Pattern of goshawk Accipiter gentilis predation on four forest grouse species in northern Finland

• Published in: Viruses
• Main Author: Tornberg, Risto
• Other Authors: Oulun Yliopisto
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2001
• Subjects: Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law; Nature and Landscape Conservation; Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics; Accipiter gentilis; Northern Finland
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.2981/wlb.2001.029; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.2981/wlb.2001.029; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.2981/wlb.2001.029

I studied predator‐prey relationships between goshawk Accipiter gentilis and four species of forest grouse (Tetraonidae) in northern Finland during 1988–1998. The main purpose of my study was to evaluate the impact of goshawk predation and its possible effect on multiannual cycling patterns in grouse numbers. Theoretically specialist predators should tend to cause stable‐limit cycles in prey populations if there is a time‐lag in the predator's response to prey density and the prey species should be most affected at low densities. Four grouse species, willow grouse Lagopus lagopus, black grouse Tetrao tetrix, capercaillie Tetrao urogallus and hazel grouse Bonasa bonasia, form the main food of the goshawk in boreal forests in northern Finland. Grouse constituted >40% of the goshawk's diet during the breeding season. The impact of predation by breeding goshawks on grouse varied depending on grouse species within 7–32% during the breeding season. Losses were highest for willow grouse and lowest for capercaillie. On average, goshawks took 6% of grouse chicks. On an annual basis breeding goshawks took 2–31% of the August grouse population. The goshawk's share of the total mortality in grouse was also species related. The most reliable estimates were found for black grouse of which 35% were removed and for hazel grouse of which 40% were removed. Goshawks are relatively specialised on forest grouse in northern boreal forests as was demonstrated by a weak functional response of the hawks to changes in grouse density. Breeding goshawks showed no numerical response to changes in grouse density but the production of young tended to lag one year behind black grouse density. The predation rate of goshawks was inversely density dependent on changes in grouse density, which may have had a destabilising effect on the grouse populations. A positive relationship existed between summer predation on willow grouse and changes in the population the previous year.