2023 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Conference
March 5-7, 2023 • Cincinnati, OH
9/26/2018 | 11:40 AM - 11:55 PM | Thermal Environment of Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) Nest Sites Following Wildfire | Eccles Conference Center Auditorium
Thermal Environment of Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) Nest Sites Following Wildfire
Sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) communities have high thermal heterogeneity at fine spatial scales, thereby providing thermal options for Greater Sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus, hereafter sage-grouse). Thermal refuge may be important for nest site selection and survival as specific microclimates can protect embryos from extreme temperatures and reduce thermal stress of incubating females. At fine spatial scales, thermal environments are influenced by vegetation structure and abiotic factors. Thus, changes to vegetation structure due to wildfire could influence thermal environments for sage-grouse females that nest within the post-fire landscape which has been demonstrated with other grouse species. Our objective was to describe the thermal environments at unburned and burned nest sites and quantify thermal differences among three spatial scales: nest-bowl, nest microsites (6-m around nest), and the surrounding landscape in the Trout Creek Mountains, Oregon, USA. We modeled the thermal environments at each spatial scale based on the relationship between operative temperature and ambient temperature. Thermal variability was lower at nests sites compared to nest microsites and the landscape. Nest sites moderated temperature more than microsites and the landscape by remaining 5° C warmer when ambient temperature was 0° C and 10° C cooler when ambient temperature was 25° C. Burned and unburned nests exhibited similar thermal environments and were cooler than their respective microsites and the landscape. When ambient temperatures were >15° C, successful nests were cooler than nests that failed. Thus, sagebrush communities provide thermal refuge for sage-grouse during the breeding season and differences in thermal environments are associated with nest success.
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Presenters/Authors
Christopher Anthony
(), christopher.anthony@oregonstate.edu;
Fisheries and Wildlife
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Christian Hagen
(), Oregon State University, Christian.Hagen@oregonstate.edu;
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Dwayne Elmore
(), dwayne.elmore@okstate.edu;
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Katie Dugger
(), U.S. Geological Survey, Katie.Dugger@oregonstate.edu;
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