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Greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus; sage-grouse) is considered an umbrella species for sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) landscapes in western North America. In 2015, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service determined sage-grouse unwarranted for protection under the Endangered Species Act (1973) because of conservation actions in priority areas. Understanding seasonal movements is key to delineation and assessment of priority conservation areas. We monitored radiomarked sage-grouse from 1998 to 2013 throughout Utah, USA, to determine seasonal movements. Maximum distances from nearest lek to nesting, summer, and winter locations across all radiomarked grouse averaged 2.20 km (90th percentile = 5.06 km), 3.93 km (90th percentile = 8.45 km), and 3.76 km (90th percentile = 7.15 km), respectively. Maximum movements from nest to summer, nest to winter, and between summer and winter locations across all radiomarked grouse averaged 5.77 km (90th percentile = 13.60 km), 11.77 km (90th percentile = 26.36 km), and 14.75 km (90th percentile = 30.77 km), respectively. Maximum distance from lek of capture to summer locations was greater for males than females, whereas females moved farther than males from lek to winter and summer to winter locations. Adult females moved farther than yearlings from lek to nest and summer to winter areas. The state of Utah’s Sage-Grouse Management Areas included approximately 85% of the radiotelemetry seasonal locations and >95% when weighted by lek counts.Our results suggest that seasonal movements could be facilitated by increasing usable habitat space through management actions, as emphasized in Utah’s sage-grouse plan.

Dispersal can impact population dynamics and geographic variation, and thus, genetic approaches that can establish which landscape factors influence population connectivity have ecological and evolutionary importance. Mixed models that account for the error structure of pairwise datasets are increasingly used to compare models relating genetic differentiation to pairwise measures of landscape resistance. A model selection framework based on information criteria metrics or explained variance may help disentangle the ecological and landscape factors influencing genetic structure, yet there are currently no consensus for the best protocols. Here, we develop landscape‐directed simulations and test a series of replicates that emulate independent empirical datasets of two species with different life history characteristics (greater sage‐grouse; eastern foxsnake). We determined that in our simulated scenarios, AIC and BIC were the best model selection indices and that marginal R2 values were biased toward more complex models. The model coefficients for landscape variables generally reflected the underlying dispersal model with confidence intervals that did not overlap with zero across the entire model set. When we controlled for geographic distance, variables not in the underlying dispersal models (i.e., nontrue) typically overlapped zero. Our study helps establish methods for using linear mixed models to identify the features underlying patterns of dispersal across a variety of landscapes. Establishing which landscape factors influence population connectivity has ecological and evolutionary importance. In this study, we tested maximum‐likelihood population‐effects models (MLPE) and determined that AIC and BIC were the best model selection indices for correctly identifying the underlying dispersal model. Further, model coefficients for MLPE models that controlled for geographic distance best reflected the underlying dispersal model with true variables having nonzero confidence intervals across the entire model set.

Despite decades of field research on greater sage-grouse, range-wide demographic data have yet to be synthesized into a sensitivity analysis to guide management actions. We reviewed range-wide demographic rates for greater sage-grouse from 1938 to 2011 and used data from 50 studies to parameterize a 2-stage, female-based population matrix model. We conducted life-stage simulation analyses to determine the proportion of variation in population growth rate (λ) accounted for by each vital rate, and we calculated analytical sensitivity, elasticity, and variance-stabilized sensitivity to identify the contribution of each vital rate to λ. As expected for an upland game bird, greater sage-grouse showed marked annual and geographic variation in several vital rates. Three rates were demonstrably important for population growth: female survival, chick survival, and nest success. Female survival and chick survival, in that order, had the most influence on λ per unit change in vital rates. However, nest success explained more of the variation in λ than did the survival rates. In lieu of quantitative data on specific mortality factors driving local populations, we recommend that management efforts for greater sage-grouse first focus on increasing female survival by restoring large, intact sagebrush-steppe landscapes, reducing persistent sources of human-caused mortality, and eliminating anthropogenic habitat features that subsidize species that prey on juvenile, yearling, and adult females. Our analysis also supports efforts to increase chick survival and nest success by eliminating anthropogenic habitat features that subsidize chick and nest predators, and by managing shrub, forb, and grass cover, height, and composition to meet local brood-rearing and nesting habitat guidelines. We caution that habitat management to increase chick survival and nest success should not reduce the cover or height of sagebrush below that required for female survival in other seasons (e.g., fall, winter). The success or failure of management actions for sage-grouse should be assessed by measuring changes in vital rates over long time periods to avoid confounding with natural, annual variation.

