweden and Norway, rock ptarmigan is among the least studied species in terms of research projects and number of scientific publications.

The management of willow ptarmigan (Lagopus lagopus) in Sweden and parts of large estates in Norway, has been developed and evaluated in cooperation between managers and scientists over a long time. Despite a general lack of biological knowledge of rock ptarmigan, current management suggests that the same method for counting rock ptarmigan and response to exploitation is similar as for willow ptarmigan.

This project will work with already collected data from Sweden and Norway on both rock ptarmigan and willow grouse, use modern telemetry methods to estimate survival rates on rock ptarmigan and to assess if the monitoring design, competing data on population trends and use of demographic data to evaluate whether a more species-specific monitoring and management of rock ptarmigan is needed.

This will be the first detailed study to examine monitoring methods, competing data sources of population trends, survival, Breeding success, habitat availability and intraspecific competition to improve the tools available for predicting the long-term consequences of management decisions on rock ptarmigan and willow grouse.

Maria Hörnell-Willebrand, Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences

3 140 000 SEK