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Author: Amy Nicole Erickson Publisher: ISBN: Category : Languages : en Pages :
Book Description
Grassland birds are declining throughout their native range. The Flint Hills of eastern Kansas and Oklahoma contain large tracts of tallgrass prairie, but intensification of agricultural practices may be contributing to ongoing population declines. Common rangeland management practices include annual burning coupled with heavy grazing by cattle. This system, known as intensive early stocking and burning, promotes homogeneous utilization of forage by cattle but may not provide habitat for some grassland bird species. Patch-burn grazing is an alternative management system that aims to restore heterogeneity on rangelands by recreating the fire-grazing interaction that would have historically occurred throughout the Great Plains. From 2011-2013, we examined responses of grassland birds to traditional rangeland management and patch-burn grazing by conducting vegetation surveys, line transect surveys, and nest monitoring on privately-owned pastures in Chase County and Greenwood County, Kansas. Vegetative heterogeneity was higher on patch-burned pastures, with unburned patches having higher visual obstruction and less bare ground. Densities of grassland birds differed by species and among habitat strata. Unburned patches on patch-burned pastures were associated with increased densities of Dickcissels (Spiza americana), Eastern Meadowlarks (Sturnella magna) and Grasshopper Sparrows (Ammodramus savannarum). Henslow's Sparrows (A. henslowii) were only detected on patch-burned pastures. Nest survival of grassland songbirds was similar among management systems but varied by year. Probability of nest parasitism by Brown-headed Cowbirds (Molothrus ater) varied among years and between treatments for Dickcissels and Grasshopper Sparrows, with overall lower rates on burned areas and during drought years. For Dickcissels and Grasshopper Sparrows, there was a significant reduction in host clutch size between parasitized versus unparasitized nests. Overall, nest survival of grassland songbirds in managed rangelands was low. Patch-burn grazing improved rangeland conditions and provided habitat for more species of birds, but did not increase nest survival. Drought conditions in 2012 and 2013 may have influenced the results of this study, as many landowners were unable to burn as planned. Further study is needed to determine underlying factors driving variation in nest success and parasitism rates for grassland birds, particularly on private lands which make up the vast majority of remnant tallgrass prairies.
Author: Amy Nicole Erickson Publisher: ISBN: Category : Languages : en Pages :
Book Description
Grassland birds are declining throughout their native range. The Flint Hills of eastern Kansas and Oklahoma contain large tracts of tallgrass prairie, but intensification of agricultural practices may be contributing to ongoing population declines. Common rangeland management practices include annual burning coupled with heavy grazing by cattle. This system, known as intensive early stocking and burning, promotes homogeneous utilization of forage by cattle but may not provide habitat for some grassland bird species. Patch-burn grazing is an alternative management system that aims to restore heterogeneity on rangelands by recreating the fire-grazing interaction that would have historically occurred throughout the Great Plains. From 2011-2013, we examined responses of grassland birds to traditional rangeland management and patch-burn grazing by conducting vegetation surveys, line transect surveys, and nest monitoring on privately-owned pastures in Chase County and Greenwood County, Kansas. Vegetative heterogeneity was higher on patch-burned pastures, with unburned patches having higher visual obstruction and less bare ground. Densities of grassland birds differed by species and among habitat strata. Unburned patches on patch-burned pastures were associated with increased densities of Dickcissels (Spiza americana), Eastern Meadowlarks (Sturnella magna) and Grasshopper Sparrows (Ammodramus savannarum). Henslow's Sparrows (A. henslowii) were only detected on patch-burned pastures. Nest survival of grassland songbirds was similar among management systems but varied by year. Probability of nest parasitism by Brown-headed Cowbirds (Molothrus ater) varied among years and between treatments for Dickcissels and Grasshopper Sparrows, with overall lower rates on burned areas and during drought years. For Dickcissels and Grasshopper Sparrows, there was a significant reduction in host clutch size between parasitized versus unparasitized nests. Overall, nest survival of grassland songbirds in managed rangelands was low. Patch-burn grazing improved rangeland conditions and provided habitat for more species of birds, but did not increase nest survival. Drought conditions in 2012 and 2013 may have influenced the results of this study, as many landowners were unable to burn as planned. Further study is needed to determine underlying factors driving variation in nest success and parasitism rates for grassland birds, particularly on private lands which make up the vast majority of remnant tallgrass prairies.
