Grouse have long attracted and fascinated people. And, in many parts of their range, grouse hunting still plays a major role in the culture, economy, and subsistence of local communities. This first Grouse Action Plan provides an overview of the distribution, status, and threats to all 17 currently recognised grouse species worldwide and identifies the most immediate conservation needs. The Action Plan was primarily written as a reference guide for decison makers, agency officials, resource managers, funding organisations, but also scientists and students who share the GSG's goal of securing viable population of all species and subspecies of grouse in the wild. Their indicator function and their attractiveness to people make grouse suitable flagship species to promote the conservation of ecosystems and biodiversity.
Grouse occupy a wide range of habitats of Eurasia and North America.
There are grouse specialised to tundra habitats, to open grasslands, and to the various stages of forest succession. Related to their extensive distribution ranges and often remote habitats, the conservation status of grouse is less critical than that of other galliform taxa. One subspecies, Attwater's prairie chicken, is Critically Endangered, another, the Cantabrian capercaillie, appears to be Endangered, and a newly proposed species, the Gunnison sage grouse, is considered to be Endangered as well. At regional, national, and local scales, many populations of grouse are declining and threatened with extinction. Thirteen of the 17 species of grouse are included in the national red-data books of at least one country.