Effects of oil and gas development on vertebrate community composition in the southern San Joaquin Valley, California

Fiehler, Craig M.; Cypher, Brian L.; Saslaw, Lawrence R.

doi:10.1016/j.gecco.2017.01.001

Cited by 10 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Finally, it could be that gas wells in our study area were not present at a high enough density to have a negative impact on swift fox space use. These findings are consistent with studies on San Joaquin kit foxes that found these animals occupied areas of low to medium oilfield development, but were absent from areas of high-development, potentially due to the abundance of coyotes in high development areas ( Fiehler et al 2017 ). It could be that oil development in our study area had not reached the threshold level where it would begin to have a negative impact on swift foxes.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

“…Contrary to most studies on the influence of crop fields on swift foxes, research in Kansas that compared swift fox ecology in agricultural versus rangeland-dominated areas, suggested that swift foxes might be tolerant of agricultural fields and use them under certain conditions ( Sovada et al 2003 ). While there are no published studies on the effects of oilfield development on swift foxes, previous research on the effects of oil development on San Joaquin kit foxes found that they use areas with low to medium levels of oil development ( Warrick and Cypher 1998 ; Fiehler et al 2017 ), and that at lower levels of development they do not alter their movements or home range sizes ( Zoellick et al 2002 ). Providing managers with more information on swift fox resource use in the Montana and Canada border region could help to facilitate connectivity among disjunct populations by providing information to help guide habitat conservation and restoration efforts between populations.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Home range size and resource use by swift foxes in northeastern Montana

Butler

Bly

Harris

et al. 2020

Journal of Mammalogy

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Abstract Swift foxes (Vulpes velox) are endemic to the Great Plains of North America, but were extirpated from the northern portion of their range by the mid-1900s. Despite several reintroductions to the Northern Great Plains, there remains a ~350 km range gap between the swift fox population along the Montana and Canada border and that in northeastern Wyoming and northwestern South Dakota. A better understanding of what resources swift foxes use along the Montana and Canada border region will assist managers to facilitate connectivity among populations. From 2016 to 2018, we estimated the home range size and evaluated resource use within the home ranges of 22 swift foxes equipped with Global Positioning System tracking collars in northeastern Montana. Swift fox home ranges in our study were some of the largest ever recorded, averaging (± SE) 42.0 km2 ± 4.7. Our results indicate that both environmental and anthropogenic factors influenced resource use. At the population level, resource use increased by 3.3% for every 5.0% increase in percent grasslands. Relative probability of use decreased by 7.9% and 7.4% for every kilometer away from unpaved roads and gas well sites, respectively, and decreased by 3.0% and 11.3% for every one-unit increase in topographic roughness and every 0.05 increase in normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), respectively. Our study suggests that, to reestablish connectivity among swift fox populations in Montana, managers should aim to maintain large corridors of contiguous grasslands at a landscape scale, a process that likely will require having to work with multiple property owners.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Home range size and resource use by swift foxes in northeastern Montana

Butler

Bly

Harris

et al. 2020

Journal of Mammalogy

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“…However, in the areas where we established camera stations, these features typically affected < 10% of the habitat and an abundance of intact habitat remained available. In a study of oil field effects on vertebrate communities in the southwestern San Joaquin Valley (Fiehler et al 2017), SJAS continued to be present on plots with about a third of the habitat disturbed by oil field features (e.g., roads, well pads, pipelines, storage tanks, and other facilities).…”

Section: Habitat Attributesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The two species may have different habitat preferences with SJAS preferring more arid areas with sparser vegetation and California ground squirrels preferring more mesic areas with denser vegetation (Grinnell and Dixon 1918;Jameson and Peeters 1988). Also, anthropogenic habitat disturbance appears to favor California ground squirrels as evidenced by their abundance in agricultural areas, urban areas, and even highly disturbed oil field areas (Fiehler et al 2017). Such disturbance may allow this species to colonize areas that traditionally were SJAS habitat, as reportedly occurred in the Panoche region (Hawbecker 1975).…”

Section: Habitat Attributesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conservation of threatened San Joaquin antelope squirrels: distribution surveys, habitat suitability, and conservation recommendations

