Spring Habitat Requirements of Captive-Reared Attwater's Prairie Chicken

Abstract

During the summer of 1996, 50 radio-tagged, pen-reared Attwater's prairie chickens (Tympanuchus cupido attwateri) were released on Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge in a restoration effort to supplement a wild population. We evaluated fine-scale habitat use of pen-reared Attwater's prairie chickens during the 1997 nesting season based on 4 variables: obstruction of vision, plant height, litter depth, and percentage of bare ground. Low obstruction of vision (mean ¼ 1.5 dm), plant height (mean ¼ 67.3 cm), and litter depth (mean ¼ 2.7 cm) characterized preferred habitats. Bare ground averaged 16.5% at Attwater's prairie chicken locations compared with 8.2% at random locations. Use locations differed from random locations with respect to visual obstruction (P , 0.001), plant height (P , 0.001), litter depth (P , 0.001), and bare ground (P ¼ 0.007). Potential release sites should be managed using prescribed burning and controlled grazing to produce vegetative structure with an obstruction of vision 1.5 dm, plant height 67.3 cm, litter depth 2.7 cm, and percentage of bare ground ! 16.5%), the preferred habitat of pen-reared Attwater's prairie chickens. Resumen Durante el verano de 1996, 50 pollos de ''Attwater's prairie''(Tympanuchus cupido attwateri), criados en corral y con equipo de radiotelemetría, fueron liberados en el Refugio Nacional de Fauna Silvestre Attwater Prairie Chicken como un esfuerzo para restaurar y reforzar la població n natural de esta especie. Durante la época de anidamiento de 1997 evaluamos a nivel de escala fina el uso del há bitat por los pollos liberados, la evaluació n se basó en 4 variables: obstrucció n de la visió n, altura de planta, profundidad del mantillo y porcentaje de suelo descubierto. La Baja obstrucció n de visió n (promedio ¼ 1.5 dm), la altura de planta (promedio ¼ 67.3 cm) y la profundidad del mantillo (promedio ¼ 2.7 cm) caracterizaron los há bitats preferidos. El suelo descubierto promedio el 16.5% en las localidades de los pollos de ''Attwater's prairie'' en comparació n con 8.2% en sitios elegidos aleatoriamente. Los sitios utilizados difirieron de los sitios aleatorios con respecto a la obstrucció n visual (P , 0.001), altura de planta (P , 0.001), profundidad del mantillo (P , 0.001) y suelo descubierto (P ¼ 0.007). Los sitios potenciales de liberació n deben ser manejados utilizando el fuego prescrito y el apacentamiento controlado para producir una estructura vegetativa con una obstrucció n visual 1.5 dm, una altura de planta 67.3 cm, una profundidad de mantillo 2.7 cm y un porcentaje de suelo descubierto ! 16.5%, características del há bitat preferido por lo pollos de ''Attwater's prairie'' criados en corral.

Effects of pyric herbivory on prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus spp) habitat

“…In a grassland system, lesser prairie-chickens selected sites with~65% grass cover,~20% forb cover, and~10% bare ground [25]. Nesting Attwater's prairie-chickens have been reported to select areas of vegetation that averaged 67 cm in height, but avoid taller vegetation [27].…”

“…For nesting cover, lesser prairiechickens in mixed-grass/shrub communities select nest sites in low-growing shrubs [24] such as sand shinnery oak (Quercus havardii) or sand sagebrush (Artemisia filifolia). In mixed-grass prairies without shrubs, lesser prairie-chickens often nest in areas of high grass residual cover from previous years of growth [25] similar to nesting cover of greater and Attwater's prairiechicken [26,27]. Greater prairie-chickens select for nest sites with higher litter cover, which is associated with increased nest success [26].…”