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The Effect Of Sage Grouse Conservation On Wildlife Species Of Concern
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Book Synopsis The Effect of Sage-grouse Conservation on Wildlife Species of Concern by : Jason D. Carlisle
Download or read book The Effect of Sage-grouse Conservation on Wildlife Species of Concern written by Jason D. Carlisle and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The umbrella species concept is a conservation shortcut wherein multiple species are protected under the umbrella of areas protected for one species. While appealing in theory, empirical tests of the concept have been scarce. Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus, “sage-grouse”) have high conservation priority across western North America, and many hope sage-grouse serve as an umbrella species, whereby conservation actions taken for sage-grouse benefit the many other at-risk wildlife species (“background species”) in sagebrush ecosystems. We used a multifaceted approach (i.e., broad-scale spatial models, local empirical studies, and a controlled field experiment) in Wyoming, USA to address the following questions: Chapter 1) How much protection does a reserve established for sage-grouse offer 52 background species? Chapters 2 and 3) Do finer-scale measures of sage-grouse abundance, habitat preference, and habitat quality align with those of sagebrush-associated songbirds of concern? Chapter 4) How do mowing treatments meant to enhance sage-grouse habitat affect non-target songbirds? The reserve contained 21% of the habitat of background species on average; however, coverage varied substantially across species, with species dissimilar to sage-grouse covered least. The size of the reserve was key to its umbrella function. We found little evidence that local abundances of songbirds aligned with those of sage-grouse. Moreover, there was little concordance between sage-grouse and songbirds on which nesting habitats were preferred or associated with higher survival. Habitat treatments implemented for sage-grouse had mixed effects on songbirds, and resulted in the loss of nesting habitat for shrub-nesting species. Our results suggest that broad-scale habitat protections implemented for Greater Sage-Grouse benefited many, but not all co-occurring species of concern. Moreover, the utility of sage-grouse as an umbrella species was limited at finer spatial scales. Our findings help identify background species missed by the sage-grouse umbrella and illustrate the need to consider spatial scale in surrogate-species conservation strategies.
Book Synopsis Greater Sage-Grouse by : Steve Knick
Download or read book Greater Sage-Grouse written by Steve Knick and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2011-05-19 with total page 665 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Admired for its elaborate breeding displays and treasured as a game bird, the Greater Sage-Grouse is a charismatic symbol of the broad open spaces in western North America. Unfortunately these birds have declined across much of their range—which stretches across 11 western states and reaches into Canada—mostly due to loss of critical sagebrush habitat. Today the Greater Sage-Grouse is at the center of a complex conservation challenge. This multifaceted volume, an important foundation for developing conservation strategies and actions, provides a comprehensive synthesis of scientific information on the biology and ecology of the Greater Sage-Grouse. Bringing together the experience of thirty-eight researchers, it describes the bird’s population trends, its sagebrush habitat, and potential limitations to conservation, including the effects of rangeland fire, climate change, invasive plants, disease, and land uses such as energy development, grazing, and agriculture.
