Slack in the Configuration of Habitat Patches for Northern Bobwhites

1 analyzed whether reported ranges in the optimal values of habitat features for northern bobwhites (Colinus virginianus) reflect incomplete knowledge or a property of the bobwhite-habitat interface. Simple landscape modeling revealed that patch configuration (the dispersion, quantity, and type of habitat patches) has a property defined as slack different patch configurations with ranges of values for habitat features may provide optimal habitat at the landscape level. Slack arises because different patel configurations lead to fully usable space through time. Slack also may arise because (1) bobwhites are broadly adapted to vegetation structures; (2) the interchange of time allocated to different behaviors has null effects on fitness, within ordinary limits; and (3) patch types have interchangeable functions. Ranges of optimality for habitat features seem to be a property of the bobwhite-habitat interface. Management should address limiting boundary conditions for patch configurations as opposed to secking a single, population-maximizing configuration. Slack permits flexibility in habitat management plans and thus fosters multiple-use management.