I am working on terrestrial species, Pheasant in tropical areas. Most of them tend to be high abundance in flat rather than steep terrain. These species eat mainly on insects, fruits, seeds, etc. I would like to find references about differences of physical environment or biodiversity (that can provide food for species such as insects,...) between flat and steep habitats so that I can explain for my results. I hope to have help from all of you who are familiar with this topic. Thanks so much for your help.
I am definitely no expert.
For galliformes, we see that some groups tend to be forest dwellers while others are mainly openland dwellers, among which a fraction is confined to higher grounds. As for pheasants, I see upland dwellers have a relatively high ratio in Asia outside Oriental Region. Your region shows a great deal of generic endemism, so we can hypothetize deep roots behind certain trends.
Often upland require further adaptations of feeding and others. WAIR (Wing assisted incline running) is seen in partridges. For mammals also the steep, higher areas need extra adaptations.
Primarilly, I guess the main choice towards flatlands is due to insectivorous diet and the need for lush understory for their escape behavior, plus maybe the relatively large size that does allow other methods for safeguarding.
Ümit
Note: Your are dealing with some of the most glamorous creatures on earth. Lucky you :)
Perhaps you must check extructural niche explotation. The capacity or avalability to fly in diferent complexity of habitat must be a factor. Predator detection in open areas is other factor.
Perhaps this reference could help.
Callaway, E. 2016. When chickens go wild. Nature 529: 270-273.
Pheasants have quite short wings, not very good for flying uphills perhaps...
No, they have short wings since they live in such environments. From the phylogenetic point of view.
It may be because pheasant are not morphologically capable of residing in such environment.
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