Author :United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Environment and Public Works. Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, and Water Publisher : ISBN 13 : Total Pages :108 pages Book Rating :4.F/5 ( download)
Book Synopsis Oversight on Sage Grouse Conservation by : United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Environment and Public Works. Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, and Water
Download or read book Oversight on Sage Grouse Conservation written by United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Environment and Public Works. Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, and Water and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 108 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Book Synopsis Influence of Disturbance on Greater Sage-grouse Habitat Selection in Southern Utah by : Erica P. Hansen
Download or read book Influence of Disturbance on Greater Sage-grouse Habitat Selection in Southern Utah written by Erica P. Hansen and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus; sage-grouse) is a species of conservation concern that occupies sagebrush-dominated (Artemisia spp.) landscapes across the western United States and southern Canada. The U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) reviewed the status of the sage-grouse in September 2015 and determined that it did not warrant protection under the Endangered Species Act due to collaborative efforts between numerous public and private stakeholders. However, this decision hinged on federal and state commitments to continue science-based management of sagebrush habitats. As human development increases across the west, there is an increasing need for understanding the impacts of disturbance on sage-grouse. Filling this knowledge gap is important because it will allow us to predict how sage-grouse populations may respond to changes in the future. I assessed how two types of disturbance (wildfire and transmission line construction) influenced habitat use of a population of sage-grouse in southern Utah. I deployed Global Positioning System (GPS) transmitters on 26 (21 male and 5 female) sage-grouse in the Bald Hills Sage-Grouse Management Area in 2014 and 2015 to record what habitat sage-grouse were using during the summer and winter seasons. I compared these used locations to habitat that was seasonally available to the birds using resource selection functions. My models showed that in the summer, birds showed preference for areas burned and reclaimed within the last 10 years. I suggest that this may be occurring because the birds are seeking out vegetation that was seeded by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) during wildfire reclamation. In the winter, my models showed an overall 3% decrease in predicted probability of use for winter habitat in the vicinity of the transmission line corridor, but this change did not immediately result in increased avoidance by sage-grouse when comparing spatial distributions for sage-grouse locations within winter habitat near the transmission line. I suggest that this is because the new transmission line was paired with a preexisting line which was already avoided by sage-grouse. However, the construction of the new line could have long-term consequences outside the two year scope of my study. These impacts could be delayed because sage-grouse are strongly tied to historic habitats and may not change habitat use immediately in spite of landscape changes. Additionally, the presence of the new line could cause indirect landscape changes which may only manifest over longer time periods such as increasing human activity in the area or changing the distribution of avian predators of sage-grouse that use the transmission line for perching. I recommend continued monitoring of sage-grouse in the area to determine if any changes in habitat use manifest in future years.
Book Synopsis Conservation of Greater Sage-grouse on Public Lands in the Western U.S. by : Carl L. Wambold
Download or read book Conservation of Greater Sage-grouse on Public Lands in the Western U.S. written by Carl L. Wambold and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page 92 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Our general objective is to identify a set of short-run (three to five years) policy alternatives that are based on a synthesis of empirical research into the needs of the greater sage-grouse(Centrocercus urophasianus) and its relationship to the sagebrush system. In other words, based on what we know from research, we try to identify the best set of policy alternatives for maintaining and increasing sage-grouse populations on public lands that policy makers could implement and expect some results within a three- to five-year time frame"--Page 1
Author :Stanford Environmental Law Society Publisher :Stanford Environmental Law Soc ISBN 13 :9780804738439 Total Pages :296 pages Book Rating :4.7/5 (384 download)
Book Synopsis The Endangered Species Act by : Stanford Environmental Law Society
Download or read book The Endangered Species Act written by Stanford Environmental Law Society and published by Stanford Environmental Law Soc. This book was released on 2001 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This handbook is a guide to the federal Endangered Species Act, the primary U.S. law aimed at protecting species of animals and plants from human threats to their survival. It is intended for lawyers, government agency employees, students, community activists, businesspeople, and any citizen who wants to understand the Act--its history, provisions, accomplishments, and failures.
Book Synopsis Ecology, Conservation, and Management of Grouse by : Brett K. Sandercock
Download or read book Ecology, Conservation, and Management of Grouse written by Brett K. Sandercock and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2011-09-04 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Summarizing current knowledge of grouse biology, this volume is organized in four sections--spatial ecology, habitat relationships, population biology, and conservation and management--and offers insights into spatial requirements, movements, and demography of grouse. Much of the research employs emerging tools in ecology that span biogeochemistry, molecular genetics, endocrinology, radio-telemetry, and remote sensing".--Adapted from publisher descrip tion on back cover
Book Synopsis USDA Forest Service Sage-Grouse Conservation Science Strategy by :
Download or read book USDA Forest Service Sage-Grouse Conservation Science Strategy written by and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 39 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Numerous federal and state agencies, research institutions and stakeholders have undertaken tremendous conservation and research efforts across 11 States in the western United States to reduce threats to Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) and sagebrush (Artemisia spp) habitats. In 2010, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) determined that the Greater Sage-Grouse was warranted for protection under the Endangered Species Act, but that action was precluded by higher priority listing actions. As part of a 2011 court settlement, USFWS agreed to make an initial determination on whether to propose the species for listing by September 30, 2015 fiscal year. The Draft FY 2015 Omnibus Appropriations Bill contains a rider that currently prevents USFWS from publishing a proposed listing rule regarding greater sage-grouse, but it does not relieve USFWS of its obligation to determine whether the species still warrants protection under the ESA. Consequently, USFWS is moving forward with a determination by the end of 2015. The Service also found that the bi-state population of Greater Sage-Grouse bordering California and Nevada, considered a distinct population segment (DPS), also warranted protection as a threatened species under ESA (Federal Register 2013).