Energy development in western North America has been shown to negatively influence greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) populations. No effective methods of reducing on-site impacts of energy development to greater sage-grouse are known. We investigated greater sage-grouse use of wintering habitats relative to distances to infrastructure, densities of infrastructure, and activity levels associated with infrastructure of a natural gas field over 5 years in southwestern Wyoming. We compared year-long drilling locations, locations of conventional well pads, locations of well pads with off-site condensate and produced water gathering systems (LGS), and plowed main haul roads to the number of and time associated with greater sage-grouse visits to continually monitored, distinct patches of habitat. Liquid gathering systems reduced human activity levels at producing well pads approximately 53%. We used data loggers to monitor distinct patches of habitat throughout the 2005–2006 to 2009–2010 winters and used the number of times and the amount of time individuals from a sample of greater sage-grouse (n = 236) were detected at data logger stations to model frequency and time of occurrence as functions of anthropogenic and habitat variables. Greater sage-grouse avoided suitable winter habitats in areas with high well pad densities regardless of differences in activity levels associated with well pads. Our results further suggested that greater sage-grouse avoidance of conventional well pads was stronger than LGS well pads. We found relatively consistent positive relationships between distance to infrastructure with high levels of human activity and average hours greater sage-grouse spent in an area. Greater sage-grouse avoidance of natural gas field infrastructure during the winter may be explained mechanistically as movements of individuals from areas close to high levels of activity—movements that may occur at the time human activity is experienced—followed by a lack of movement back into these areas. Minimizing the densities of well pads may reduce on-site impacts of energy development on wintering greater sage-grouse. Our study, additionally, indicated that reducing anthropogenic activity levels associated with energy developments may reduce the temporal scale of indirect greater sage-grouse winter habitat loss. © 2015 The Wildlife Society.

Sagebrush (Artemisia spp.)-dominated habitats in the western United States have experienced extensive, rapid changes due to development of natural-gas fields, resulting in localized declines of greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) populations. It is unclear whether population declines in natural-gas fields are caused by avoidance or demographic impacts, or the age classes that are most affected. Land and wildlife management agencies need information on how energy developments affect sage-grouse populations to ensure informed land-use decisions are made, effective mitigation measures are identified, and appropriate monitoring programs are implemented (Sawyer et al. 2006). We used information from radio-equipped greater sage-grouse and lek counts to investigate natural-gas development influences on 1) the distribution of, and 2) the probability of recruiting yearling males and females into breeding populations in the Upper Green River Basin of southwestern Wyoming, USA. Yearling males avoided leks near the infrastructure of natural-gas fields when establishing breeding territories; yearling females avoided nesting within 950 m of the infrastructure of natural-gas fields. Additionally, both yearling males and yearling females reared in areas where infrastructure was present had lower annual survival, and yearling males established breeding territories less often, compared to yearlings reared in areas with no infrastructure. Our results supply mechanisms for population-level declines of sage-grouse documented in natural-gas fields, and suggest to land managers that current stipulations on development may not provide management solutions. Managing landscapes so that suitably sized and located regions remain undeveloped may be an effective strategy to sustain greater sage-grouse populations affected by energy developments.

How to shape the anticipated build-out of industrial-scale renewable energy in a way that minimizes risk to wildlife remains contentious. The challenge of balancing wildlife conservation and decarbonization of the electricity sector is well illustrated in the grasslands and shrub-steppe of North America. Here, several endemic species of grouse are the focus of intensive, long-term conservation action by a host of governmental and nongovernmental entities, many of whom are now asking whether anticipated increases in the number of wind-energy facilities will exacerbate declines or prevent recovery of these species. To address this question, we synthesized the potential consequences of wind-energy development on prairie grouse. Published literature on behavior or demography of prairie grouse at wind-energy facilities is sparse, with studies having been conducted at only 5 different facilities in the United States. Only 2 of these studies met the standard for robust impact analysis by collecting preconstruction data and using control sites or gradient designs. Only one species, greater prairie chicken, had published results available for >1 facility. Most (10/12) studies also drew conclusions based on short (4 years) periods of study, which is potentially problematic when studying highly philopatric species. Given these caveats, we found that, in the short-term, adult survival and nest success appear largely unaffected in populations exposed to wind-energy facilities. However, changes in habitat use by female greater sage-grouse and female greater prairie-chicken during some seasons and reduced lek persistence among male greater prairie-chickens near wind turbines suggest behavioral responses that may have demographic consequences. Prairie grouse can coexist with wind-energy facilities in some cases, at least in the short term, but important uncertainties remain, including the potential for long-term, cumulative effects of the extensive development expected as states attempt to meet goals for generating electricity from renewable sources.

