Landscape Ecology, Survival and Space Use of Lesser Prairie-chickens PDF Download

Author: Samantha Robinson
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Languages : en
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The lesser prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) has experienced range-wide population declines and range contraction since European settlement. Due to ongoing declines, lesser prairie-chickens were listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in 2014; however, uncertainty regarding the legal status of the species has developed following a judicial decision to vacate the listing in September 2015. Regardless, new research is required for conservation planning, especially for understudied portions and temporal periods of the occupied range. I evaluated nonbreeding lesser prairie-chicken survival using known-fate models, and tested for the influence of environmental, landscape and predator effects on weekly survival. I estimated nonbreeding home-range size using fixed kernel density estimators and Brownian Bridge movement models for VHF and Satellite tagged lesser prairie-chickens, and measured habitat use during the 6-month nonbreeding period (16 September - 14 March). I also determined the influence of lek location on space use intensity within home ranges using resource utilization functions. Female survival was high (0.75, SE = 0.05) and consistent across nonbreeding seasons, but not explainable by selected variables. Mean home range size for birds with GPS transmitters (955 ha, SE = 128.5) was 215% larger than for individuals with VHF transmitters (303 ha, SE = 24.1) and 136% greater during the 2014-2015 nonbreeding season than the 2013-2014 season. Males and females were tied to leks throughout the nonbreeding season, and this relationship was not variable across the months of the nonbreeding season. Proportions of habitat used differed among study sites, but temporal trends were not evident. Lesser prairie-chickens exhibited consistency among ecoregions for home-range, space use, and survival; however, with differing habitat use among regions, management should be on the regional scale. Agriculture and energy development have caused fragmentation of the landscape where lesser prairie-chickens evolved. I used known fate survival models to test if landscape composition or configuration within sites caused survival to differ by site, as well as within home ranges to determine if functional relationships exist between weekly survival and landscape configuration or composition. I used Andersen-Gill models to test whether distance to anthropogenic features affected hazard rates. Differences in survival rates between sites, with survival rates 50% greater in Clark County, Kansas compared to Northwestern, Kansas, corresponded to differences in the amount of grassland habitat on the landscape, but study-site configuration was not measurably different. Increasing the number of patch types within home ranges increased survival, indicating positive effects of heterogeneity. In addition, as distance to fences decreased, lesser prairie-chickens experienced greater risk. Overall, further breakup of grassland landscapes that lesser prairie-chickens occupy should be avoided, to avoid habitat loss and fragmentation thresholds that could further affect survival rates. Additionally, fences should be removed or avoided around active leks.