Book Synopsis Identifying Habitat Quality and Population Response of Greater Sage-grouse to Treated Wyoming Big Sagebrush Habitats by : Kurt T. Smith
Download or read book Identifying Habitat Quality and Population Response of Greater Sage-grouse to Treated Wyoming Big Sagebrush Habitats written by Kurt T. Smith and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 169 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Prioritizing and conserving habitat quality is crucial for maintaining viable wildlife populations, particularly for species of conservation concern such as the greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus). Sage-grouse have experienced widespread population declines across much of their historic range, necessitating an understanding of how to maintain or improve the quality of remaining habitats that support their populations. Habitat loss and fragmentation is a major factor contributing to sage-grouse population declines and maintaining or improving remaining habitats has been thought to increase the value of important habitats for sage-grouse. The aim of my dissertation was to evaluate the influence of habitat management practices on sage-grouse at the population level and then explore potential mechanisms that may explain how populations are influenced by management to develop an understanding of the overall demographic response of sage-grouse to habitat treatments in big sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) communities in Wyoming. My dissertation is presented in four journal-formatted chapters. The objectives of Chapter 2 were to identify how treatments influenced annual growth rates in sage-grouse populations using yearly male sage-grouse lek counts within Sage-Grouse Management Zone II in Wyoming’s Core Areas from 1994 to 2012. One of the major findings of Chapter 2 was that mechanical sagebrush restoration treatments within 10 km of leks were negatively associated with annual greater sage-grouse population growth rates. This chapter is formatted for Restoration Ecology with co-author Jeffrey L. Beck. The primary objective of Chapter 3 was to evaluate how microhabitat use differed between reproductive states (brood-rearing versus broodless females) and if there were differences in summer survival between these states. Findings suggested that broodless females were roosting and foraging in concealed habitats with greater visual obstruction but less food forb availability. In contrast, brood-rearing females likely selected riskier microhabitats with less shrub cover and greater herbaceous understory as a tradeoff to predictably maximize foraging opportunities and promote growth and survival of their chicks. Chapter 3 is in revision in Wildlife Research with co-authors Jeffrey L. Beck and Christopher P. Kirol. The objective of Chapter 4 was to identify how mowing and tebuthiuron (Spike® 20P, Dow Agrosciences, Indianapolis, IN) treatments intended to reduce sagebrush canopy cover influenced the dietary quality of Wyoming big sagebrush in central Wyoming. Results from this chapter suggested that mowing and tebuthiuron treatments may slightly increase crude protein concentrations directly after treatments without immediate changes in plant secondary metabolites. This chapter is formatted for submission to Rangeland Ecology and Management. Chapter 5 evaluated whether diet availability and dietary consumption were predictive of sage-grouse chick body condition and if mowing and tebuthiuron treatments influenced the availability of insect and forb dietary resources for juvenile sage-grouse. Findings from this chapter suggest that females with broods selected habitats with diet resources in proportion to their availability, and dietary consumption by chicks was unrelated to available foods at brood-rearing locations. Chicks that consumed proportionally more plants during their first week of life tended to weigh more and have longer wing chords 5 weeks after hatch. Treated big sagebrush habitats contained forb and insect abundances that did not differ from untreated habitats and were equal to or less than habitats used by brood-rearing females. Chapter 5 is formatted for Journal of Wildlife Management with co-authors Jeffrey L. Beck, Aaron C. Pratt, and Jason R. LeVan.
