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Author: Nicholas James Parker Publisher: ISBN: Category : Languages : en Pages :
Book Description
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: Nicholas James Parker Publisher: ISBN: Category : Languages : en Pages :
Book Description
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: Elisabeth Caroline Teige Publisher: ISBN: Category : Languages : en Pages :
Book Description
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: Jonathan David Lautenbach Publisher: ISBN: Category : Languages : en Pages :
Book Description
The lesser prairie-chicken is a prairie grouse native to the southwestern Great Plains that has experienced significant population and habitat declines since European settlement. Ongoing declines prompted the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to list lesser prairie-chickens as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in spring of 2014. In fall of 2015, the listing was vacated on procedural grounds and the lesser prairie-chicken was removed from listing in summer 2016. Despite the legislative change, considerable conservation efforts emerged with the initial listing and have continued following the removal of the species from the threatened and endangered species list. Understanding how lesser prairie-chickens use landscapes and how management actions can influence their space use is important for long-term strategies to meet conservation goals. I modeled lesser prairie-chicken habitat selection relative to landscape mosaics of vegetation patches generated through patch-burn grazing, microclimate, and vegetation characteristics across their range. I captured, attached GPS satellite or VHF radio transmitters to, tracked, and measured vegetation characteristics used by and available to female lesser prairie-chickens across the northern portion of their range in Kansas and Colorado. Female lesser prairie-chickens use all patch types created in a patch-burn grazing mosaic, with female selecting greater time-since-fire patches (>2-years post-fire) for nesting, 2-year post-fire patches during the spring lekking season, 1- and 2-year post-fire patches during the summer brooding period, and 1-year post-fire units during the nonbreeding season. Available vegetation structure and composition in selected patches during each life-cycle stage was similar to the needs of female lesser prairie-chickens during that life-cycle stage. To assess their selected microclimate conditions, I deployed Maxim Integrated Semiconductor data loggers (iButtons) at female flush locations and across a landscape inhabited by lesser prairie-chickens. Females selected locations that minimized thermal stress at microsite, patch, and landscape scales during peak midday temperatures during summer. Females selected midday locations based on vegetation characteristics; where selected sites had>60% forb cover and 25% grass cover, or75% grass cover and
Author: Joseph Mark Lautenbach Publisher: ISBN: Category : Languages : en Pages :
Book Description
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: Liam Akerlof Berigan Publisher: ISBN: Category : Languages : en Pages :
Book Description
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.
Author: Jacquelyn Gehrt Publisher: ISBN: Category : Languages : en Pages :
Book Description
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: Samantha Robinson Publisher: ISBN: Category : Languages : en Pages :
Book Description
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: Ilse Storch Publisher: World Conservation Union ISBN: 9782831705194 Category : Birds Languages : en Pages : 0
Book Description
Grouse have long attracted and fascinated people. Their display behavior, and their traditional communal mating grounds or "leks", have inspired poetry and folklore as well as scientific theories on sexual selection and mating systems. In many parts of their range, hunting plays a major role in the culture, economy, and subsistence of local communities. Although from a global perspective their status is not critical, grouse are far from being safe, and on a local scale, many local populations of grouse are declining and threatened with extinction. This plan provides a guide to the distribution, status, and threats to all grouse species; its major objective is to identify conservation priorities from a global perspective.
Author: Michael S. Quinn Publisher: ISBN: 9781552386422 Category : Nature Languages : en Pages : 0
Book Description
Current international thinking in this area is reflected in this collection of essays by park managers, biologists, scholars, scientists, and researchers. From Waterton-Glacier International Park to the European Alps, and Lake Titicaca in Peru and Bolivia, the essays provide illustrative examples of the challenges and new solutions that are emerging around the world."--
Author: Nicholas James Parker
Author: Nicholas James Parker
Author: Elisabeth Caroline Teige
Author: Jonathan David Lautenbach
Author: Joseph Mark Lautenbach
Author: Liam Akerlof Berigan
Author: Jacquelyn Gehrt
Author: Samantha Robinson
Author: Ilse Storch
Author: Susann Ullberg
Author: Michael S. Quinn