Author: Reid Thomas Plumb
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Languages : en
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The lesser prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) is an endemic North American prairie grouse once widely distributed in the southwestern Great Plains. Recent population declines and continued threats to lesser prairie-chicken populations prompted the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to list the species as "threatened" under the protection of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 in May 2014. The northern extent of the species range in Kansas and Colorado supports 2/3 of the remaining range-wide population of lesser prairie-chickens, but has thus far been relatively understudied. Concern for species viability has created a need to fill current knowledge gaps in lesser prairie-chicken ecology, provide more recent demographic information, and develop appropriate conservation actions. I evaluated female survival, movement, space use, and effects of anthropogenic features during the breeding seasons of 2013 and 2014. I captured and radio-tagged 201 females with satellite GPS (N = 114) and VHF (N = 82) transmitters within the three ecoregions of Kansas and Colorado. Mean daily movement varied by region, year, and breeding season period but the amount of space used was consistent between ecoregions and years. On average, females moved 1352 m ± 12 [SE] per day. Females moved the greatest distances during the lekking period of the breeding season with females moving 2074 m ± 36 per day. Females were most sedentary during the brooding period moving only 780 m ± 14 per day. Mean breeding season home range size was estimated to be 340 ha ± 27. The lekking period had the greatest amount of movement as a result of females visiting leks to find mates, copulate, and search for nest locations. Female's movements were reduced during the brooding period because of physical limitations of the brood mobility. Variation in movement between ecoregions was most likely a product of fragmentation as females moved 10-30% more in northwest Kansas compared to the study sites, which was characterized by northwest Kansas having the greatest degree of fragmentation. Survival varied by ecoregion with females in northwest Kansas having the lowest probability of surviving the 6-month breeding season compared to other ecoregions. Estimated 6-month breeding season survival during 2013 and 2014 was 0.455 (95% CI = 0.38 -- 0.53). Survival was lowest during the nesting period, which claimed 59.5% of all observed mortalities. Survival increased from 2013 to 2014 in northwest Kansas as grassland habitats recovered from extreme drought conditions in 2013. Drought was less severe in south-central Kansas and survival rates remained fairly consistent across years. Avian and mammalian predators caused 45.7% and 34.3% of breeding season mortalities, respectively. Other mortalities were either cause by snakes or were unknown (5.7%, 14.3%). Overhead cover may have been limited from drought conditions causing nesting females to be more visible to avian predators during incubation. When pooled across years and ecoregions, rump-mounted GPS transmitters did not adversely affect female survival when compared to commonly used necklace style VHF transmitter (VHF: 0.48 95% CI = 0.39 -- 0.58; GPS: 0.50 95% CI = 0.38 -- 0.64). Distance to distribution power lines and lek were significant predictors of female space use within their home range with females behaviorally avoiding distribution power lines and using space closer to leks. Space use decreased with increasing oil well density. Females avoided areas that had well densities of 23 wells/250 ha. Observed female locations were further from anthropogenic features but closer to leks on average than at random. Avoidance behavior of anthropogenic features may result in functional habitat loss and reduce the amount of suitable habitat available; compounding previously fragmented landscapes. Anthropogenic features may limit movement by acting as barriers on the landscape and potentially disrupt population connectivity. Furthermore, habitats selected for nesting and brooding may result in potential ecological traps because of reduce breeding success when impacted by increased occurrence and densities of anthropogenic features. Reduced breeding success can have significant negative impacts on population persistence. Average home range size across all ecoregions indicated that female lesser prairie-chickens need at least 340 ha of habitat to fulfill her life-history requirements during the breeding season. Brooding habitats need to be in close proximity (d"750 m) to nesting cover to reduce distance traversed by newly hatched broods. Reducing grazing pressure will ensure that sufficient vertical habitat structure is available during the nesting period and increase female survival; especially in times of drought. Mangers should restrict construction of anthropogenic features near or within suitable lesser prairie-chicken habitat with emphasis on distribution power lines. Well densities should not exceed 1 well/60 acres (11 wells/section) for a>10% probability of use. However, because the affect that density of wells has on demographic rates of lesser prairie-chickens has yet to be determined, a conservative approach where well densities in or adjacent to grassland patches should be minimized as much as possible is best.