Author: Bram Hendrik Ferdinand Verheijen Publisher: ISBN: Category : Languages : en Pages :
Book Description
Grasslands are among the most rapidly declining ecosystems in the world. The Flint Hills ecoregion contains one of the largest remaining tracts of tallgrass prairie, but most of the area is managed with high densities of grazing animals and frequent prescribed burns, thereby reducing variation in vegetative structure. A homogeneous landscape leads to lower diversity and abundance of wildlife species, including grassland songbirds. Patch-burn grazing management has been proposed to more closely match the historical interaction between fire and selective grazing by native ungulates. Pastures managed with patch-burn grazing have a greater variety of vegetative structure and plant species composition, and as a result, higher species diversity, abundance, and reproductive success of grassland birds. However, past work has not considered potential effects of regional variation in predation risk and rates of brood parasitism by Brown-headed Cowbirds (Molothrus ater), or annual variation in climatic conditions on the effects of patch-burn grazing management on the reproductive success of grassland songbirds. Over a six year period and at two tallgrass prairie sites, I tested the effects of patch-burn grazing on the reproductive success of three native grassland songbird species, Dickcissels (Spiza americana), Eastern Meadowlarks (Sturnella magna), and Grasshopper Sparrows (Ammodramus savannarum), as well as subsequent effects on the space use, movements, and survival of fledgling Dickcissels. I found only minor effects of patch-burn grazing on the reproductive success of grassland songbirds, supporting previous studies that show that patch-burn grazing does not have negative effects on demographic rates of grassland songbirds. Management regime did not affect densities or territory size of male Dickcissels, but bird densities tended to be higher and territories tended to be smaller on patches within the patch-burn grazing treatment that were burned in the previous year. Thus, patch-burn grazing management might benefit Dickcissel populations by providing higher quality breeding habitat in unburned patches. Last, I found evidence for a potential tradeoff between habitat selection for nests vs. fledglings of Dickcissels in some rangeland management strategies. Parents that realized high reproductive success by nesting in pastures with lower cowbird densities, produced fledglings that faced high rates of depredation by snakes and showed greater movements away from those pastures. Survival rates and movements of Dickcissel fledglings were low, especially during the first week after leaving the nest, which stresses the importance of local habitat conditions. At a larger spatial scale, I tested whether regional differences in habitat structure could drive variation in apparent survival of grassland songbirds. I found that grassland- and shrubland-breeding species had higher estimates of apparent survival than forest-breeding species, contrary to the prevailing viewpoint that birds breeding in dynamic landscapes, such as frequently burned grasslands, should show lower apparent survival than species that breed in woody habitats. The results of my field study show that restoring the historical interaction between fire and grazing on the landscape via patch-burn grazing management could benefit grassland songbirds. Moreover, my dissertation is the first study that tests the effects of patch-burn grazing management on the survival and movements of fledgling Dickcissels, and shows that high cowbird densities can cause a tradeoff between different life-stages. Future conservation efforts should take into account regional variation in species abundance, predator community composition and abundance of Brown-headed Cowbirds when assessing the effects of rangeland management on the demography of grassland songbirds.
Author: Thomas A. Waldrop Publisher: Government Printing Office ISBN: 9780160943959 Category : Gardening Languages : en Pages : 32
Book Description
Prescribed burning is an important tool throughout Southern forests, grasslands, and croplands. The need to control fire became evident to allow forests to regenerate. This manual is intended to help resource managers to plan and execute prescribed burns in Southern forests and grasslands. A new appreciation and interest has developed in recent years for using prescribed fire in grasslands, especially hardwood forests, and on steep mountain slopes. Proper planning and execution of prescribed fires are necessary to reduce detrimental effects, such as the impacts on air and downstream water quality. Check out these related products: Trees at Work: Economic Accounting for Forest Ecosystem Services in the U.S. South can be found here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/products/trees-work-economic-accounting-forest-ecosystem-services-us-south Soil Survey Manual 2017 is available here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/products/soil-survey-manual-march-2017 Quantifying the Role of the National Forest System Lands in Providing Surface Drinking Water Supply for the Southern United States is available here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/products/quantifying-role-national-forest-system-lands-providing-surface-drinking-water-supply Fire Management Today print subscription is available here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/products/fire-management-today Wildland Fire in Ecosystems: Fire and Nonnative Invasive Plants can be found here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/products/wildland-fire-ecosystems-fire-and-nonnative-invasive-plants
Author: Publisher: ISBN: Category : Geographic information systems Languages : en Pages : 6
Book Description
The PRAIRIEMAP web site (http://prairiemap.wr.usgs.gov) contains links to partners, documentation of the data, and a directory of GIS data that can be downloaded.
