Implications of Invasion by Juniperus Virginiana on Small Mammals in the Southern Great Plains

Horncastle, Valerie J.; Hellgren, Eric C.; Mayer, Paul M.; Ganguli, Amy C.; Engle, David M.; Leslie, David M.

doi:10.1644/05-mamm-a-015r1.1

Cited by 53 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 55 publications

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“…Phase I and phase II transitional woodland habitats support a high diversity of shrub, grass, and forest animal species (O'Meara et al, 1981;Maser et al, 1984aMaser et al, , 1984bSedgewick, 1987;Miller et al, 2005); however, most are generalist or forest-dependent species, which flourish while sagebrush-obligate birds and mammals decline (Lloyd et al, 1998;Coppedge et al, 2004;Grant et al, 2004;Horncastle et al, 2005;Woods et al, 2013). Recent studies report negative impacts from conifer expansion to lek occupancy in greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus, hereafter sage-grouse; Baruch-Mordo et al, 2013) and declines in habitat quality for nesting (Gregg, 1992;Doherty et al, 2010), brood rearing (Atamian et al, 2010;Casazza et al, 2011), and wintering (Doherty et al, 2008;Freese, 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thresholds and Time Lags in Effects of Energy Development on Greater Sage‐Grouse Populations

Harju¹,

Dzialak²,

Taylor³

et al. 2010

J Wildl Manag

124

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Rapid expansion of energy development in some portions of the Intermountain West, USA, has prompted concern regarding impacts to declining greater sage‐grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) populations. We used retrospective analyses of public data to explicitly investigate potential thresholds in the relationship between lek attendance by male greater sage‐grouse, the presence of oil or gas wells near leks (surface occupancy), and landscape‐level density of well pads. We used generalized linear models and generalized estimating equations to analyze data on peak male attendance at 704 leks over 12 years in Wyoming, USA. Within this framework we also tested for time‐lag effects between development activity and changes in lek attendance. Surface occupancy of oil or gas wells adjacent to leks was negatively associated with male lek attendance in 5 of 7 study areas. For example, leks that had ≥ 1 oil or gas well within a 0.4‐km (0.25‐mile) radius encircling the lek had 35–91% fewer attending males than leks with no well within this radius. In 2 of these 5 study areas, negative effects of well surface occupancy were present out to 4.8 km, the largest radius we investigated. Declining lek attendance was also associated with a higher landscape‐level density of well pads; lek attendance at well‐pad densities of 1.54 well pads/km2 (4 well pads/mile2) ranged from 13% to 74% lower than attendance at unimpacted leks (leks with zero well pads within 8.5 km). Lek attendance at a well‐pad density of 3.09 well pads/km2 (8 well pads/mile2) ranged from 77% to 79% lower than attendance at leks with no well pad within 8.5 km. Further, our analysis of time‐lag effects suggested that there is a delay of 2–10 years between activity associated with energy development and its measurable effects on lek attendance. These results offer new information for consideration by land managers on spatial and temporal associations between human activity and lek attendance in sage‐grouse, and suggest that regional variation is an important consideration in refining existing management strategies.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thresholds and Time Lags in Effects of Energy Development on Greater Sage‐Grouse Populations

Harju¹,

Dzialak²,

Taylor³

et al. 2010

J Wildl Manag

124

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Following the establishment of eastern redcedar in tallgrass prairie of the Kansas Flint Hills, its cover increased from 2 to 98% over a 40-year period (Hoch et al 2002). At an ecological level, such conversion exacerbates landscape fragmentation (Coppedge et al 2002), eliminates habitat for grassland species (Coppedge et al 2001;Rosenstock and Van Riper 2001;Horncastle et al 2005;Frost and Powell 2011), reduces plant species richness (Ratajczak et al 2012), and changes carbon cycling and storage Natural Areas Journal 119 (Wessman et al 2004;Barger et al 2011). Societal effects of grassland conversion include lost forage, lost or fragmented ranches and the economic (livestock production) and recreational (hunting, birding, aesthetic) benefits they provide, as well as increased wildfire danger resulting from increased fuel loading (Burkinshaw and Bork 2009) and human health issues exacerbated by allergenic juniper pollen pulses (Van de Water et al 2003).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecosystem carbon changes with woody encroachment of grassland in the northern Great Plains

Pinno

Wilson

2011

Écoscience

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“…2A, 5A). Our results underscore the importance of vegetation shifts for rapidly influencing the relative abundance of grassland-and woodland-associated small mammals in prairies (Horncastle et al 2005), as removal of woody plants can increase abundance and promote compositional shifts toward a grassland-associated small-mammal assemblage (Baker andFrischknecht 1973, McMurry et al 1994).…”

Section: Faunal Assemblagesmentioning

confidence: 55%

“…Our study examined the short-term capacity for experimental tree removal to restore tallgrass prairie undergoing woody encroachment. Many studies on the effects of woody encroachment have focused on the vegetation assemblage; few have examined the effects of encroachment on grassland fauna (Coppedge et al 2001, Horncastle et al 2005, Matlack et al 2008). We used a modified Before-After Control-Impact design (BACI; Stewart-Oaten et al 1986) (1) to examine concomitant responses of grassland floral and faunal (i.e., invertebrates, small mammals) assemblages to experimental redcedar removal, and (2) to determine whether the level of pretreatment redcedar cover modulated floral and faunal responses to tree removal in two years following treatment.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental tree removal in tallgrass prairie: variable responses of flora and fauna along a woody cover gradient

Alford

Hellgren

Limb

et al. 2012

Ecological Applications

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Abstract. Woody plant encroachment is a worldwide phenomenon in grassland and savanna systems whose consequence is often the development of an alternate woodland state. Theoretically, an alternate state may be associated with changes in system state variables (e.g., species composition) or abiotic parameter shifts (e.g., nutrient availability). When statevariable changes are cumulative, such as in woody plant encroachment, the probability of parameter shifts increases as system feedbacks intensify over time. Using a Before-After Control-Impact (BACI) design, we studied eight pairs of grassland sites undergoing various levels of eastern redcedar (Juniperus virginiana) encroachment to determine whether responses of flora and fauna to experimental redcedar removal differed according to the level of pretreatment redcedar cover. In the first year after removal, herbaceous plant species diversity and evenness, woody plant evenness, and invertebrate family richness increased linearly with pretreatment redcedar cover, whereas increases in small-mammal diversity and evenness were described by logarithmic trends. In contrast, increases in woody plant diversity and total biomass of terrestrial invertebrates were accentuated at levels of higher pretreatment cover. Tree removal also shifted small-mammal species composition toward a more grasslandassociated assemblage. During the second year postremoval, increases in herbaceous plant diversity followed a polynomial trend, but increases in most other metrics did not vary along the pretreatment cover gradient. These changes were accompanied by extremely high growingseason precipitation, which may have homogenized floral and faunal responses to removal. Our results demonstrate that tree removal increases important community metrics among grassland flora and fauna within two years, with some responses to removal being strongly influenced by the stage of initial encroachment and modulated by climatic variability. Our results underscore the importance of decisive management for reversing the effects of woody plant encroachment in imperiled grassland ecosystems.

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Implications of Invasion by Juniperus Virginiana on Small Mammals in the Southern Great Plains

Cited by 53 publications

References 55 publications

Thresholds and Time Lags in Effects of Energy Development on Greater Sage‐Grouse Populations

Thresholds and Time Lags in Effects of Energy Development on Greater Sage‐Grouse Populations

Ecosystem carbon changes with woody encroachment of grassland in the northern Great Plains

Experimental tree removal in tallgrass prairie: variable responses of flora and fauna along a woody cover gradient

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