Book Synopsis Large Landscape Conservation by : Matthew McKinney
Download or read book Large Landscape Conservation written by Matthew McKinney and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In response to increasing conservation activity at the large landscape scale, leaders from the public, private, and nongovernmental sectors participated in two national landscape management policy dialogues and many other informal discussions in 2009. Convened by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy and the Center for Natural Resources and Environmental Policy at The University of Montana, the intent of the dialogues was to synthesize what we know about large landscape conservation and to identify the most important needs as we move forward.
Book Synopsis Sage-grouse on the Edge by : Noreen Parks
Download or read book Sage-grouse on the Edge written by Noreen Parks and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 5 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Populations of greater sage-grouse have declined dramatically across their North American range for many decades in response to harmful effects of a variety of human activities and land uses, prompting legal actions to protect the species under the Endangered Species Act. To evaluate the impacts of landuse and habitat changes on sagegrouse, Michael Wisdom, a research wildlife biologist, and his colleagues used novel landscape modeling methods to carry out a comprehensive, rangewide analysis that considered 22 environmental factors in areas currently inhabited by sage-grouse compared to areas where the species is locally extinct. The researchers identified threshold values for the amount of sagebrush critical to sage-grouse persistence, addressing a key question about the species habitat requirements. The assessment also revealed the potentially negative impacts of talltower structures on sage-grouse occurrence. The findings highlighted the urgency of integrating efforts among public agencies and private landowners at all resource management levels to counter the cumulative and synergistic threats to sage-grouse conservation. In combination with related studies, this research has expanded the scientific knowledge base for resource managers and other decisionmakers concerned with designing and implementing landscape strategies for sage-grouse recovery.
Book Synopsis The Challenges and Opportunities of a Proactive Endangered Species Act by : Casey Lynn Taylor
Download or read book The Challenges and Opportunities of a Proactive Endangered Species Act written by Casey Lynn Taylor and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 214 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA) is considered by many to be among the most powerful and most contentious environmental laws in the United States. Persistent challenges to the Act’s implementation make reaching conservation goals problematic. Most notably, the very nature of the law—providing protections for species already at risk of extinction—means its protections are offered only when the situation is already dire, when conservation efforts will be the most difficult, costly, and controversial. Impacted industries and rural communities have frequently chafed under the regulations imposed by the Act, while environmentalists have seen the ESA as a reliable tool for slowing or stopping unwanted development. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has begun altering its approach to species conservation by pursuing a series of more proactive tools within the ESA in an effort to address declining species before emergency action under the Act is required. These efforts, including working collaboratively with state governments, federal management agencies, and private landowners, were highly visible in the case of the Greater Sage Grouse, a recent candidate for ESA protection in the western United States. Using the sage grouse as a focal case study, this dissertation evaluates some of the challenges and opportunities involved in these proactive, collaborative conservation efforts. In particular, analysis focuses on one of the key components of the ESA process—the selection, interpretation, and application of scientific evidence. Interviews with stakeholders across three sage grouse states—Idaho, Oregon, and Wyoming—as well as planning documents, government reports, and media accounts in these states were collected in order to understand the relationship between collaboration and the use of science in proactive conservation efforts for the sage grouse. Evidence from the three studies in this dissertation suggests that in such efforts, discussion and negotiation surrounding the nature of species threats and possible conservation actions can be hampered by the lack of trust between stakeholders and administrative agencies. The first study (Chapter 2) examines three different conservation efforts in Oregon, and finds that organizational goals, history, and scale of operations influence the degree of collaboration within a particular effort, when then influences the manner in which science is utilized in the process. The second study (Chapter 3) compares the development of voluntary conservation agreements between private landowners and FWS across three states and finds that positive working relationships and trust are critical in effectively negotiating species threats, conservation actions, and monitoring protocols. That being said, when relationships and trust are still being developed, as they often are for the FWS with regard to the ESA, these can be supplemented by partnering with other agencies and organizations with better relationships with communities on the ground, such as the NRCS. The third study (Chapter 4) asks participants from the two earlier portions of the dissertation to define the term ‘best available science,’ an ambiguous concept which is often used as a metric for decision-making in environmental law. Analysis of these responses finds substantial common ground regarding how ‘best available science’ should be defined and identified, but also points to areas of concern with the practice of science-based decision-making.
