Designing Sustainable Landscapes: Representative Species Model: Ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus)

Ruffed grouse was selected as a representative species for the Designing Sustainable Landscapes project of the North Atlantic LCC (https://scholarworks.umass.edu/designing_sustainable_landscapes/). The habitat clusters (ecological systems) and associated wildlife species that it represents generally comprise mixed-aged forests within close proximity to open habitat. The Landscape Capability (LC) index integrates habitat capability, climate suitability and prevalence into a single index that reflects the relative capacity of a site to support the species.