DOI: 10.5061/dryad.2bvq83btr
title: Data for: Ruffed grouse roosting behaviour

description: Behavioural flexibility is an important way in which animals respond to
 changing environmental conditions. During winter, snow cover is an
 important seasonal refuge that provides thermal insulation and protects
 overwintering species from predators. However, snow depth and quality can
 be highly variable throughout winter, and it is unclear how species that
 use snow cover adjust their behaviour with changing winter conditions and
 in complex landscapes. During winter months, Ruffed Grouse Bonasa
 umbellus spend a large portion of time roosting in trees, understory, and
 in some cases, subnivean environments. Importantly, the ability to snow
 roost has been associated with reduced stress levels and increased
 overwinter survival. Across three winters, we studied the plasticity of
 roosting behaviour across a diversity of winter conditions and land cover
 types. In line with predictions, grouse were more likely to use snow
 burrows when snow was deep and powdery, and experienced warmer
 temperatures in snow roosts compared to other roost types. However, snow
 roosting behaviour did not vary strongly across land cover types, and
 grouse were not more likely to use snow burrows at colder temperatures,
 potentially because snow roosting may serve to protect grouse from
 predators regardless of winter weather conditions. Both the snow
 conditions necessary for snow roosting and the occurrence of snow roosting
 behaviour, were relatively rare during our 3-year study (only 3% of all
 roosts were snow burrows). Loss of winter refugia due to warming winters
 and declining snow cover may limit the use of behavioural flexibility for
 winter-adapted species to cope with environmental change.
description: Data were collected at Sandhill
 Wildlife Area in central Wisconsin. Individual Ruffed Grouse were
 radio-collared and their roosting behaviour was monitored for three
 winters: 2015-2016, 2016-2017, and 2017-2018. The dataset contained in
 “RuffedGrouseBehaviour_Dataset.csv” consists of roosting behaviour
 observations of individual grouse. We include all variables needed to run
 the multinomial analysis of roosting behaviour that is presented in the
 manuscript using the R script “RuffedGrouseBehaviour.R”. To quantify the effect of roosting
 behaviour on temperatures experienced by grouse, we used temperature data
 recorded by iButton temperature sensors that were attached to grouse
 transmitters. For each roost observation of a grouse with an iButton, we
 extracted the median temperature from the bird’s iButton during the
 previous 12 hours, representing the temperature experienced by the grouse
 while at the roost. We then extracted the minimum temperature from the
 previous day from daily temperature rasters, and calculated the difference
 between the median grouse iButton temperature and the minimum ambient
 temperature. We used a generalized linear model with a Gaussian error
 distribution to model the effect of roosting behaviour on the difference
 in temperature between the median grouse iButton temperature and the
 minimum ambient temperature. Roosting behaviour was categorized as “snow
 roost”, “surface roost”, and “tree roost”. The dataset
 “Temperature_dataset.csv” contains the data necessary to run the
 generalized linear model. See manuscript for more details.
description: Program R is necessary to run the script
 "RuffedGrouseBehaviour.R"   Columns in the dataset
 “RuffedGrouseBehaviour_Dataset.csv”: BirdName: a unique identifier for each
 individual Ruffed Grouse. roostcat: a categorical variable describing
 roosting behaviour (“TREE”, “SURFACE”, “BOWL”, or “BURROW”). See
 manuscript for more details. roostcover: a categorical variable
 describing land cover (“MF” = Mature Forest, “DC” = Dense Cover, “OP” =
 Open habitat, “SO” = Scrub Oak). See manuscript for more
 details. Sdepth: snow depth
 at the roost site (cm), scaled. Smintemp: minimum daily temperature (°C),
 scaled. SJDate: modified
 Julian date where December 1<sup>st</sup> = 1 and continues
 numerically through March 31<sup>st</sup> of each year,
 scaled. Stime: minutes from
 midnight, scaled. Sden:
 Snow sink depth at the roost site (cm), scaled. Snow sink depth is an
 index of snow density. Larger values indicate more powdery snow.
   Columns in the dataset
 “Temperature_dataset.csv”: Temp_diff: the difference between the
 median grouse iButton temperature and the minimum ambient
 temperature. RoostType: a
 categorical variable describing roosting behaviour (“TREE”, “SURFACE”, or
 “SNOW ROOST”).