Multiscale occupancy of the Lesser Prairie-Chicken: the role of private lands in conservation of an imperiled bird

Hagen, Christian A.; Carlisle, Jason D.; Hornsby, Fawn; Houts, Michael E.; McDonald, Lyman L.; Pavlacky, David C.

doi:10.5751/ace-01672-150217

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…High beta diversity between landscapes dominated by CRP and intact grasslands suggested that CRP restoration of entire landscapes affected by intensive cultivation may not be effective for increasing the biodiversity for grassland specialists. Similar to the findings of Hagen et al (2020), CRP may be most effective for increasing the occurrence of area‐sensitive species when implemented in landscapes with remnant patches of grassland vegetation. Mapping spatially explicit predictions provided a framework to prioritize the implementation of CRP in regions with the largest outcomes for the biodiversity conservation of grassland specialists in the Great Plains.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

Landscape‐scale conservation mitigates the biodiversity loss of grassland birds

Pavlacky

Green

George

et al. 2022

Ecological Applications

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The decline of biodiversity from anthropogenic landscape modification is among the most pressing conservation problems worldwide. In North America, long-term population declines have elevated the recovery of the grassland avifauna to among the highest conservationpriorities. Because the vast majority of grasslands of the Great Plains are privately owned, the recovery of these ecosystems and bird populations within them depend on landscape-scale conservation strategies that integrate social, economic, and biodiversity objectives.The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) is a voluntary program for private agricultural producers administered by the United States Department of Agriculture that provides financial incentives to take cropland out of production and restore perennial grassland. We investigated spatial patterns of grassland availability and restoration to inform landscape-scale conservation for a comprehensive community of grassland birds in the Great Plains. The research objectives were to (1) determine how apparent habitat loss has affected spatial patterns of grassland bird biodiversity, (2) evaluate the effectiveness of CRP for offsetting the biodiversity declines of grassland birds, and (3) develop spatially explicit predictions to estimate the biodiversity benefit of adding CRP to landscapes impacted by habitat loss. We used the Integrated Monitoring in Bird Conservation Regions program to evaluate hypotheses for the effects of habitat loss and restoration on both the occupancy and species richness of grassland specialists within a continuum-modeling framework. We found the odds of community occupancy declined by 37% for every 1 SD decrease in grassland availability [log e (km 2 )] and increased by 20% for every 1 SD increase in CRP land cover [log e (km 2 )]. There was 17% turnover in species composition between intact grasslands and CRP landscapes, suggesting that grasslands restored by CRP retained considerable, but incomplete, representation of biodiversity in agricultural landscapes. Spatially explicit predictions indicated that absolute conservation outcomes were greatest at high latitudes in regions with high biodiversity, whereas the relative outcomes were greater at low latitudes in highly modified landscapes. By evaluating community-wide responses to landscape modification and CRP restoration at bioregional scales, our study

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

Landscape‐scale conservation mitigates the biodiversity loss of grassland birds

Pavlacky

Green

George

et al. 2022

Ecological Applications

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“…Our findings support the hypothesis that lesser prairie‐chickens utilize grasslands during their dispersal movements, particularly supporting the role of CRP grassland in the Sand Sagebrush Prairie Ecoregion. CRP grassland is known to frequently contain habitat for lesser prairie‐chickens, especially during nesting and roosting, and provides important benefits for lesser prairie‐chicken persistence at a landscape scale (Hagen et al., 2020 ; Sullins et al., 2018 ; Tanner et al., 2021 ). Translocated lesser prairie‐chickens tended to make a single long‐distance movement per day, primarily at sunrise but also occasionally at sunset.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lesser prairie‐chicken dispersal after translocation: Implications for restoration and population connectivity

