Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) fields may provide good habitat for nesting and brood‐rearing ring‐necked pheasants (Phasianus colchicus) during early stages of succession. But, the success of hens in early successional CRP, relative to late successional CRP and other grassland habitats, has yet to be evaluated. The reproductive period is especially critical for populations of pheasants, and CRP's benefits to hens and chicks may decrease as fields age because of loss of vegetative diversity, decrease in vegetation density, and accumulation of residual litter. During 2005–2006, we evaluated spatial and temporal variation in nest and brood survival for radio‐marked hen pheasants in areas of northeastern Nebraska where portions of CRP fields had been recently disced and interseeded (DICRP) with legumes. Nests in DICRP tended to have a higher daily survival rate (0.984; 95% CI: 0.957–0.994) than nests in grasslands (including CRP) that were unmanaged (0.951; 95% CI: 0.941–0.972). The probability of 23‐day nest success was 0.696 (95% CI: 0.631–0.762) for DICRP and 0.314 (95% CI: 0.240–0.389) for unmanaged grasslands. Daily brood survival rates varied by habitat type, brood age, and date of hatch. The probability of a brood surviving to day 21 was 0.710 (95% CI: 0.610–0.856). Brood survival rates increased with time spent in DICRP and as the brood aged. Survival decreased as broods spent more time in cropland and peaked seasonally with broods that hatched on 15 June. Brood survival probability, to 21 days, would be reduced to 0.36 (95% CI: 0.100–0.701) if broods in our sample had not used DICRP. We combined nest and brood survival in a productivity model that suggested 2,000 hens, in a landscape with no DICRP, would produce 1,826 chicks, whereas the same hens in a landscape of 100% DICRP would produce 5,398 chicks. Production of first‐year roosters more than doubled when hens nested in DICRP. Without DICRP, population growth rates of pheasant populations usually declined; with DICRP, populations stabilized with at annual survival rates of 0.3 or greater. The positive response of nest and brood survival to discing and interseeding CRP provides further evidence that CRP fields must be managed to optimize wildlife benefits. © 2012 The Wildlife Society.

Greater prairie‐chickens (Tympanuchus cupido pinnatus) are reported to benefit from grasslands created through the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). Prairie‐chicken population size increased noticeably in southeastern Nebraska after >15% of county‐level landscapes were converted to CRP grasslands. But, the mechanisms behind the increase in population size are not well understood, and managers and policy makers could benefit from evidence of CRP's relative contribution to populations of prairie‐chickens. Therefore, our objectives were to characterize the relations of vegetation structure and composition with prairie‐chicken nest‐site selection and nest survival rates at both the macrohabitat (within landscape of study site) and microhabitat (at the nest) level. We radio‐marked female prairie‐chickens at a study site with >15% of land enrolled in CRP in Johnson County in southeastern Nebraska. We monitored 90 nests during 2006–2007, 36 (40%) of which were successful. We compared nest sites' macro‐ and microhabitat characteristics with random points using discrete choice analyses, and we used logistic exposure analyses to assess the effect of habitat and other variables on nest survival. Prairie‐chickens were 5.70 (95% CI: 2.60–12.48) times more likely to select cool‐season CRP fields, and 5.05 (95% CI: 2.17–11.72) times more likely to select warm‐season CRP fields for nesting relative to selecting rangeland. Prairie‐chickens selected nest sites, relative to sites available in fields selected for nesting, with abundant grass cover and moderate levels of forb cover and standing litter. Females also selected sites at upper elevations. Nest survival was influenced by macrohabitat, microhabitat, and temporal variables; nest survival was greater in CRP fields and greatest for nests with abundant grass cover and forb cover and moderate levels of residual litter. Nest survival peaked, temporally, with nests initiated in late May. The size of the prairie‐chicken population in southeastern Nebraska has increased since the landscape was modified under CRP, and the reproductive benefits that our study demonstrates could support such population‐level responses. We would expect the population to continue to benefit from management that provides high quality, diverse grasslands. © 2013 The Wildlife Society.

