2022 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Virtual Conference
March 13 - 15, 2022
9/25/2018 | 5:15 PM - 5:30 PM | Greater Sage-Grouse Habitat and Demographic Response to Grazing by Non-Native Ungulates | Eccles Conference Center Auditorium
Greater Sage-Grouse Habitat and Demographic Response to Grazing by Non-Native Ungulates
Within the Great Basin of the Western United States, management discussions regarding the impacts of grazing by livestock and feral horses on Greater Sage-grouse often focus on the negative impacts to habitat, and how the sage-grouse populations will respond in turn. While the linkage between sage-grouse demographics and habitat is well documented, quantifying the direct impacts of non-native grazing on sage-grouse has been fraught with difficulties. Our research was conducted in areas where livestock and feral horses have been removed, as well as areas with a gradient of different grazing intensities by both. Grazing intensity during the breeding season of sage-grouse was estimated by integrating aerial transect data targeting horses, records of livestock permitted, and feces data of both horses and livestock. Using Bayesian models that incorporate uncertainty from each component of our data, we found little evidence that grouse are avoiding areas with high intensities of grazing. Likewise, there was little support for an effect of grazing on nest survival in either the contemporary or historic datasets. Within the contemporary dataset, we observed lower chick survival rates in areas that had higher grazing intensities of horses only, livestock only, and combinations of both. When evaluating long term trends, we found evidence for increased adult survival since the removal of livestock grazing. These results suggest that high intensities of grazing are negatively impacting sage-grouse populations, and will help to inform recommendations for land managers issuing grazing permits or managing feral horses.
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Presenters/Authors
Phillip Street
(), pstreet@cabnr.unr.edu;
Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology
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Tessa Behnke
(), tbehnke@nevada.unr.edu;
Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology
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Michael Gregg
(), mike_gregg@fws.gov;
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James Sedinger
(), jsedinger@cabnr.unr.edu;
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