Author: Elisabeth Caroline Teige
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Languages : en
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Translocation is defined as the deliberate movement of organisms from one site to another where the main objective is a conservation benefit. Translocations are used frequently as a management tool to restore or augment wildlife populations but generally have varying degrees of success. The lesser prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) is found in the southwestern Great Plains of the United States and currently occurs in four distinct ecoregions (Short-Grass Prairie/CRP Mosaic, Mixed-Grass Prairie, Sand Sagebrush Prairie, and Sand Shinnery Oak Prairie) across five states (Kansas, Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico, USA). Recent estimates suggest the lesser prairie-chicken currently occupies only 15% of their estimated historical range. Within the current occupied range, lesser prairie-chicken populations have been experiencing moderate to severe population declines. Since a contemporary peak of an estimated 150,000 birds in the mid-1980s, lesser prairie-chicken populations have declined to an estimated abundance of 34,408 in 2020. The largest contemporary decline in population abundance and occupied range is occurring in the Sand Sagebrush Prairie Ecoregion. Historically, the Sand Sagebrush Prairie Ecoregion was the epicenter of the lesser prairie-chicken population despite a large area of vegetation in the ecoregion being decimated during the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. In 2020, only 171 birds were estimated for the ecoregion. In response to the extreme population decline and elevated extinction risk for the lesser prairie-chicken population in the Sand Sagebrush Prairie Ecoregion, myself, along with the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, Colorado Parks and Wildlife, and U.S. Forest Service translocated lesser prairie-chickens from the Short-Grass Prairie/CRP Mosaic Ecoregion in northwest Kansas, where lesser prairie-chickens are currently most abundant, to release sites in sand sagebrush prairie landscapes on the U.S. Forest Service, Cimarron and Comanche National Grasslands in southwestern Kansas and southeastern Colorado, respectively. I captured, marked, translocated, and monitored 411 lesser prairie chickens during spring 2016-2019 to understand how translocation affects demographic rates, space use, and habitat selection for assessing translocation as a conservation tool for this declining prairie-grouse. My objectives were to estimate lek counts, nest success, reproductive success, adult survival, home range establishment and land cover composition, and selection of habitat vegetation characteristics at local and broad scales to assess lesser prairie-chickens response to translocation in a novel landscape. Within two weeks of release, 22.8% of birds either died or were never located. I used known-fate and nest survival models in Program MARK to determine adult survival and nest success of lesser prairie-chickens. I estimated breeding season survival for both males and females to be 0.44 ± 0.02 (SE) and nest success as 0.37 ± 0.04 (SE) but with a declining trend for the entire study period (2017-2020). Overall, vital rates were average to low and male high counts on established lek started to decline in 2021, two years following active translocation. Habitat availability in a novel environment may become an increasing concern as translocated lesser prairie-chickens have consistently larger home ranges than their native counterparts. Home ranges of translocated birds was comprised of greater area of Conservation Reserve Program land than any other cover type on the landscape. Lastly, on a local scale (300 m), I found little selection for vegetation at used locations, but lesser prairie-chickens used thicker and taller cover for nest sites. This vegetation use was expected and conveys the importance of the vegetation structure needed at a translocation release site. My results highlight the importance of land management conservation and its role in the conservation of lesser prairie-chicken populations. The translocation may have some short-term success but current vital rates of lesser prairie chickens may not be enough to overcome inherent limiting factors of the ecoregion for the population to become self-sustaining and the translocation to be deemed a long-term success.

Author: Nicholas James Parker
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Languages : en
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Fire is an ecological driver that historically interacted with grazing and periodic drought throughout large portions of the Great Plains to maintain grasslands used by several wildlife species. More recently, fire suppression, coupled with changing climate and landscapes, has led to altered grassland ecosystems that may be more likely to experience massive wildfire events known as megafires. Megafires (>40,000 ha) have extreme socioeconomic impacts and may also affect grassland-dependent wildlife including lesser prairie-chickens (Tympanuchus pallidicintus). The lesser prairie-chicken is a grouse species of the southern Great Plains that has experienced population declines since the 1980s, primarily as a result of grassland habitat degradation and loss. While fire has long functioned as an ecological driver to shape grassland habitat, knowledge about the influence of megafires on lesser prairie-chickens and their habitat is lacking. To better understand how remaining grasslands and lesser prairie-chickens may be impacted by megafire, I hierarchically evaluated lesser prairie-chicken survival, reproduction, resource selection, and habitat response to a 2017 megafire at a site inhabited by lesser prairie-chickens in the mixed-grass prairie of Kansas, USA (Starbuck fire, ~254,000 ha). I captured lesser prairie-chickens on leks during the spring before (2014-2015) and after (2018-2019) the fire, attached VHF radio and GPS satellite transmitters, and tracked individuals to evaluate survival, reproduction, and habitat selection. To estimate population trends, I conducted counts of male attendance on leks before and after the fire. There was a 67% decline in the number of attending males on leks post-fire and a 46% decline in the number of occupied leks post-fire. Despite the population decline indicated by lek counts, female breeding season adult survival remained similar before (0.63 ± 0.08) and after the fire (0.64 ± 0.08), as did chick survival (before: 0.27 ± 0.03; after: 0.32 ± 0.11), while nest survival trended lower post-fire (before: 0.42 ± 0.06; after: 0.27 ± 0.07). Individual space use was evaluated using 95% isopleth Brownian Bridge home ranges, and did not differ before (828 ± 110 ha) and after (719 ± 101 ha) the fire. However, home ranges included 5 times more percent cover of Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) fields after the fire compared to before, suggesting CRP/cropland landscapes with disjointed fire fuel availability can provide refugia during extreme events. An analysis of lek attendance corroborated home range results, with greatest male lek attendance in areas with more surrounding cropland post-fire, opposite of trends seen before the fire and lesser prairie-chicken literature. Step selection revealed lesser prairie-chickens strongly avoided wooded areas before and after the fire, indicating that although I did see mortality of woody species, burned woodlands did not become available for use by lesser prairie-chickens. Furthermore, lesser prairie-chickens avoided burned areas post-fire, suggesting limited habitat availability up to 3 years post-fire and emigration from the study site. My analysis of fine-scale habitat and grassland vegetation characteristics response supported a decrease in available cover, with a 32% decrease in 100% visual obstruction, 17% decrease in litter depth, and a 16% increase in bare ground. Based on vegetation criteria, abundance of nest habitat decreased 34% one year post-fire; however, nest habitat and many vegetation characteristics returned to pre-fire levels within two years post-fire, thanks in part to substantial growing season precipitation received in the years following the fire (>70 cm/year). The large size and intense nature of the fire affected lek attendance, habitat abundance, and nest survival, but had no lasting (>2 year) detrimental impacts for grasslands or lesser prairie-chicken habitat. Post-fire recovery of grasslands did not correspond with a rebounding population and it will likely take>3 years for lesser prairie-chickens to fully recolonize burned grasslands. My results indicate that multiple management strategies (e.g., CRP enrollment, post-fire removal of snags, prescribed fire) are needed to manage lesser prairie-chicken habitat and limit future megafires.

