Evaluating vital rate contributions to greater sage‐grouse population dynamics to inform conservation

Dahlgren, David K.; Guttery, Michael R.; Messmer, Terry A.; Caudill, Danny; Elmore, R. Dwayne; Chi, Renee; Koons, David N.

doi:10.1002/ecs2.1249

Cited by 59 publications

(64 citation statements)

References 71 publications

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“…Nest success and female survival are two of the most important demographic vital rates among sage-grouse [29,44]. As management actions targeting demographics ultimately aim to influence population growth, we used a model-based approach to assess the influence of treatment effects on asymptotic population growth rate (λ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Better living through conifer removal: A demographic analysis of sage-grouse vital rates

et al. 2017

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Sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) obligate wildlife species such as the imperiled greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) face numerous threats including altered ecosystem processes that have led to conifer expansion into shrub-steppe. Conifer removal is accelerating despite a lack of empirical evidence on grouse population response. Using a before-after-control-impact design at the landscape scale, we evaluated effects of conifer removal on two important demographic parameters, annual survival of females and nest survival, by monitoring 219 female sage-grouse and 225 nests in the northern Great Basin from 2010 to 2014. Estimates from the best treatment models showed positive trends in the treatment area relative to the control area resulting in an increase of 6.6% annual female survival and 18.8% nest survival relative to the control area by 2014. Using stochastic simulations of our estimates and published demographics, we estimated a 25% increase in the population growth rate in the treatment area relative to the control area. This is the first study to link sage-grouse demographics with conifer removal and supports recommendations to actively manage conifer expansion for sage-grouse conservation. Sage-grouse have become a primary catalyst for conservation funding to address conifer expansion in the West, and these findings have important implications for other ecosystem services being generated on the wings of species conservation.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Accounting for variation among vital rates is critical to analyses of population growth [29,44]. Therefore, we generated beta distributions (using stretched-beta distribution for clutch size) to represent the central tendency and variance of each vital rate.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Better living through conifer removal: A demographic analysis of sage-grouse vital rates

et al. 2017

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“…Survival of adult female sage‐grouse is an important factor in determining sage‐grouse population trajectories (Taylor et al , Caudill et al , Dahlgren et al ). The average survival of radio‐marked female sage‐grouse in our study area (0.40) was lower than the average survival of female sage‐grouse translocated to the Strawberry Valley SGMA, Utah, (0.60), a sage‐grouse population that was augmented with translocations over 6 years (Baxter et al ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To stabilize sage‐grouse populations, managers have considered the ecology of the species when implementing actions designed to mitigate the species’ conservation threats (Taylor et al , U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service [USFWS] 2013, Dahlgren et al ). Wildlife managers have also attempted to augment declining sage‐grouse populations through translocations (Reese and Connelly , Connelly et al , Baxter et al ).…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Given recently published information regarding the relative contribution of adult and yearling females to population growth (Dahlgren et al , ; Taylor et al ; Caudill et al ), we compared vital rates of translocated and resident females in the sage‐grouse population studied by Gruber‐Hadden et al (). Gruber‐Hadden et al () reported the behavior and habitat‐use patterns of translocated and resident sage‐grouse were similar but vital rates for both groups were lower than reported range‐wide averages.…”

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Contribution of translocated greater sage‐grouse to population vital rates