Book Synopsis Effectiveness of Wyoming's Sage-grouse Core Areas in Conserving Greater Sage-grouse and Mule Deer and Influence of Energy Development on Big Game Harvest by : R. Scott Gamo
Download or read book Effectiveness of Wyoming's Sage-grouse Core Areas in Conserving Greater Sage-grouse and Mule Deer and Influence of Energy Development on Big Game Harvest written by R. Scott Gamo and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 134 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Increasing demand for energy has led to expanded extraction of energy reserves, which, in turn, impact habitats and populations of iconic western species including greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus), mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus), and pronghorn ( Antilocapra americana) across the West. Policy makers and managers have implemented protections and regulations within designated landscapes to manage focal wildlife species under these conditions. My study evaluates the conservation effectiveness of these landscapes on these focal species in Wyoming within Core Areas established under the Wyoming Governor’s Sage-grouse Executive Order (SGEO), implemented in 2008 by then Wyoming Governor Dave Freudenthal. Greater sage-grouse populations have declined across their range due to human-assisted factors driving large-scale habitat change. In response, the state of Wyoming implemented the SGEO protection policy in 2008 as a voluntary regulatory mechanism to minimize anthropogenic disturbance withing defined sage-grouse core population areas. This dissertation consists of two empirical-based chapters that focus on evaluating the effectiveness of sage-grouse core areas in providing conservation of sage-grouse, and mule deer, which share habitat with sage-grouse across Wyoming. An additional focus of this dissertation was to investigate the impact of oil and gas development on harvest success for mule deer and pronghorn.
Book Synopsis Effects of Agricultural Conservation Practices on Fish and Wildlife by :
Download or read book Effects of Agricultural Conservation Practices on Fish and Wildlife written by and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 380 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The bibliography is a guide to recent scientific literature covering effects of agricultural conservation practices on fish and wildlife. The citations listed here provide information on how conservation programs and practices designed to improve fish and wildlife habitat, as well as those intended for other purposes (e.g., water quality improvement), affect various aquatic and terrestrial fauna"--Abstract.
Book Synopsis Saving Species on Private Lands by : Lowell E. Baier
Download or read book Saving Species on Private Lands written by Lowell E. Baier and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2020-03-09 with total page 377 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winner, Independent Press Award - Conservation/Green, 2021 The only hope for successful conservation of America’s threatened, endangered, and at-risk wildlife is through voluntary, cooperative partnerships that focus on private land, where over 75% of at-risk species can be found. Private landowners form the bedrock of these partnerships, and they have a long history of rising to meet the challenge of conservation. But they can’t do it alone. This book is a guide for private landowners who want to conserve wildlife. Whether engaged in farming, ranching, forestry, mining, energy development, or another business, private working lands all have value as wildlife habitat, with the proper management and financial support. This book provides landowners and their partners with a roadmap to achieve conservation compatible with their financial and personal goals. This book introduces the art and language of land management planning as well as regulatory compliance with laws such as the Endangered Species Act of 1973. It categorizes and explains the tools used by wildlife professionals to implement conservation on private lands. Moreover it documents the multitude of federal, state, local, and private opportunities for landowners to find financial and technical assistance in managing wildlife, from working with a local NGO to accessing the $6 billion per year available through the federal Farm Bill.
