Autumn–winter diet of Grey Partridges Perdix perdix in winter crops, stubble fields and fallows

Figures & data

Table 2. Comparison (in chronological order of published study) of autumn–winter diet composition of Grey Partridges Perdix perdix (expressed as percentage area/volume of six main components) in Europe and North America. Abbreviations: cer leav, cereal leaves; blf, broad-leaves; o. plant mat., other plant material; n.d., not determined; Aut., Autumn; Win., Winter; the same letter means pooled diet components: A, cereal leaves and broad-leaved leaves; B, weed seeds and cereal grains.

Source and country	Habitat and crop cover type	Methods	Diet item – min./max. proportion (%)												Dominant weeds (% of weed seeds; Aut./Win.)
			Cer leav		Blf		Weed seeds		Cereal grains		O. plant mat.		Invertebrates
			Aut.	Win.	Aut.	Win.	Aut.	Win.	Aut.	Win.	Aut.	Win.	Aut.	Win.
Kelso 1932, USA, Washinghton	Arable land; cereals	Crop content; pooled data for Oct–Feb	6.5^A		–		33.7		49.1		–		10.7		Polygonum convolvulus (11)
Cambell 1936–37, England	Arable land; different crops	Crop content; pooled data for Sep–Oct	18.4^A	–	–	–	46.6	–	12.2	–	22.1	–	0.6	–	Given only frequency: Alopecurus myosuroides (6), P. convolvulus (20)
Middleton & Chitty 1937, England	Arable land; different crops	Crop content; pooled data for Oct–Nov and Dec–Feb	26.5^A	68.0^A	–	–	34.5	17.8	22.4	0.7	16.4	13.3	0.04	0	Polygonum aviculare (20.4/15.6), Atriplex patula (6.0/1.7), Fallopia convolvulus (3.9/0.1)
Vertse et al. 1952–55; Hungary	Arable land; different crops	Crop content	100^AB	100^AB	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	Given only proportion for all weeds excluding other items, Oct–Feb: Chenopodium album (62.3), Polygonum aviculare (46.2), Amaranthus retroflexus (42.0), Echinochloa crus-galli (15.1), Setaria viridis (14.8), C. polisperrmum (14.1), Polygonum convolvulus (9.0), Setaria glauca (8.7), Digitaria sanguinalis (6.4)
Janda 1956; Czechoslovakia	Arable land; different crops	Crop content	6.5/10.0^A	61.0/79.0^A	–	–	20.5/30.0	4.5/20.0	60.0/69.0	16.5/22.5	–	–	0.0/4.0	0	Given max. frequency, Aut–Win: Polygonum convolvulus (30.1), Avena fatua (10.9), Chenopodium album (8.6), Setaria glauca (4.6)
Hammer et al. 1958; Denmark	n.d.	Crop content given% of occurrence; pooled data for Aut. = Sep–Nov, Win. = Dec–Feb; blf – clover and alfalfa; other leaves; weeds:% occurrence (Aut./Win.)	55 or 72^A	88 or 100^A	37/12	24/12	82	20	63	4	–	–	7	–	Given only frequency: Polygonum sp. (46/16), Stelaria media (32/0)
Brüll 1960; Germany	Arable land; different crops	Crop content	13.0/60.0^A	47.0/99.9^A	–	–	22.0/30.0	0.0/47.0	18.0/32.0	0.0/6.0	–	–	–	–	Given only frequency, Sep–Nov: Polygonum convolvulus (17.6), Poa annua (9.2), Chenopodium album (8.6)