Conservation of wildlife depends on an understanding of the interactions between animal movements and key landscape factors. Habitat requirements of wide-ranging species often vary spatially, but quantitative assessment of variation among replicated studies at multiple sites is rare. We investigated patterns of space use for 10 populations of two closely related species of prairie grouse: Greater Prairie-Chickens (Tympanuchus cupido) and Lesser Prairie-Chickens (T. pallidicinctus). Prairie chickens require large, intact tracts of native grasslands, and are umbrella species for conservation of prairie ecosystems in North America. We used resource utilization functions to investigate space use by female prairie chickens during the 6-month breeding season from March through August in relation to lek sites, habitat conditions, and anthropogenic development. Our analysis included data from 382 radio-marked individuals across a major portion of the extant range. Our project is a unique opportunity to study comparative space use of prairie chickens, and we employed standardized methods that facilitated direct comparisons across an ecological gradient of study sites. Median home range size of females varied ;10-fold across 10 sites (3.6-36.7 km 2 ), and home ranges tended to be larger at sites with higher annual precipitation. Proximity to lek sites was a strong and consistent predictor of space use for female prairie chickens at all 10 sites. The relative importance of other predictors of space use varied among sites, indicating that generalized habitat management guidelines may not be appropriate for these two species. Prairie chickens actively selected for prairie habitats, even at sites where ;90% of the land cover within the study area was prairie. A majority of the females monitored in our study (.95%) had activity centers within 5 km of leks, suggesting that conservation efforts can be effectively concentrated near active lek sites. Our data on female space use suggest that lek surveys of male prairie chickens can indirectly assess habitat suitability for females during the breeding season. Lek monitoring and surveys for new leks provide information on population trends, but can also guide management actions aimed at improving nesting and brood-rearing habitats.v www.esajournals.org 1 September 2015 v Volume 6(9) v Article 166

The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) has provided critical wildlife habitat for many species since 1985. However, the quality of this habitat for early successional species, such as ring‐necked pheasant (Phasianus colchicus), may decrease with field age. Late successional grasslands may lack valuable vegetative and structural diversity needed by pheasants, especially during nesting and brood‐rearing stages. Since 2004, the United States Department of Agriculture has required new CRP contracts to include plans for mid‐contract management, which could include discing and interseeding. The benefits of such practices have not been assessed, and continuation of current policy could be affected by the lack of information to support such practices. During 2005–2006 we evaluated nesting and brood‐rearing habitat used by radio‐marked hen pheasants in areas of northeastern Nebraska where portions of CRP fields had been recently disced and interseeded with legumes. Pheasant hens selected managed portions of CRP fields for both nesting and brood‐rearing. Hens selected nest sites with greater forb cover and vertical density. Hens with broods also selected sites with greater forb composition. Discing and legume interseeding appeared to be an effective strategy for increasing pheasant use of CRP fields. © 2012 The Wildlife Society.

The Greater Prairie-Chicken (Tympanuchus cupido pinnatus) is a species that may benefit from conversion of crop ground to grassland through the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). CRP grasslands could provide nesting and brood-rearing habitat, an important component of population persistence. Managers and policymakers currently lack evidence of CRP's relative contribution to populations of Greater Prairie-Chicken. We used radiotelemetry to mark females (n ϭ 100) in southeast Nebraska, in a landscape which had Ͼ15% of land area enrolled in CRP. We examined macrohabitat and microhabitat selection of brood-rearing females (n ϭ 36) using discrete choice models, and examined the variability in brood survival using logistic exposure models. Brood-rearing females selected locations inside cool-season CRP grasslands at higher rates than rangeland, but did not select cropland. At a vegetation level, brood-rearing locations had more bare ground and forb cover than random points. However, landcover and vegetation did not affect survival rates of broods; variation in daily brood survival was best explained by temporal effects such as hatch date and brood age. Our results suggest that CRP grasslands provide acceptable broodrearing habitat, and managers should encourage land owners to create habitat with high forb content and an open understory. Broods in our study had low survival rates to 21 days (0.59; 95% CI: 0.41, 0.77), which may explain the low juvenile/ adult ratio observed in hunter-killed birds in the region. Disturbance of CRP fields to increase bare ground and forb cover may improve their value to Greater Prairie-Chicken broods.

No abstract

Biologists often manage grassland habitat for ring-necked pheasants (Phasianus colchicus) through provision of the grasses and forbs that support the invertebrates on which they forage. However, specific information pertaining to invertebrate prey selection by ringnecked pheasant broods is lacking. To address this, we used radio-telemetry to locate pheasant roost sites where we collected pheasant chick droppings. We then identified characteristic fragments of invertebrates in each dropping sample to family and order to calculate percent composition of each. Next, we sampled invertebrate abundance near to sites where droppings had been collected using a standard sweep netting protocol. Invertebrates found in chick droppings were compared with the diversity of invertebrates available on the landscape. Curculionidae [weevils (Order Coleoptera)] were present in all droppings sampled, and they were the most frequently consumed invertebrate taxa by seven of the nine broods sampled. The remaining two broods consumed Formicidae [ants (Order Hymenoptera)] most frequently. All broods significantly selected Coleoptera more than expected by their availability, and two broods significantly selected Hymenoptera more than expected by their availability. Habitat management practices that result in greater abundance of these species on the landscape should be beneficial to pheasants.

No abstract