Book Synopsis LANDSCAPE MANAGEMENT FOR A LANDSCAPE SPECIES by : Emma Suzuki Spence
Download or read book LANDSCAPE MANAGEMENT FOR A LANDSCAPE SPECIES written by Emma Suzuki Spence and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page 64 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Greater Sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) are both an umbrella and flagship species for conservation concern throughout the intermountain west. For the past fifty years, sage-grouse populations have been experiencing a range wide decline. Long-term declines in sage-grouse abundance have prompted eight listing attempts for the species under provisions of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Proximate causes of population decline(s) differ across sage-grouse distribution, but ultimately, the underlying cause is loss or degradation of suitable sagebrush land cover. Wyoming is arguably the most important region for sage-grouse management because Wyoming is not only at the center of sage-grouse distribution, but also hosts the largest sage-grouse population of any state in the species' 11 US State, 3 Canadian Province range. In 2008, then Governor, Dave Freudenthal signed an executive order that enacted the "Greater Sage-grouse Core Area Protection" that set aside 31 distinct regions called "Core Areas" which collectively encompas~24% of the total area of Wyoming. (State of Wyoming 2008). Upon establishment these Core Areas contained ~82% of the male sage-grouse in Wyoming at that time (State of Wyoming 2008, State of Wyoming 2010). However, since establishment, the Core Areas established by the SGEO have been redrawn or modified 4 times. For my research I investigated the overall effectiveness of the Core Areas (as established by the SGEO) in Wyoming in light of anthropogenic impacts. Using the Wyoming Game and Fish Department's (WGFD) sage-grouse lek database to characterize sage-grouse populations across Wyoming, along with other publically available data sets, we found that the Core Areas contained ~64% of all active leks and accounted for ~77% of male sage-grouse attending leks. Furthermore, we found that Core Areas had a higher average lek attendance (average males/core lek = 22±7.76; average males/non-core lek =9±2.25; t-test df=1,821 P
Book Synopsis Validation of Winter Concentration Area Guidelines and Winter Habitat Ecology for Greater Sage-grouse in the Red Desert, Wyoming by : Caitlyn Powell Wanner
Download or read book Validation of Winter Concentration Area Guidelines and Winter Habitat Ecology for Greater Sage-grouse in the Red Desert, Wyoming written by Caitlyn Powell Wanner and published by . This book was released on 2022 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winter in temperate zones often represents a period of greatest energetic demand for vertebrate species. Animals respond to seasonal scarcity through behavioral strategies such as migration and selecting specific habitats characteristics to maximize resource acquisition and/or minimize energy expenditures. Migration or differential habitat use in winter can complicate goals of defining and conserving core habitat for species across increasingly fragmented landscapes. Greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus, hereafter “sage-grouse”) is a species of conservation concern endemic to sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) steppe whose populations are most threatened by anthropogenic disturbance and concomitant degradation to sagebrush communities. Conservation of sage-grouse habitat is complicated by a partially-migratory annual cycle in most populations. Seasonal ranges (spring, summer/fall, and winter) may be integrated to any degree or non-overlapping. Efforts to conserve core habitat for sage-grouse have focused primarily on breeding ranges, which may not capture the needs of sage-grouse during other seasons, with winter habitat being least protected. Greater understanding of winter habitat requirements is needed to improve conservation for sage-grouse throughout their annual cycle. My thesis focused on multi-scale winter habitat ecology of greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) in the Red Desert of southcentral Wyoming, using GPS location data from winters 2018/2019, 2019/2020, and 2020/2021. My research encompassed a 1) landscape-scale validation of management guidelines for winter concentration areas as the second phase to a state-wide analysis, 2) habitat selection and behavior within home- and population-range scales as influenced by winter weather conditions, and 3) a fine-scale evaluation of microhabitat within home- and population-range scales during winter 2020/2021. My results support consideration of winter habitats in conservation plans for sage-grouse populations in rapidly changing landscapes. In Chapter 1, I conducted a systematic review of literature published in the last 46 years (1977–2022) on sage-grouse winter habitat selection and survival. Out of 32 compiled publications, I found that 59.4% of sage-grouse winter habitat literature was published in the last 10 years (2013–2022) and 53.1% of articles over the last 46 years reported