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Foods of Rock and Willow Ptarmigan in Central Alaska with Comments on Interspecific Competition

1969; Oxford University Press; Volume: 86; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.2307/4083500

1938-4254

Robert B. Weeden,

Wildlife Ecology and Conservation

THE value of much of the past work on foods of Alaskan ptarmigan (Lagopus spp.) has been severely limited by sporadic collecting and small samples.The work of West and Meng (1966) on Willow Ptarmigan (L.lagopus) in arctic Alaska, and of Roberts (1963) on Willow and Rock Ptarmigan (L.taurus) in central Alaska are prominent exceptions.The former study was restricted to the central Brooks Range population of Willow Ptarmigan and emphasized winter foods.Roberts' work left seasonal gaps where few collections were available, and his data are not easily compared with West and Meng's or mine because he analyzed samples by volume displacement rather than by oven dry weight.By combining data from ptarmigan crops collected by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game in Alaska since 1959, I now have enough information to show the kinds of foods Rock Ptarmigan select throughout the year in central Alaska and the species Willow Ptarmigan choose from August to early May.These data establish calendar dates for normal seasonal changes in diet, particularly for Rock Ptarmigan, and allow a comparison of the choices made by taurus and lagopus in the central part of the state.Winter samples of Willow Ptarmigan from other parts of Alaska and neighboring Yukon allow limited regional comparisons.