We developed rangewide population and habitat models for Greater Sage‐Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) that account for regional variation in habitat selection and relative densities of birds for use in conservation planning and risk assessments. We developed a probabilistic model of occupied breeding habitat by statistically linking habitat characteristics within 4 miles of an occupied lek using a nonlinear machine learning technique (Random Forests). Habitat characteristics used were quantified in GIS and represent standard abiotic and biotic variables related to sage‐grouse biology. Statistical model fit was high (mean correctly classified = 82.0%, range = 75.4–88.0%) as were cross‐validation statistics (mean = 80.9%, range = 75.1–85.8%). We also developed a spatially explicit model to quantify the relative density of breeding birds across each Greater Sage‐Grouse management zone. The models demonstrate distinct clustering of relative abundance of sage‐grouse populations across all management zones. On average, approximately half of the breeding population is predicted to be within 10% of the occupied range. We also found that 80% of sage‐grouse populations were contained in 25–34% of the occupied range within each management zone. Our rangewide population and habitat models account for regional variation in habitat selection and the relative densities of birds, and thus, they can serve as a consistent and common currency to assess how sage‐grouse habitat and populations overlap with conservation actions or threats over the entire sage‐grouse range. We also quantified differences in functional habitat responses and disturbance thresholds across the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (WAFWA) management zones using statistical relationships identified during habitat modeling. Even for a species as specialized as Greater Sage‐Grouse, our results show that ecological context matters in both the strength of habitat selection (i.e., functional response curves) and response to disturbance.

Population-level adaptation to spatial variation in factors such as climate and soils is critical for climate-vulnerability assessments, restoration seeding, and other ecological applications in species management, and the underlying information is typically based on common-garden studies that are short duration. Here, we show >20 yr were required for adaptive differences to emerge among 13 populations of a widespread shrub (sagebrush, Artemisia tridentata ssp wyomingensis) collected from around the western United States and planted into common gardens. Additionally, >10 yr were required for greater survival of local populations, that is, local adaptation, to become evident. Variation in survival was best explained by the combination of populations’ home ecoregion combined with grouping of minimum temperature and aridity. Additional reductions in survival were explained by ungrouped (i.e., continuous) measures of garden-to-population-origin separation in geographic distance (5% decrease in survival per 100 km increase in separation; R² = 0.22) and especially in minimum temperature in younger plants (−4% per + °C difference, R² = 0.56 vs. 0.29 in the 14th vs. 27th post-planting years, respectively). Longer-term common garden studies are needed. While we await them, uncertainty in adaptive variation resulting from short-term observations could be quantitatively estimated and reported with seed-transfer guidelines to reduce risks of introducing maladapted provenances in restoration.

We redefine and clarify procedures to classify sex and age (juveniles, yearlings, adults, and breeding-age) of greater (Centrocercus urophasianus) and Gunnison sage-grouse (C. minimus) from wings. Existing keys for greater sage-grouse age and sex classification do not incorporate more recent information on timing and sequence of molt or regional variation. We evaluated keys with the aid of gonadally inspected, hunter-harvested sage-grouse in Colorado (1973–1990) and with birds captured and measured in Washington (1992–1997) and Oregon (2008–2012). The technique is accurate and transferable among biologists who have basic training in reading a key and examining wings (primaries, secondaries, tertials, and coverts). Accurate information on sex and age of grouse, particularly during harvest, is a fundamental component of our understanding of population dynamics, which ultimately enables improved management.

In the Great Basin, coniferous trees are expanding their range at a rate higher than any other time during the Holocene. Approximately 90% of the expansion has occurred in ecosystems previously dominated by sagebrush (Artemisia spp.). Transitions from open, sagebrush steppe to woodlands are considered a threat to the greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus), a sagebrush obligate gallinaceous bird that occupies approximately 56% of its pre-European settlement distribution. Using a telemetry data set from 2010–2017 breeding seasons for a treatment area with conifer removal and an experimental control area, we assessed the efficacy of conifer removal for increasing usable space and determined relative probability of use of a landscape previously impacted by conifer expansion. Sage-grouse increasingly selected areas closer to conifer removals and were 26% more likely to use removal areas each year after removal. Sage-grouse were most likely to select areas where conifer cover had been reduced by ≤10%. The proportion of available locations having a high relative probability of use increased from 5% to 31% between 2011 and 2017 in the treatment area and locations with the lowest relative probability of use decreased from 57% to 21% over the same period. Dynamics in relative probability of use at available locations in the control area were stochastic or stable and did not demonstrate clear temporal trends relative to the treatment area. Targeted conifer removal is an effective tool for increasing usable space for sage-grouse during the breeding season and for restoring landscapes affected by conifer expansion.