Factors affecting female space use in ten populations of prairie chickens

Abstract

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

Genetic rescue, the greater prairie chicken and the problem of conservation reliance in the Anthropocene

“…They also maintain activity centres within 5 km of leks [61], suggesting that effective conservation efforts should focus not only on active leks but also on nearby habitat. These aspects have obvious population genetic ramifications and thus relate to the small-population paradigm, but they also reinforce the interplay among extrinsic and intrinsic factors (figure 4), and how this has impeded recovery.…”

Land cover changes associated with recent energy development in the Williston Basin; Northern Great Plains, USA

“…Walker et al, 2007) and prairie chicken (e.g. Winder et al, 2015) populations. In Wyoming rangelands, reduced nutritional carrying capacity for mule deer was reported for areas with intensive natural gas development (Korfanta et al, 2015) as was avoidance of highly developed areas (Sawyer et al, 2006).…”

Effects of rangeland management on survival of female greater prairie‐chickens

“…We used Cox proportional hazards models to test for differences in survival among years, rangeland management at lek of capture (intensive early stocking vs. patch‐burn grazing), and female age‐class (yearlings vs. adults; we censored 14 individuals of unknown age class from this analysis). Elsewhere, we have shown that space use by female prairie chickens is tightly linked to lek locations (Winder et al , , ). Therefore, rangeland management practices in the pastures near the lek of capture should be a good indication of habitats available to females during the breeding season.…”

“…We used distance to land cover patch edge as an index of the patchiness of land cover. Prairie chickens may be sensitive to anthropogenic disturbance, and we used distance to nearest paved or gravel road as an index of proximity to traffic and vehicle noise (Pitman et al ; Pruett et al ; Hagen et al ; Winder et al , ). Gregory et al () reported that lek sites are often located at high points on the landscape.…”