Author: Clint W. Boal
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Category : Lesser prairie chicken
Languages : en
Pages : 9

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Author: Daniel Edward Dusang
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Category : Climatic changes
Languages : en
Pages : 132

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Author: Michael Eugene Morrow
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Category : Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge
Languages : en
Pages : 200

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Author: Joseph Mark Lautenbach
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Languages : en
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The lesser prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) is a species of prairie grouse native to the southwest Great Plains. Population declines and threats to populations of lesser prairie-chickens led U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to list the species as "threatened" under the protection of the Endangered Species Act in May 2014. Lesser prairie-chickens are found within three distinct ecoregions of Kansas and Colorado and portions of the species' range are affected by tree encroachment into grasslands. The effect of trees on lesser prairie-chickens is poorly understood. I evaluated habitat selection and reproductive success and across the northern portion of the species' range. I captured female lesser prairie-chickens within the three different ecoregions in Kansas and Colorado to track nest and brood survival and measure nest and brood habitat. My findings show that there are regional and annual variations in nest and brood survival. Mean nest survival during 2013 and 2014 was estimated to be 0.388 (95% CI = 0.343 - 0.433) for a 35-day exposure period. Brood survival during 2013 and 2014 was estimated to be 0.316 (95% CI = 0.184 - 0.457) for 56 days. Chick survival was the lowest during the first week of life and is probably a limiting factor for population growth. Chick and brood survival decreased as Julian hatch date increased. Across the northern portion of the species' range, females consistently select visual obstruction between 2-3 dm. Vegetation at the nest changes between regions and years to reflect environmental and regional conditions. Broods consistently selected habitats with greater percent cover of forbs than was expected at random across all study sites. Broods also selected against areas of bare ground. The threshold of lesser prairie-chicken use was 2 trees/ha throughout the year. No nests were located within areas with greater densities. Lesser prairie-chickens had a greater probability of use at greater distances from trees and at lower tree densities. To provide adequate nesting habitat managers should provide 2-3 dm of visual obstruction. Providing forb cover with visual obstruction between 2.5-5 dm near nesting habitat should provide adequate habitat for broods. Removing trees in core habitats and expand removal efforts outward should expand potential habitat for lesser prairie-chickens.