Cypher

Kelly

O’Leary

et al. 2021

California Fish and Wildlife Journal

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The San Joaquin antelope squirrel (Ammospermophilus nelsoni: SJAS) is listed as Threatened pursuant to the California Endangered Species Act due to profound habitat loss throughout its range in the San Joaquin Desert in California. Habitat loss is still occurring and critical needs for SJAS include identifying occupied sites, quantifying optimal habitat conditions, and conserving habitat. Our objectives were to (1) conduct surveys to identify sites where SJAS were present, (2) assess habitat attributes on all survey sites, (3) generate a GIS-based model of SJAS habitat suitability, (4) use the model to determine the quantity and quality of remaining habitat, and (5) use these results to develop conservation recommendations. SJAS were detected on 160 of the 326 sites we surveyed using automated camera stations. Sites with SJAS typically were in arid upland shrub scrub communities where desert saltbush (Atriplex polycarpa) or jointfir (Ephedra californica) were the dominant shrubs, although shrubs need not be present for SJAS to be present. Sites with SJAS usually had relatively sparse ground cover with >10% bare ground and Arabian grass (Schismus arabicus) was the dominant grass. SJAS were more likely to occur on sites where kangaroo rats (Dipodomys spp.) were present and burrow abundance was greater, but SJAS were less likely to be present on sites with California ground squirrels (Otospermophilus beecheyi). Based on our habitat suitability model, an estimated 5,931 km2 of high or moderately high quality habitat and 4,753 km2 of lower quality habitat remain. To conserve SJAS, we recommend (1) conducting additional SJAS surveys on sites not surveyed but with suitable habitat, (2) conserving unprotected lands with suitable habitat, (3) managing vegetation on occupied sites if necessary, (4) restoring disturbed lands to increase suitability for SJAS, and (5) conducting translocations of SJAS to unoccupied sites with suitable habitat.

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“…Data on life-history attributes, distribution, and habitat relationships have been published by Grinnell and Dixon (1918), Hawbecker (1947Hawbecker ( , 1953Hawbecker ( , 1958Hawbecker ( , 1959, Otten and Cypher (1999), Cypher (2001), Harris (2019), and Germano et al (2021). More germane to the conservation of A. nelsoni, Germano et al (2012) assessed the effects of grazing on population trends of this species while Fiehler et al (2017) assessed the effects of oil field activities. Additional information, particularly on factors affecting population dynamics, however, is necessary for conserving A. nelsoni.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Population ecology and survivorship of San Joaquin antelope squirrels in grazed and control plots in the San Joaquin Desert of California

Germano

Rathbun

Saslaw

et al. 2021

California Fish and Wildlife Journal

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The San Joaquin antelope squirrel (Ammospermophilus nelsoni) is endemic to the San Joaquin Desert of California. It has been listed as Threatened by the state of California since 1980 due to profound habitat loss, but a paucity of information could limit conservation efforts for this species. We examined data collected each August during 1997–2006 to determine whether A. nelsoni population attributes differed between grazed and ungrazed study plots. We found that sex ratios, mean weights, percentage of reproductive males, number of young, yearly survival, longevity, overall survivorship, and population growth trajectories all were similar between grazed and ungrazed plots. In general, sex ratios were even, males were heavier than females, some males were reproductive in August (although most females were not), and the number of young was inversely related to residual dry matter. We also found that we captured most individuals only once, but we captured a few squirrels for up to for 5 years, and the populations on both grazed and ungrazed plots were growing during the 10-year study. Our study was only the second long-term investigation of this species and the information is needed for further conservation and recovery efforts.

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Effects of oil and gas development on vertebrate community composition in the southern San Joaquin Valley, California

Cited by 10 publications

References 24 publications

Home range size and resource use by swift foxes in northeastern Montana

Home range size and resource use by swift foxes in northeastern Montana

Conservation of threatened San Joaquin antelope squirrels: distribution surveys, habitat suitability, and conservation recommendations

Population ecology and survivorship of San Joaquin antelope squirrels in grazed and control plots in the San Joaquin Desert of California

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