Oko 1963; Poland	Arable land; different crops	Crop content	6.7/42.3^A	70.1/97.4^A	–	–	57.0/62.0	2.5/15.3	0.7/30.6	0.0/0.6	–	–	0.01/0.7	–	Given maximal monthly proportion from Oct to Feb: Amaranthus retroflexus (16.7), Setaria viridis (15.6), Echinochlora crus-galli (14.4), Polygonum convolvus (12.6), Chenopodium polyspermum (10.2), Centaurea cyanus (7.2), Spergula arvensis (7.1), Solanum tuberosum (7.1), Setaria pumila (5.7), Cerastium semidecandrum (5.4), Polygonum nodosum (3.1), Chenopodium album (2.3), Cerastium arvense (2.2)
Westerskov 1966; Canada, Alberta	n.d.	Crop content; ranges for Aut. = Oct–Nov, Win. = Dec–Feb; weeds –% of seeds, means for Oct–Mar	10.3/17.5A	1.3/3.2A	–	–	27.3/39.2	18.4/25.1	43.3/62.4	71.7/80.3	–	–	–	–	Galeopsis tetrahit (28), Polygonum convolvulus (25), Chenopodium album (15)
Potts 1970; England	Arable land; mainly stubble fields	Crop content; data for Oct; details on dry weights of weed seeds and cereal grain	–	n.d.	–	n.d.	6.0	n.d.	93.0	n.d.	–	n.d.	–	n.d.	Polygonum spp. (44.0), Stellaria media (37.0), Chenopodium album (13.0)
Kobriger 1980; USA, North Dakota	n.d.	Crop content; pooled data, Aut. = 18 Sep–17 Nov, Win. = 18 Nov–29 Feb	6.5^A	14.0^A	–	–	33.7	13.6	49.1	72.2	–	–	10.7	0.2	Given only frequency: Setaria viridis (28/13), Helianthus sp. (22/1), Setaria lutescens (12/5), Polygonum convolvulus (10/18), Avena fatua (3/22)
Huss 1983; Austria	Arable land; different crops	Crop content	3.0	56.0	0.3	0.1	5.0	< 0.1	90.5	39.0	0.5	4.9	0.7	–	Lolium perenne (9.4), Avena fatua (5.1), Chenopodium album (5.0/ 0)
Pulliainen 1984, Finland	Arable land; mainly cereals	Crop content; data for Oct for three periods: 1962–64 (1), 1968–70 (2), 1979–81 (3)	(1) 1.0 ^A (2) 2.7 ^A (3) 4.3 ^A	–	–	–	(1) 41 (2) 48 (3) 23	–	(1) 59 (2) 49 (3) 71		–	–	(1) 0 (2) 0.04 (3) 1.2	–	Galeopsis spp. (1) 35, (2) 39, (3) 71; Spergula arvensis (3) 3.4
Hupp et al. 1988; South Dakota, USA	Arable land; mainly row crops and small grains	Crop content; pooled data for Aut. = 22 Oct–21 Dec, Win. = 22 Dec–21 Feb; o. plant mat. – corn and sunflower grains; weeds: whole-year domination; no quantitative data	17.1^A	26.5^A	–	–	34.9	15.3	9.1	5.3	34.7	52.1	0.3	0	Setaria spp., Polygonum spp., Ambrosia spp.
Steenfeldt et al. 1991; Denmark	Arable land; different crops including stubble fields	Faecal analysis; pooled data for Dec–Feb (two years) for four land-cover types: stubble fields (1), winter cereals (2), pasture (3) and ploughed fields (4)	(1) 49^A (2) 96–98^A (3) 83–93^A (4) 18–21^A				(1) 51^B (2) 2–4^B (3) 5–17^B (4) 79–82 ^B					up to 2%	–	–	Given only frequency: Polygonum persicaria (14.0), Fallopia convolvulus (12.0), Polygonum aviculare (9.0), Stellaria media (8.0), Myosotis arvensis (7.0), Veronica sp. (7.0)
Novoa et al. 1999, France, Pyrenees	Mountains; grasslands, pastures	Crop content; data for early and late autumn (<20 Oct, > 20 Oct)	7.8/24.7	n.d.	10.3/18.7	n.d.	22.4/27.5^B	n.d.		n.d.	13.7/14.3	n.d.	16.0/45.2	n.d.	Festuca paniculata (11.9), Rumex acetosella (5.8), Festuca rubra (2.2)

