Partridges, Quails, Francolins, Snowcocks, Guineafowl, and Turkeys

equirements in terms of forest type and altitudinal range.
Some species occupy a relatively narrow altitudinal band
and deforestation affects different altitudes in different
ways. For example, the gorgeted wood-quail is found only
in the oak band, which has been lost over much of its range
in Colombia. Reserves tend to be restricted to high
elevations, and there is a need to assess how well these
protected areas are covering the range of these species.
Recommendations for protected area improvement should
be made as a result of this study.
Timescale: A long-term programme of work, although
individual surveys of any length could contribute useful
information.
Resources: Funding for this work could be sought in the
form of small grants for surveys to the large grants needed
to sustain a substantial research programme.
Project 5. Assessing the conservation
status of Neotropical quails in northern
Central America
Aims: To adequately survey the distribution of the quail
species inhabiting southern Mexico, Belize, Guatemala,
and Honduras; to use this information to generate largescale
conservation assessments of these species.
Justification: Although the species within this region are
largely considered to be at Lower Risk, much of this is based
on indirect evidence regarding amounts of available habitat.
It remains the case since the last Action Plan was published
that very little is known about these species. Survey work is
urgently required to adequately map their distributions and
populations so that informed and explicit judgements on
their conservation status can be made. This will also enable
future judgements on trends in distribution and population
sizes to be made, allowing declining species to be identified
and appropriate action to be taken before it becomes too late.
Project description: Large-scale mapping of probable
species ranges may pinpoint areas where additional survey
work may find populations of these species. Particular
attention should focus on protected areas to establish
whether there are viable populations within such areas in
the region. This will also clear the way for more detailed
habitat use studies to understand why some areas are
better than others for these species. This, in turn, will help
identify which species are likely to be threatened in the
future from human actions, and enable the formulation of
management plans to prevent their demise.
Timescale: Such work could be completed within two
years, although there would be plenty of opportunities for
short-term fieldwork projects within the context of the
overall programme.
Resources: $15,000–25,000.
Project 6. Assessing populations of Asian
Galliformes within protected areas
Aim: To assess whether each of the 82 protected areas
identified in a recent study contains viable populations of
threatened Galliformes
Justification: Recent work has identified a set of 82 protected
areas within Asia, approximately half of which are
irreplaceable in the context of Galliformes conservation
(McGowan et al. 1999). However, the study was only able
to use species lists from protected areas and was not able to
assess whether each species recorded was actually present in
viable numbers. Such an assessment is vital to make sure
that the most efficient protected area network is identified,
leading to the most effective use of scarce resources for the
conservation of Asian Galliformes. Therefore, what is
needed is a list of species that have viable populations in
each protected area.
Project description: Ideally, each protected area would be
surveyed to assess whether there are viable populations of
Galliformes species present. This is, however, extremely
difficult as many areas are hard to survey, most of the
species are not easy to detect, and many areas remain to be
surveyed to gain a complete understanding of the entire
network that has been proposed. Therefore, a few key areas
should be surveyed and the results extrapolated to habitat
maps from as many areas as possible. For the most part, the
broad habitat relations of the target species are sufficiently
well known to make assessments of the amount of habitat
available to each species. Ground surveys should concentrate
on understanding levels of habitat disturbance and the
effect different levels may have on species distributions.
Timescale: Surveys of any length within protected areas
(from a few weeks to several months) will contribute useful
information to this work.
Resources: Needs will vary depending on the length and
scope of the particular project.
Project 7. Review of information on
IndoChinese partridges
Aim: To review the status of species in Laos, Vietnam, and
Cambodia from information in unpublished reports to
make an assessment of their conservation needs.
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