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Grasslands of Western Kansas, North of the Arkansas River*

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Grasslands of Western Kansas, North of the Arkansas River* CHAPTER FOURTEEN Grasslands of Western Kansas, North of the Arkansas River* David K. Dahlgren, Randy D. Rodgers, R. Dwayne Elmore, and Matthew R. Bain Abstract. Lesser Prairie-Chickens (Tympanuchus pal- Prairie-Chickens in the region will be best accom- lidicinctus) occur in short-grass and mixed-grass plished by maintaining current habitat and provide prairies and associated grasslands restored management tools, guidelines, etc. and imple- through the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) ment, recommend management practices, such north of the Arkansas River in Kansas. The Short- as grazing, prescribed fire, herbicide application, Grass Prairie/CRP Mosaic Ecoregion currently and prairie restoration, to improve habitat quality supports ~65% of the range-wide population of at smaller spatial scales. The ecoregion has been Lesser Prairie-Chickens. CRP lands provide impor- only recently occupied by substantial numbers of tant grassland habitats, especially nesting and Lesser Prairie-Chickens, and new data are needed brood-rearing areas for breeding Lesser Prairie- to develop conservation and management plans. Chickens. A combination of implementation of Current knowledge gaps include information on CRP grasslands at a landscape scale and favorable population demographics, limiting factors, habi- environmental conditions is thought to have led tat use and seasonal movements at various scales, to a significant increase in the occupied range habitat management techniques, energy develop- and population density of Lesser Prairie-Chickens ment impacts, and climate change. Additionally, in the ecoregion. Spring lek surveys since 1999 improved land use policies are needed for long- have documented the northern expansion of the term protection of habitat within the region, observed distribution of Lesser Prairie-Chickens beyond the typical duration of 10–15 years for in 2008, 2011, and 2012. An expanding distribu- CRP contracts. If conservation goals are met, the tion has led to the development of a contact zone ecoregion north of the Arkansas River in Kansas of sympatry between Lesser Prairie-Chickens and could continue to remain a stronghold for the Greater Prairie-Chickens (T. cupido). Hybridization Lesser Prairie-Chicken in the future. between the two congeneric species has been doc- umented and is currently estimated to occur at a Key Words: Conservation Reserve Program, habi- rate of ~5%. The potential effects of hybridization tat management, hybrid, Kansas, Short-Grass on the genetic structure of Lesser Prairie-Chickens Prairie/CRP Mosaic Ecoregion, sympatric range, are poorly understood. Conservation of Lesser Tympanuchus pallidicinctus. * Dahlgren, D. K., R. D. Rodgers, R. D. Elmore, and M. R. Bain. 2016. Grasslands of Western Kansas, North of the Arkansas River. Pp. 259–279 in D. A. Haukos and C. W. Boal (editors), Ecology and conservation of Lesser Prairie-Chickens. Studies in Avian Biology (no. 48), CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL. 259 he Short-Grass Prairie/Conservation Before European settlement, the ecoregion was Reserve Program (CRP) Mosaic Ecoregion a landscape of generally flat short-grass prairie T lies on the eastern extent of the short-grass interspersed with mixed-grass prairie and small prairie and the transition to mixed-grass prairie tracts of sand sagebrush (Artemisia filifolia) prai- in western Kansas, north of the Arkansas River rie along some drainages and unique soil types. (Figure 14.1). The short-grass prairie is unique Playas or small ephemeral wetlands were histori- to the western edge of the Great Plains abutting cally a common feature across this area, espe- the eastern front range of the Rocky Mountains cially within the large expanse of flat “table” (Samson and Knopf 1996). Short-grass prairie lands (Haukos and Smith 1994). Following extends into the western quarter of Kansas, and European settlement, much of the extant prai- the area is often referred to as the northern High ries were cultivated and playas were incorporated Plains (Shiflet 1994). Mixed-grass prairie also into larger crop fields. Center-pivot irrigation occurs in the region, especially along the east- systems became widespread in the 1960s and ern edge of the distribution of Lesser Prairie- 1970s, allowing farmers to tap into the Ogallala Chickens (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) in Kansas, but Aquifer to provide season-long water supply for also as inclusions further west (Kansas Native increased crop production. The use of ground- Plant Society 2014). McDonald et al. (2014) and water revolutionized agriculture in the area, even Van Pelt et al. (2013) have described the area as during periods of drought. During the 1960s to the Short-Grass Prairie/CRP Mosaic Ecoregion for the 1980s, large areas of prairies were again bro- Lesser Prairie-Chickens, and the name describes ken and plowed as a result of this advancement in the gradient of grassland types found in the agricultural technology (Waddell and Hanzlick ecoregion. 