Orange River Francolins (Scleroptila levaillantoides) persist in fragmented Highveld farming landscapes, South Africa

Background How do Orange River Francolins (Scleroptila levaillantoides) adapt to an intensive farming landscape with grass (grazing) camps and crop cultivation? To answer this question, a study was carried out in south-east of Johannesburg in South Africa to clarify the interaction of francolins with a landscape consisting of land use mosaics.

Methods A transect-road of 45 km was traversed weekly during November 2015–October 2016 through flat maize (Zea mays) and cattle (Bos primigenius) grazing fields. Francolins were counted in three land use mosaic types along the transect-road (including the road): grass camps on both sides of the road (grass/grass edges); arable fields on both sides (arable/arable edges) and arable land on one side with grass camps on the opposite side of the road (arable/ grass edges).

Results Francolins used all three mosaic types, but the arable/arable edges were least frequented. Nonetheless, the arable/arable edges played an important part: francolins, including females with chicks, moved along the arable/arable edges, which enabled contact between sub-populations, and the arable/arable edges provided temporary cover (e.g. stubble and maize plants) and ploughed firebreaks to forage (e.g. for bulbs).

Conclusion Cultivation of crop within grasslands does not constrain breeding, movement and habitat use by the Orange River Francolin. For conservation purposes it is critical that the fine-scale mosaic of grazing and cultivation areas remain intact.