Conservation of Greater Sage-Grouse: A Synthesis of Current Trends and Future Management

Connelly, John W.; Knick, Steven T.; Braun, Clait E.; Baker, William L.; Beever, Erik A.; Christiansen, Thomas J.; Doherty, Kevin E.; Garton, Edward O.; Hagen, Christian A.; Hanser, Steven E.; Johnson, Douglas H.; Leu, Matthias; Miller, Richard F.; Naugle, David E.; Oyler‐McCance, Sara J.; Pyke, David A.; Reese, Kerry P.; Schroeder, Michael A.; Stiver, San J.; Walker, Brett L.; Wisdorn, Michael J.

doi:10.1525/california/9780520267114.003.0025

Cited by 28 publications

(31 citation statements)

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“…Coupling our findings with those of others [6] further characterizes sage-grouse as a wildland species that requires large, intact sagebrush landscapes, and is largely intolerant of human disturbance. Our work compliments new science from the western portion of the species' range where active leks have only 0.3% developed land within a 5 km radius compared to 8.7% at inactive leks [41].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

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Combined Effects of Energy Development and Disease on Greater Sage-Grouse

et al. 2013

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Species of conservation concern are increasingly threatened by multiple, anthropogenic stressors which are outside their evolutionary experience. Greater sage-grouse are highly susceptible to the impacts of two such stressors: oil and gas (energy) development and West Nile virus (WNv). However, the combined effects of these stressors and their potential interactions have not been quantified. We used lek (breeding ground) counts across a landscape encompassing extensive local and regional variation in the intensity of energy development to quantify the effects of energy development on lek counts, in years with widespread WNv outbreaks and in years without widespread outbreaks. We then predicted the effects of well density and WNv outbreak years on sage-grouse in northeast Wyoming. Absent an outbreak year, drilling an undeveloped landscape to a high permitting level (3.1 wells/km2) resulted in a 61% reduction in the total number of males counted in northeast Wyoming (total count). This was similar in magnitude to the 55% total count reduction that resulted from an outbreak year alone. However, energy-associated reductions in the total count resulted from a decrease in the mean count at active leks, whereas outbreak-associated reductions resulted from a near doubling of the lek inactivity rate (proportion of leks with a last count = 0). Lek inactivity quadrupled when 3.1 wells/km2 was combined with an outbreak year, compared to no energy development and no outbreak. Conservation measures should maintain sagebrush landscapes large and intact enough so that leks are not chronically reduced in size due to energy development, and therefore vulnerable to becoming inactive due to additional stressors.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

“…obligate species [6], and habitat loss and degradation has resulted in a ≥4 decade long population decline [7], [8]. The species currently occurs in 11 western states and occupies ≤54% of its pre-European settlement range [9].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Combined Effects of Energy Development and Disease on Greater Sage-Grouse

et al. 2013

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“…Persistence of sage-grouse depends on protecting or carefully managing remaining habitat and restoring areas that have degraded habitat quality (Stiver et al 2006, Connelly et al 2011b. Putting this ''protect what's left and fix what's broken'' paradigm into practice, however, requires understanding the characteristics of highquality habitat and knowing whether we are capable of restoring those characteristics within degraded areas.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantifying restoration effectiveness using multi‐scale habitat models: implications for sage‐grouse in the Great Basin

et al. 2014

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. 2014. Quantifying restoration effectiveness using multi-scale habitat models: implications for sage-grouse in the Great Basin. Ecosphere 5(3):31. http://dx.doi.org/10.1890/ES13-00278.1Abstract. A recurrent challenge in the conservation of wide-ranging, imperiled species is understanding which habitats to protect and whether we are capable of restoring degraded landscapes. For Greater Sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus), a species of conservation concern in the western United States, we approached this problem by developing multi-scale empirical models of occupancy in 211 randomly located plots within a 40 million ha portion of the species' range. We then used these models to predict sage-grouse habitat quality at 826 plots associated with 101 post-wildfire seeding projects implemented from 1990 to 2003. We also compared conditions at restoration sites to published habitat guidelines. Sage-grouse occupancy was positively related to plot-and landscape-level dwarf sagebrush (Artemisia arbuscula, A. nova, A. tripartita) and big sagebrush steppe prevalence, and negatively associated with non-native plants and human development. The predicted probability of sage-grouse occupancy at treated plots was low on average (0.09) and not substantially different from burned areas that had not been treated. Restoration sites with quality habitat tended to occur at higher elevation locations with low annual temperatures, high spring precipitation, and high plant diversity. Of 313 plots seeded after fire, none met all sagebrush guidelines for breeding habitats, but approximately 50% met understory guidelines, particularly for perennial grasses. This pattern was similar for summer habitat. Less than 2% of treated plots met winter habitat guidelines. Restoration actions did not increase the probability of burned areas meeting most guideline criteria. The probability of meeting guidelines was influenced by a latitudinal gradient, climate, and topography. Our results suggest that sage-grouse are relatively unlikely to use many burned areas within 20 years of fire, regardless of treatment. Understory habitat conditions are more likely to be adequate than overstory conditions, but in most climates, establishing forbs and reducing cheatgrass dominance is unlikely. Reestablishing sagebrush cover will require more than 20 years using past restoration methods. Given current fire frequencies and restoration capabilities, protection of landscapes containing a mix of dwarf sagebrush and big sagebrush steppe, minimal human development, and low non-native plant cover may provide the best opportunity for conservation of sage-grouse habitats.

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“…The time required for a vegetation community to respond to management practices or changes in habitat and its influence on sage-grouse vital rates varies by ecosystem, geography, climate, and land use. For sage-grouse, time lags of two to ten years have been observed for population response to infrastructure development (Holloran 2005;Harju et al 2010;Walker et al 2007) or even longer with changes in habitat structure (e.g., fire) (Connelly et al 2011b). Temporal scale for sagebrush projects deserves especially close consideration given that recovery of sagebrush is an especially difficult and slow process due to abiotic variation, short-lived seedbanks, and long generation time of sagebrush; where soils and vegetation are highly disturbed, sagebrush restoration can be challenging if not impossible , Monsen 2005.…”

Section: Importance Of Temporal Scalementioning

confidence: 99%