Berigan,

Aulicky,

Teige

et al. 2024

Ecology and Evolution

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Conservation translocations are frequently inhibited by extensive dispersal after release, which can expose animals to dispersal‐related mortality or Allee effects due to a lack of nearby conspecifics. However, translocation‐induced dispersals also provide opportunities to study how animals move across a novel landscape, and how their movements are influenced by landscape configuration and anthropogenic features. Translocation among populations is considered a potential conservation strategy for lesser prairie‐chickens (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus). We determined the influence of release area on dispersal frequency by translocated lesser prairie‐chickens and measured how lesser prairie‐chickens move through grassland landscapes through avoidance of anthropogenic features during their dispersal movements. We translocated 411 lesser prairie‐chickens from northwest Kansas to southeastern Colorado and southwestern Kansas in 2016–2019. We used satellite GPS transmitters to track 115 lesser prairie‐chickens throughout their post‐release dispersal movements. We found that almost all lesser prairie‐chickens that survived from their spring release date until June undergo post‐translocation dispersal, and there was little variation in dispersal frequency by release area (96% of all tracked birds, 100% in Baca County, Colorado, 94% in Morton County, Kansas, n = 55). Dispersal movements (male: 103 ± 73 km, female: 175 ± 108 km, n = 62) led to diffusion across landscapes, with 69% of birds settling >5 km from their release site. During dispersal movements, translocated lesser prairie‐chickens usually travel by a single 3.75 ± 4.95 km dispersal flight per day, selecting for steps that end far from roads and in Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) grasslands. Due to this “stepping stone” method of transit, landscape connectivity is optimized when <5 km separates grassland patches on the landscape. Future persistence of lesser prairie‐chicken populations can be aided through conservation of habitat and strategic placement of CRP to maximize habitat connectivity. Dispersal rates suggest that translocation is better suited to objectives for regional, rather than site‐specific, population augmentation for this species.

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Prairie Grouse

McNew,

Dwayne Elmore,

Hagen

2023

Rangeland Wildlife Ecology and Conservation

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Prairie grouse, which include greater prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus cupido), lesser prairie-chicken (T. pallidicinctus), and sharp-tailed grouse (T. phasianellus), are species of high conservation concern and have been identified as potential indicator species for various rangeland ecosystems. Greater prairie-chickens are found in scattered populations in isolated tallgrass prairie throughout the Midwest, but primarily occur in the more expansive tallgrass and mixed-grass prairies in the Great Plains. Lesser prairie-chickens occur in mixed-grass, shortgrass, and arid shrublands of the southern Great Plains. Sharp-tailed grouse occur in mixed-grass, shortgrass, shrub steppe, and prairie parkland vegetation types and are broadly distributed across the northern Great Plains, portions of the Great Basin, and boreal parkland areas of Alaska and Canada. Due to reliance on a variety of rangeland types, consideration of management and anthropogenic activities on rangelands are critical for prairie grouse conservation. Grazing is one of the more prominent activities that has the potential to affect prairie grouse by altering plant structure and composition, and recent research has attempted to identify the mechanisms of grazing effects on prairie grouse. Fire is another important disturbance affecting grouse habitat, especially considering how the current distribution and intensity of fire differs from what occurred historically. Additionally, human infrastructure in the form of roads and energy development, as well as land conversion and degradation such as tillage and tree encroachment can fragment and reduce habitat for prairie grouse. Finally, weather including drought, extended rain, and temperature extremes are common across the distribution of prairie grouse. Although not directly under management control, the effects of weather are an overarching factor that need to be considered in conservation planning. This chapter will summarize the life-histories and habitat requirements of prairie grouse, discuss how rangeland management and other human activities affect them, highlight major threats to prairie grouse and provide recommendations for future management and research.

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Multiscale occupancy of the Lesser Prairie-Chicken: the role of private lands in conservation of an imperiled bird

Cited by 4 publications

References 44 publications

Landscape‐scale conservation mitigates the biodiversity loss of grassland birds

Landscape‐scale conservation mitigates the biodiversity loss of grassland birds

Lesser prairie‐chicken dispersal after translocation: Implications for restoration and population connectivity

Prairie Grouse

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