avoidance of anthropogenic disturbance by sage-grouse during winter. The most recent recommendations for defining year-round priority habitat for sage-grouse recommend implementation of resource selection modeling for all seasonal periods. In Chapter 2, my research fulfilled the second phase of a larger effort to answer questions posed by the Wyoming Sage-Grouse Implementation Team, through the Winter Concentration Area Subcommittee, regarding sage-grouse winter habitat selection and response to anthropogenic disturbance. Phase 1 used existing datasets of sage-grouse GPS locations from 6 regions across Wyoming to model winter habitat selection and avoidance patterns of disturbance statewide. Results from Phase I formed the basis for developing recommendations for management of sage-grouse winter concentration areas in Wyoming. The purpose of my research in Chapter 2 was to validate results of Phase I modeling and evaluate if the statewide model accurately described sage-grouse winter habitat selection and anthropogenic avoidance in regions not considered in that modeling effort. I used 44,968 locations from 90 individual adult female grouse identified within winter habitat from winters 2018/2019, 2019/2020, and 2020/2021 in the Southern Red Desert region (my study area) for out-of-sample validation. The intent of my validations was to assess if models generated statewide or from a nearby region (Northern Red Desert) would be more effective in predicting sage-grouse habitat selection patterns in areas with little information. The statewide model better predicted sage-grouse habitat use at within-population scales and the near-region model was more predictive at within-home-range scales. I found some variation between regions and the statewide model but similar trends in environmental characteristics and avoidance of anthropogenic features even at low densities. My results from the Southern Red Desert support the recommendation from Phase 1 that anthropogenic surface disturbance should be limited to low levels (≤ 2.5%) within winter concentration areas to conserve sage-grouse winter habitat. In Chapter 3, my research focused on shifting environmental conditions that influence patterns of sage-grouse winter habitat selection. Sage-grouse are physically well adapted to winter conditions; it’s a common assumption that winter weather has little effect on sage-grouse. However, research results have varied in support of this assumption, with significant die-offs correlated to periods of extreme winter weather. My research used daily winter weather conditions to explain sage-grouse winter behavior and habitat selection. I used sage-grouse GPS locations from the Southern Red Desert over winters 2018/2019 and 2019/2020 and obtained local weather conditions for each winter from SnowModel. SnowModel used available meteorological data, landscape characteristics, and snow physics to predict weather conditions at a 30-m resolution and daily scale. By comparing habitat selection and behavior across fine temporal scales, I found that sage-grouse responded to daily weather conditions by selecting refugia habitat more than altering daily activity levels. My results suggest that, in addition to landscape features, sage-grouse selected home ranges at the population scale for warmer wind chill temperatures and greater windspeed. Within home ranges, sage-grouse appeared to respond to harsher weather (lower wind chill temperature and high wind speeds) by selecting greater sagebrush cover and leeward sides of ridges. Our research underlines the importance of examining winter habitat at narrower temporal scales than the entire winter season to identify important refugia features that may only be used periodically. Additional research into quantifying weather refugia for wintering sage-grouse populations may provide greater insight to the future sustainability of winter ranges. In Appendix A, I compared winter microhabitat characteristics at 90 sage-grouse use sites from the 2019/2020 winter with 90 available sites within the population range and 90 available sites within home ranges. I predicted habitat characteristics at grouse use locations would be more similar to paired random locations within the home range than to random locations within the population range. I also predicted that, because sage-grouse select specific habitat characteristics, there would be fewer differences when comparing random available locations between the home and population range than comparisons of used and available habitat. I found no support for my first prediction and strong support for my second prediction. Sage-grouse dung piles were 7.0- and 9.9-times higher at used locations than random locations within home and population ranges, respectively. Our results suggested that sage-grouse are highly selective for microhabitat. Sage-grouse selected areas with higher big sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) and overall canopy cover, big sagebrush height, and visual obstruction compared to random locations within home and population ranges. Our results indicate concealment cover is important to sage-grouse throughout their annual cycle.