Table 1. The autumn–winter diet composition of Grey Partridges Perdix perdix in Poland based on the analysis of 36 faecal samples (0.5 g) from four land-cover types: winter cereals, winter oil-seed rape, stubble fields after cultivation of cereals (C), oil-seed rape (R), maize (M) and potato (P) and permanent fallow; in brackets the number of samples with a given item indicated; ^alife cycle of weeds: annual (A), biennial (B), perennial (P).

Item (characteristic)	Number of items (all samples)	Proportion (%)
		Winter cereals (12)	Oil-seed rape (9)	Stubble fields				Permanent fallow (3)
				C (2)	R (4)	M (5)	P (1)
CEREAL LEAVES	328 928	92.8 (12)	42.5 (8)	16.4 (2)	6.4 (4)	68.4 (5)	–	40.5 (3)
BROAD-LEAVED PLANT LEAVES
Broad-leaved (oil-seed rape mainly)	86 636	5.1 (12)	51.4 (9)	21.9 (2)	14.5 (4)	0.6 (3)	–	< 0.1 (2)
Bidens tripartita	21 900	–	–	–	–	–	–	36.4 (1)
Artemisia vulgaris	165	0.1 (1)	–	–	–	–	–	–
Polygonum sp.	3	–	–	–	–	< 0.1 (1)	–	–
Non-identified	14 128	0.1 (1)	2.4 (1)	20.3 (1)	–	0.7 (1)	–	10.9 (2)
WEED SEEDS (case fragments)^a
Amaranthus retroflexus (A)	51 240	0.6 (3)	–	23.4 (2)	43.0 (4)	< 0.1 (1)	91.8 (1)	2.0 (1)
Chenopodium album (A)	18 265	0.1 (1)	0.6 (2)	< 0.1 (1)	15.8 (1)	10.0 (2)	0.7 (1)	1.9 (1)
Polygonum/Fallopia sp. (A)	2 380	0.9 (4)	< 0.1 (3)	0.2 (1)	0.2 (3)	0.4 (1)	–	< 0.1 (3)
Bidens tripartita (A)	1 873	–	–	–	–	–	–	3.1 (1)
Leonurus cardiaca (P)	589	–	–	3.1 (1)	–	–	–	–
Stellaria media (A)	377	–	< 0.1 (1)	1.0 (1)	0.3 (1)	< 0.1 (2)	–	–
Galinsoga sp. (A)	253	0.1 (1)	–	–	–	–	–	–
Capsella bursa-pastoris (A)	117	0.1 (2)	–	–	–	< 0.1 (1)	–	–
Taraxacum officinale (A)	96	0.1 (1)	–	–	–	–	–	–
Chenopodium hybridum (A)	26	–	–	–	–	–	–	< 0.1 (1)
Veronica sp. (A)	24	–	< 0.1 (1)	–	–	–	–	–
Artemisia vulgaris (P)	8	–	< 0.1 (1)	–	–	–	–	–
Papaver sp. (A)	2	–	–	< 0.1 (1)	–	–	–	–
Rumex crispus (P)	2	–	< 0.1 (1)	–	–	–	–	–
Senecio sp. (A/B)	2	–	–	–	–	–	–	< 0.1 (1)
Gypsophila muralis (A)	1	< 0.1 (1)	–	–	–	–	–	–
Campanula trachelium (P)	1	< 0.1 (1)	–	–	–	–	–	–
CEREAL GRAIN (case fragments)
Wheat	19 206	< 0.1 (2)	2.9 (2)	13.4 (1)	14.9 (2)	6.5 (3)	–	0.4 (1)
Lolium perenne (P)	7	< 0.1 (1)	–	–	–	–	–	–
Poaceae unident.	627	–	–	–	–	–	–	1.0 (1)
HUSKS OF GRASSES
Echinochloa crus-galli (A)	3 465	–	–	–	2.8 (1)	2.5 (2)	–	–
Poa annua (A)	880	–	–	–	–	–	–	1.5 (1)
Poa sp.	158	< 0.1 (1)	0.1 (1)	–	–	–	–	–
Setaria sp. (A)	50	< 0.1 (2)	–	–	–	–	–	–
Digitaria sanguinalis (A)	2	< 0.1 (1)	–	–	–	–	–	–
Other Poaceae	2 217	0.1 (3)	–	< 0.1 (1)	0.1 (2)	1.0 (1)	–	1.8 (2)
OTHER PLANT MATERIAL
Straw fragments	7 378	–	–	–	–	8.9 (1)	–	–
Amaranthus retroflexus (infloresc.)	2 951	–	–	–	2.0 (1)	–	7.5 (1)	0.1 (1)
Steam fragments	715	< 0.1 (1)	< 0.1 (1)	–	< 0.1 (1)	0.8 (4)	–	< 0.1 (1)
Juncus sp. (fragments of fruits) (A)	47	–	–	–	–	–	–	0.1 (1)
Mosses	7	< 0.1 (1)	–	–	–	–	–
NUMBER OF ALL IDENTIFIED ITEMS	564 726	203 537	124 950	18 742	49 522	82 620	25 242	60 113

Figure 1. Comparison of the average (± 1 se) proportion of six main components in the diet of Grey Partridges Perdix perdix in winter cereals, winter oil-seed rape and stubble fields combined with permanent fallows. blf, broad-leaved.

Figure 2. Results of the dca analysis of Grey Partridges’ Perdix perdix diet composition indicating the breakdown in four land-cover type: winter cereals (▪), winter oil-seed rape (□), stubble fields (▵), permanent fallow (

); previous crops on stubble fields indicated by the following letters: maize (M), oil-seed rape (R), cereals (C), potatoes (P). Eigenvalues: axis 1, 0.765; axis 2, 0.146; cumulative percentage variance: axis 1, 31.9; axis 2, 38.0. Statistically significant Spearman rank correlation coefficients between the proportion of six main dietary components and axis 1 revealed for cereal leaves (r _s = –0.926, P < 0.001) and weed seeds (r _s = 0.755, P < 0.001); and for axis 2 for blf leaves (r _s = –0.783, P < 0.001), cereal grains (r _s = 0.537, P < 0.001) and husks of grasses (r _s = 0.434, P < 0.01).

Figure 3. Diet diversity of Grey Partridges Perdix perdix expressed as the Simpson Index of Diversity (sid) in winter cereals, winter oil-seed rape and stubble fields combined with permanent fallows.

Figure 4. Relationship between the diet diversity (expressed as the Simpson Index of Diversity, sid) and the log-transformed number of (A) all leaves and (B) weed seeds recorded in the diet of Grey Partridges Perdix perdix based on the analysis of 36 faecal samples from four land-cover types.

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