Winter Habitat Selection of Ring-necked Pheasant in Liupan Mountain

The winter habitat selection of the Common Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) was studied in Liu pan Mountain National Nature Reserve from January to April 2008.91 used plots used by the Common Pheasant were located and measured in 20 transects crossing the whole study area. 19 habitat factors related to the used sites were examined in Liu Pan Mountain.After the frequency statistics and principal component analysis of the relevant factors of the Common Pheasant winter habitat selection in Liupan Mountain Nature Reserve,the results show that:the Common Pheasant preferred habitats with rare trees in local and low number of trees or have no trees; they also preferred to use the buck thorn shrub and mixed shrub,and prefer the habitats with high number of shrubs,smaller-diameter bushes and low shrub.The coverage of vegetation is also one of the main factors in the Common Pheasant winter habitat selection.The Common Pheasant preferred to use high coverage of vegetation in the habitat.The Common Pheasant also preferred to use lower slope,sunny slope and semi-sunny,but had a low interest on the shady slope.The Common Pheasant preferred to keep a long distance from the road and residential area,to avoid the disturbance of human.What' s more,the Common Pheasant preferred habitat close to the water,with less snow and higher hiding cover.Overall,the food and hidden conditions are the basic factors affecting the winter habitat selection and use of the Common Pheasant,and the habitat selection is based on these two factors.