Lesser prairie‐chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) populations have declined by >90% since the 1800s. These declines have concerned both biologists and private conservation groups and led to a petition to list the lesser prairie‐chicken as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Most of the land in the current range of the lesser prairie‐chicken is privately owned, and declines have been primarily attributed to anthropogenic factors. Conversion of native rangeland to cropland and excessive grazing have been implicated as leading causes in the species' decline. Periodic drought probably has exacerbated these problems. Little research on habitat requirements was conducted prior to 1970. Despite recent advances in the knowledge of lesser prairie‐chicken ecology, no comprehensive guidelines for management of the species have been published. In these guidelines, we provide a synopsis of our current knowledge of lesser prairie‐chicken habitat requirements and suggest management strategies to monitor, maintain, and enhance lesser prairie‐chicken populations.

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Effects of early-spring water level reduction on aquatic macroinvertebrate populations were studied in four nodding smartweed (Polygonum lapathifolium L.) marshes in northwest Ohio. Water depths in two marsheg were maintained at normal (>40 cm) overwinter levels then were reduced in early April each year to approximazely 50% (20 cm) of over-winter depth. Water levels in two other raarshe_~ were allowed to fluctuate naturally throughout the study period.Aquatic invertebrate density and bicmass were sampled from late March through mid-June in the water column, in the benthos, and on the surfaces of nodding smartweed plants. Invertebrate levels (activity, density, and biomass) in the water column were higher (P<0.05) in shallow marshes than in deep marshes. Benthic invertebrate levels in all marshes were low compared to hwertebrate levels in the water column. Water-level reduction in smartweed marshes did not significantly increase benthic or periphytic invertebrate levels in shallow marshes over those in deep marshes.