et al. 2017

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Range‐wide declines of greater sage‐grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus; sage‐grouse) populations have been attributed to long‐term habitat alteration and fragmentation. In areas that still exhibit suitable habitats and where population declines have been attributed to other threats (e.g., invasive predators), managers have successfully used translocations to augment declining wildlife populations. However, translocations to augment sage‐grouse populations have had limited success and the relative contribution of translocated sage‐grouse to declining populations is not well understood. From 2009 to 2012 we studied the vital rates of 34 resident (21 yearlings and 13 adults) and 60 translocated radio‐marked female sage‐grouse (30 yearlings and 30 adults) on Anthro Mountain in northeastern Utah, USA to determine the relative contributions of each group to population productivity. We used the encounter histories of the monitored sage‐grouse to construct nest survival models for program MARK to assess the impacts of age and residency status on annual survival and overall reproductive success in the population. Annual survival was not affected by age or residency status and averaged 0.40 (95% CI = 0.31–0.50). The yearling newly translocated females (translocated females during their first yr in the release area) exhibited the lowest nest initiation rates (0.50, 95% CI = 0.30–0.69), whereas adult resident and previously translocated (translocated females that survived ≥1 yr in the release area) females had the highest nest initiation (0.96, 95% CI = 0.88–0.99). Overall nest success (0.43, 95% CI = 0.30–0.55) and brood success (0.55, 95% CI = 0.41–0.69) were not affected by residency status or age. The adult resident and previously translocated females exhibited the highest overall reproductive success (0.22, 95% CI = 0.14–0.31) followed by resident yearling females (0.20, 95% CI = 0.12–0.29), and newly translocated adult females (0.18, 95% CI = 0.10–0.27). Newly translocated yearling females had the lowest overall reproductive success (0.12, 95% CI = 0.05–0.18). Survival of adult females is a major factor influencing sage‐grouse population stability. Although adult and yearling newly translocated females had similar survival rates, adult translocated females were more likely to raise a brood in their first year in the release area. Thus, managers should consider translocating a higher ratio of adult to yearling females in future translocation efforts to see a more immediate effect on population growth in the release area. However, because of the low vitals rates recorded in our study, managers should identify and mitigate the limiting factors affecting the resident population prior to implementing a translocation to augment declining populations. © 2017 The Wildlife Society.

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Moisture abundance and proximity mediate seasonal use of mesic areas and survival of greater sage‐grouse broods

Severson

Coates

Milligan

et al. 2022

Ecol Sol and Evidence

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Water is a critical and limited resource, particularly in the arid West, but water availability is projected to decline even while demand increases due to growing human populations and increases in duration and severity of drought. Mesic areas provide important water resources for numerous wildlife species, including the greater sage‐grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus; hereafter, sage‐grouse), an indicator for the health of sagebrush ecosystems. Understanding how wildlife use these crucial areas is necessary to inform management and conservation of sensitive species. Specifically, the influence of anthropogenic water subsidies such as irrigated pastures is not well‐studied. We evaluated brood‐rearing habitat selection and brood survival of sage‐grouse in Long Valley, California, an area where the water rights are primarily owned by the city of Los Angeles and water is used locally to irrigate for livestock. This area thus represents a unique balance between the needs of wildlife and people that could increasingly define future water management. In this study, sage‐grouse broods moved closer to the edge of mesic areas and used more interior areas during the late brood‐rearing period, selecting for greener areas after 1 July. Mesic areas were particularly important during dry years, with broods using areas farther interior than in wet years. Brood survival was also positively influenced by the availability and condition of mesic resources, as indicated by variation in values of normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), with survival peaking at moderate values of NDVI and just outside the edge but decreasing inside the mesic areas. Our results highlight the importance of quality edge habitat of large mesic areas for sage‐grouse to balance habitat selection and survival, particularly during drier years and during the late brood‐rearing period, which is a critical period because chick survival has been shown to influence population growth. This study highlights the implications of large‐scale anthropogenic water manipulation, and the balance between local irrigation and water distribution to benefit other regions, from the context of a species of high conservation concern in North American sagebrush ecosystems.

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Evaluating vital rate contributions to greater sage‐grouse population dynamics to inform conservation

Cited by 59 publications

References 71 publications

Better living through conifer removal: A demographic analysis of sage-grouse vital rates

Better living through conifer removal: A demographic analysis of sage-grouse vital rates

Contribution of translocated greater sage‐grouse to population vital rates

Moisture abundance and proximity mediate seasonal use of mesic areas and survival of greater sage‐grouse broods

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