Temporal and hierarchical spatial components of animal occurrence: conserving seasonal habitat for greater sage‐grouse

Abstract

Abstract. Developing strategies for sustainable management of landscapes requires research that bridges regionally important ecological and socioeconomic issues, and that aims to provide solutions to sustainability problems. We integrated Global Positioning Systems (GPS) telemetry and statistical modeling to quantify hierarchical spatial and temporal components of occurrence among greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus; n ¼ 87), a species of conservation concern, with the larger goal of developing spatially-explicit guidance for conservation of important winter habitat in a Wyoming, USA landscape undergoing development for energy resources. The pattern of occurrence at the landscape level (secondorder) and within seasonal use areas (third-order) included selection for shrub vegetation with a prominent sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) component, and avoidance of rough terrain, mesic areas, and human activity. A change in resource selection behavior across the diel cycle was not an apparent component of the higherorder selection process; however, at the finer scale of investigation sage-grouse shifted behavior across the diel cycle in ways likely related to risk aversion or maintaining a favorable thermal environment (i.e., daytime-only avoidance of natural gas wells and night-time-only selection for taller shrubs). At both spatial scales there was considerably more variation among individuals in the sign of their association with anthropogenic features than with vegetation and terrain. The final spatially-explicit model, which depicted lower-order selection (local, patch-level, and seasonal use area) across the diel cycle constrained by selection processes at a higher order (second-order), validated well, offering specific guidance for managing human activity and sage-grouse conservation in the study area, and general guidance in developing sustainable landscape management strategies when animal occurrence reflects multiple spatial and temporal processes.

Mapping resource selection functions in wildlife studies: Concerns and recommendations

“…For example, predicting a species’ distribution has been used to inform endangered species management and habitat conservation efforts (Dzialak et al, 2013; Dzialak, Olson, Harju, Webb, & Winstead, 2012; Fortin, Courtois, Etcheverry, Dussault, & Gingras, 2008; Richardson, Stirling, & Hik, 2005; Roever, Van Aarde, & Leggett, 2013). As one example, such modeling has been employed to address concerns including the evaluation of conservation networks for African elephants ( Loxodonta africana oxyotis ;(Roever et al, 2013).…”

Seasonal Habitat Use by Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) on a Landscape with Low Density Oil and Gas Development

“…We obtained elevation data from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) digital elevation model and used the national hydrography dataset to measure the average distance to perennial water sources as well as the density of water within each buffer [20]. We also included the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), a measure of plant primary productivity which has been used in recent GRSG studies [1, 26, 30].…”

“…We also measured the distance to sagebrush for those locations that did not contain sagebrush within their buffers. Particularly in the summer, GRSG use other habitat types within the sagebrush complex [5, 20, 32–34] and Dunn and Braun [35] found that managers might use 150–200 m as a guideline for the interspersion of cover types on GRSG summer range. Dunn and Braun [35] reported observations of GRSG feeding on the edges of vegetation cover that was higher in vertical and horizontal structure.…”

Conservation Credits—Evolution of a Market-Oriented Approach to Recovery of Species of Concern on Private Land

“…Tack (2009) found negative relationships with more roads around leks at all levels of lek attendance, but impacts were greatest for larger leks (>25 males); the probability of occurrence of a large lek was 50% with road densities of approximately 15.5 miles (25 kilometers) of road within 1.99 miles (3.2 kilometers) of a lek. Dzialak et al (2012) documented sage-grouse during the winter avoiding haul roads associated with natural gas development. In contrast, Johnson et al (2011) found negative trends in counts of males on leks throughout the range of the species with increasing distance to interstate highway-although few leks occurred near interstates; relatively consistent slight negative trends in lek counts with distance to highways; and no relationship between distance to secondary roads and lek trends.…”