Author: Jacquelyn Gehrt
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Languages : en
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Greater Prairie-chickens (Tympanuchus cupido) historically occupied 20 states within the contiguous United States and four Canadian provinces; however, due to habitat degradation and loss, they are currently found in 11 states; only four of which have a stable population. Kansas supports a relatively large abundance of Greater Prairie-chickens, where the Flint Hills ecoregion historically supported the largest population of all ecoregions. In the past decade, however, the Flint Hills population has declined to an estimated 8,334 individuals in 2021 from 34,180 individuals in 2015 due to changes and intensification of grassland management practices. The Fort Riley Military Reservation in the northwest portion of the Flint Hills ecoregion is one of a few areas within the ecoregion that does not implement grazing or vast annual burning. The Greater Prairie-chicken population within Fort Riley has remained stable over the past 25 years despite being constrained by surrounding landscape features and development. To understand why this population is doing relatively well compared to populations in surrounding areas, I trapped, collared, and tracked 46 female Greater Prairie-chickens from March-April 2019-2020 on Fort Riley. My goals with this project were to assess female survival, nest survival, resource selection, and space use during the breeding season (Apr-Aug) on the military reservation. Despite being free from grazing and annual burning, Fort Riley experiences fairly constant military activity, which may elicit responses from Greater Prairie-chickens. I used known-fate and nest survival models in Program MARK to estimate female survival and nest success of Greater Prairie-chickens. I estimated breeding season survival as 0.2750 ± 0.0650 (SE) and nest survival as 0.2643 ± 0.0689 (SE), which are average and high for the Flint Hills, respectively. I used logistic regression models to assess resource selection by Greater Prairie-chicken females. I analyzed landscape features, vegetation variables, and burn mosaics to understand which features had the most influence on resource selection and found landscape features to impact resource selection. Females avoided trees within Fort Riley (probability of use greatest at 2,000 m from nearest tree) at a greater margin than any other study in Kansas. Lastly I calculated home ranges, net, and total daily displacement across the lekking, nesting, and post-nesting stages of the breeding season to understand how Greater Prairie-chickens responded to military activity. Home ranges were slightly smaller than those in surrounding areas yet breeding stage trends remained constant (lekking: 238 ± 43 ha, nesting: 115 ± 20 ha, post-nesting: 113 ± 11 ha) when compared to past literature. Lastly, total daily movements did not differ significantly between days where activity was occurring versus when it was not (training occurring: 1,121 ± 127m, training not occurring: 1,309 ± 63m). My findings suggest that despite being in a constrained environment, Greater Prairie-chickens on Fort Riley are doing well demographically and are not showing signs of being affected by military activity. Because of the constrained environment, however, it is important for land managers to monitor woody encroachment and other tall vertical features as this may lead to loss of habitat and cause potential negative effects on the Fort Riley population.

Author: Liam Akerlof Berigan
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Languages : en
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Lesser prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) populations in the Sand Sagebrush Prairie Ecoregion have reached historic lows in the last decade. Former core areas of the ecoregion, such as the U.S. Forest Service Cimarron and Comanche National Grasslands in southwestern Kansas and southeastern Colorado, have reached population densities so low that populations will not be able to recover without a new source of birds. In an attempt to recolonize previously occupied areas in the region, Colorado Parks and Wildlife and Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks, and Tourism translocated 411 lesser prairie-chickens to the National Grasslands between fall 2016 and spring 2019. For a translocation project to be successful, translocated birds need to stay near the release site, find habitat that meets their survival requirements, and successfully reproduce. I assessed the success of the translocation project to determine which of these requirements were met following release to meet the goal of increasing lesser prairie-chicken density on the National Grasslands and define potential obstacles for future translocation projects. I estimated nest success of lesser prairie-chickens translocated to the National Grasslands using Program MARK and determined those factors important in predicting nest success. I found that the number of years that had elapsed since the bird's release was the best predictor of its nesting success in any given year. This fits with existing literature on grouse translocations, which state that translocation effects dissipate in years following release. Unfortunately, only 10.3% of translocated birds survived into the second year to take advantage of the increased nest success rate. My analysis of lesser prairie-chicken movement after release showed extensive dispersal away from the release site, with 99% of birds undergoing a dispersal movement >5 km from the release site. I conducted a behavioral change point analysis on translocated birds as they dispersed to determine where they settled down and how long their dispersal lasted. Birds moved an average of 144 km during their 1-2 month dispersal movement following release. Despite the presence of leks and habitat at the release sites, 69% of released birds settled >5 km from their release site after their movements. These results indicate that dispersal is an innate response to translocation, and release site placement will not be sufficient to minimize the dispersal movement.