1978, Sexson 1980). N Nebraska Arkansas River LEPC distribution 2000 LEPC distribution 2008 LEPC distribution 2011 Current LEPC distribution States Colorado Kansas Downloaded by [David Dahlgren] at 13:51 03 March 2016 New Mexico Oklahoma Figure 14.1. Changes in the distribution of Lesser Prairie-Chickens (LEPC) in Kansas and Colorado since the early 2000s. Spring lek surveys were conducted by the Colorado Parks and Wildlife, Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks, and Tourism, and partners and resulted in multiple northward changes in distribution boundaries during the past decade (also see Figure 14.3). Distributional limits and dates represent where and when biologists officially moved the known boundar- ies for the species distribution, but not necessarily how Lesser Prairie-Chicken were using the landscape in real time. 260 STUDIES IN AVIAN BIOLOGY NO. 48 Haukos and Boal Plant cover and vegetative structure of native Kansas differed from other states by requir- short-grass prairie are not generally consid- ing seed mixes to resemble native mixed-grass ered suitable habitat for the life cycle of Lesser and tall-grass communities, which increased Prairie-Chickens (Hagen et al. 2004). For potential habitat, reduced landscape frag- example, Lesser Prairie-Chickens tend to select mentation, and resulted in increased popu- plant heights and visual obstruction for nesting lation abundance and occupancy of Lesser cover much greater than the habitats provided Prairie-Chickens (Rodgers 1999, Fields 2004, by typical short-grass communities (Hagen Rodgers and Hoffman 2005, Fields et al. 2006; et al. 2004). In other parts of their range, Lesser Figure 14.2). Prairie-Chickens often use shrub-dominated The objectives of our chapter are to (1) pro- landscapes that provide needed vegetation vide a synthesis of known ecological informa- structure in semiarid environments (Chapters tion regarding Lesser Prairie-Chickens and their 15 and 17, this volume). Historically, the sand habitat requirements in the short-grass, mixed- sagebrush and mixed-grass prairies along the grass, and CRP prairie complex of the ecoregion; larger drainages in this region may have pro- (2) consider distribution changes and northern vided habitat for Lesser Prairie-Chickens. It expansion in the ecoregion since the early 2000s; is unknown what proportion of the eastern (3) provide insights regarding the sympatric dis- short-grass and western mixed-grass regions tributions of Lesser and Greater Prairie-Chickens in Kansas were historically occupied by Lesser (Tympanuchus cupido) and evidence for hybridiza- Prairie-Chickens or how densities varied among tion; (4) provide management recommendations vegetation types (Hagen 2003). However, vol- specific to the ecoregion; and (5) describe the untary conversion of cropland into perennial most important research and information needs grass cover through the Conservation Reserve that are still needed for Lesser Prairie-Chickens Program of the U.S. Department of Agriculture within the Short-Grass Prairie/CRP Mosaic has improved habitat conditions. The state of Ecoregion. Nebraska Current LEPC distribution Kansas Downloaded by [David Dahlgren] at 13:51 03 March 2016 Figure 14.2. Vegetative land cover at the northern extent of the range of Lesser Prairie-Chickens (LEPC) in Kansas. Light gray represents grasslands, black represents Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) cover in 2005, and white represents cropland. The interspersion of CRP and grassland seems to be important to prairie chickens in this ecoregion. The area includes a contact zone where Lesser and Greater Prairie-Chickens are sympatric (see Figure 14.3). GRASSLANDS of WESTERN KANSAS, NORTH of THE ARKANSAS RIVER 261 CHARACTERISTICS OF THE tall- and midgrass species, including the follow- GRASSLAND–CRP MOSAIC ing: big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii), little blue- stem, Indian grass (Sorghastrum nutans), switchgrass The Short-Grass Prairie/CRP Mosaic Ecoregion (Panicum virgatum), and sideoats grama, with occa- is in a rain shadow of the Rocky Mountains and sional additions of western wheatgrass, blue far removed from the moist influence of the grama, and buffalograss. Forbs were included in Gulf of Mexico. The environment is typically CRP seeding mixes for new contracts beginning semiarid with most precipitation falling as rain with the 1996 Federal Agriculture Improvement during the warm growing season. The average and Reform Act (Farm Bill), and most mixes annual precipitation ranges from 28 to 51 cm, commonly included a variety of native forbs: with amounts increasing
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