Author: Fritz L. Knopf Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media ISBN: 1475727038 Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 329
Book Description
The frontier images of America embrace endless horizons, majestic herds of native ungulates, and romanticized life-styles of nomadie peoples. The images were mere reflections of vertebrates living in harmony in an ecosystem driven by the unpre dictable local and regional effects of drought, frre, and grazing. Those effects, often referred to as ecological "disturbanees," are rather the driving forces on which species depended to create the spatial and temporal heterogeneity that favored ecological prerequisites for survival. Alandscape viewed by European descendants as monotony interrupted only by extremes in weather and commonly referred to as the "Great American Desert," this country was to be rushed through and cursed, a barrier that hindered access to the deep soils of the Oregon country, the rich minerals of California and Colorado, and the religious freedom sought in Utah. Those who stayed (for lack of resources or stamina) spent a century trying to moderate the ecological dynamics of Great Plains prairies by suppressing fires, planting trees and exotic grasses, poisoning rodents, diverting waters, and homogenizing the dynamies of grazing with endless fences-all creating bound an otherwise boundless vista. aries in Historically, travelers and settlers referred to the area of tallgrasses along the western edge of the deciduous forest and extending midway across Kansas as the "True Prairie. " The grasses thlnned and became shorter to the west, an area known then as the Great Plains.
Author: David D. Briske Publisher: Springer ISBN: 3319467093 Category : Technology & Engineering Languages : en Pages : 664
Book Description
This book is open access under a CC BY-NC 2.5 license. This book provides an unprecedented synthesis of the current status of scientific and management knowledge regarding global rangelands and the major challenges that confront them. It has been organized around three major themes. The first summarizes the conceptual advances that have occurred in the rangeland profession. The second addresses the implications of these conceptual advances to management and policy. The third assesses several major challenges confronting global rangelands in the 21st century. This book will compliment applied range management textbooks by describing the conceptual foundation on which the rangeland profession is based. It has been written to be accessible to a broad audience, including ecosystem managers, educators, students and policy makers. The content is founded on the collective experience, knowledge and commitment of 80 authors who have worked in rangelands throughout the world. Their collective contributions indicate that a more comprehensive framework is necessary to address the complex challenges confronting global rangelands. Rangelands represent adaptive social-ecological systems, in which societal values, organizations and capacities are of equal importance to, and interact with, those of ecological processes. A more comprehensive framework for rangeland systems may enable management agencies, and educational, research and policy making organizations to more effectively assess complex problems and develop appropriate solutions.
Author: Fred B. Samson Publisher: Island Press ISBN: 9781610913942 Category : Nature Languages : en Pages : 358
Book Description
The area of native prairie known as the Great Plains once extended from Canada to the Mexican border and from the foothills of the Rocky Mountains to western Indiana and Wisconsin. Today the declines in prairie landscape types, estimated to be as high as 99%, exceed those of any other major ecosystem in North America. The overwhelming loss of landscape and accompanying loss of species constitute a real threat to both ecological and human economic health.Prairie Conservation is a comprehensive examination of the history, ecology, and current status of North American grasslands. It presents for the first time in a single volume information on the historical, economic, and cultural significance of prairies, their natural history and ecology, threats, and conservation and restoration programs currently underway. Chapters cover: environmental history of the Great Plains the economic value of prairie prairie types -- tallgrass, mixed grass, shortgrass, wetlands -- and the ecological processes that sustain each type prairie fauna -- invertebrates, fish and other aquatic creatures, amphibians and reptiles, birds, and mammals conservation programs such as the Great Plains Partnership, Canada's Prairie Conservation Action Plan, the U.S. Prairie Pothole Joint Venture, and others The book brings together knowledge and insights from a wide range of experts to describe and explain the importance of prairies and to position them in the forefront of North American conservation efforts. Praire Conservation is an essential reference for anyone interested in prairie ecology and conservation and will play a critical role in broadening our awareness and understanding of prairie ecosystems.
Author: Amy Nicole Erickson
Author: Amy Nicole Erickson
Author: Bram Hendrik Ferdinand Verheijen
Author: 
Author: 
Author: Thomas A. Waldrop
Author: 
Author: Fritz L. Knopf
Author: 
Author: David D. Briske
Author: Fred B. Samson