2017 America's Grasslands Conference Proceedings
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AmericA’s GrAsslAnds conference UNITED FOR GRASSLAND CONSERVATION PROCEEDINGS OF THE FOURTH BIENNIAL CONFERENCE on the Conservation of ameriCa’s Grasslands novemBer 15-17, 2017 • fort Worth, texas FOURTH BIENNIAL CONFERENCE ON THE CONSERVATION OF AMERICa’s Grasslands: Conference Proceedings 1 AmericA’s GrAsslAnds conference: United for GrAsslAnd conservAtion PROCEEDINGS OF THE FOURTH BIENNIAL CONFERENCE ON THE CONSERVATION OF AMERICa’s Grasslands November 15-17, 2017 Fort Worth, Texas Edited by Lekha Knuffman, National Wildlife Federation Published September 2018 by National Wildlife Federation Suggested citation: Knuffman, L., ed. 2018. America’s Grasslands Conference: United for Grassland Conservation. Proceedings of the 4th Biennial Conference on the Conservation of America’s Grasslands. November 15-17, 2017, Fort Worth, TX. Washington, DC: National Wildlife Federation. Cover photo: Jaime Gonzalez National Wildlife Federation 1200 G Street, NW, Suite 900 Washington, D.C. 20005 www.nwf.org 2 FOURTH BIENNIAL CONFERENCE ON THE CONSERVATION OF AMERICa’s Grasslands: Conference Proceedings CONTENTS INTRODUCTION TO THE PROCEEDINGS.................................................1 Organizing Committee, Texas Planning Committee, Conference Co-chairs, Co-hosts, Sponsors........................... 2 KEYNOTE AND PLENARY SPEAKERS.....................................................3 State of America’s Grasslands: Recent Conversion and Research Frontiers........................................................3 Tyler J. Lark, University of Wisconsin-Madison ...............................................4 Jerry Doan, Black Leg Ranch Regenerating Soil Health to Benefit Wildlife, the Bottom Line, and Quality of life PRESENTATIONS AND POSTERS...........................................................7 1. traCkinG the threats, drivers, and status of Conversion OF GRASSLANDS...............................................................................7 .............7 Anne Gage, World Wildlife Fund ShiftingTracking Priorities Cropland for Conversion North American in the Great Grassland Plains Conservation and Quantifying....................................................................... the Benefits of Conserving Grassland 9 Joanna Grand, National Audubon Society Farmers’ Motivations for Land Conversion in the Prairie Pothole Region of North and South Dakota..................10 David Hennessy, Michigan State University Collaborative Adaptive Rangeland Management: A Model for Grasslands Conservation?...................................14 Ted Toombs, Environmental Defense Fund Understanding and Addressing Threats on National Grasslands: A Review of Forest Service Research...............14 Deborah M. Finch, USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station The Rangeland Vegetation Simulator: A Decision Support Tool for Monitoring and Projecting Grassland Conditions...............................................................................................................................14 Paulette L. Ford, USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station 2. GrazinG and manaGement..........................................................18 Upland Bare Ground and Riparian Vegetative Cover Under Strategic Grazing Management, Continuous Stocking and Multi-year Rest in New Mexico Mid-grass Prairie......................................................................18 Rick Danvir, Western Landowners Alliance Simulated Impacts of Grazing Management Practices on Restoration of Key Ecosystem Services.......................19 Srinivasulu Ale, Texas A&M AgriLife Research Ducks Unlimited’s Cover Crop & Livestock Integration Project - A Working Lands Approach to Conservation......21 Tanner Gue, Ducks Unlimited, Great Plains Regional Office, Bismarck ND Simulated Impacts of Grazing Management Practices on Restoration of Key Ecosystem Services.......................19 Srinivasulu Ale, Texas A&M AgriLife Research Ducks Unlimited’s Cover Crop & Livestock Integration Project - A Working Lands Approach to Conservation......21 Tanner Gue, Ducks Unlimited, Great Plains Regional Office, Bismarck ND Bird’s Herds, and Stewards: Sustainable Working Lands for the Future..........................................................24 Cheryl Mandich, American Bird Conservancy 3. southern Plains Prairie restoration.......................................28 The Southeastern Grasslands Initiative (SGI): Dedicated to Preserving and Rebuilding America’s Forgotten Southeastern Grasslands...........................................................................................................28 Dwayne Estes, Austin Peay State University and Botanical Research Institute of Texas FOURTH BIENNIAL CONFERENCE ON THE CONSERVATION OF AMERICa’s Grasslands: Conference Proceedings ii The Texas Coastal Exchange–Restoring Ecology, Land, and Soil at a Scale that Matters.....................................28 Jim Blackburn, Rice University Invasive Grass Species at Well Pads in South Texas......................................................................................30 Forrest Cobb, Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute The Effects of Soil Amendment Use on an Urban Prairie Reconstruction in Texas............................................34 Heather Bass, Botanical Research Institute of Texas The State of Native Seeds in Texas.............................................................................................................36 Forrest S. Smith, Texas Native Seeds Program, Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute, Texas A&M University-Kingsville Mesquite Savanna-Texas Wintergrass Complex: Best Management Practices for Conversion to Native Warm Season Grasses .............................................................................................................................39 Darrel B. Murray, Tarleton State University North Texas Tallgrass Prairie Remnant Conservation; Urgency and Focus.......................................................41 Ken Steigman, University of North Texas .............................................................41 Megan Clayton, Texas A&M AgriLife Etension Service GrazingUsing Goals Management and Profitability and Winter to Determine Stockpiling What of Warm to Plant Season in Pastures Grasses in the Southern Plains .........................42 Brandon Carr, USDA-NRCS 4. Grassland dePendent Wildlife.................................................44 Working Lands, Conservation and Cooperation: Agricultural Grasslands and Grassland Birds in Ontario, Canada......................................................................................................................................44 Paul G.R. Smith, Ontario Ministry of Agriclulture, Food and Rural Affairs Home Range and Habitat Use of Baird’s and Grasshopper Sparrows in the Marfa Grasslands, Texas...................47 Denis Josefina Perez-Ordonez Borderlands Research Institute Sul Ross State University Global Reduction in Greenhouse Gas Emissions Diminishes Climate Change Vulnerability of Grassland Birds in North America............................................................................................................................48 Chad Wilsey, National Audubon Society Bird and Mammalian Carnivore Response to Plague in Prairie Dog Colonies...................................................48 Reesa Yale Conrey, Colorado Parks and Wildlife ................................50 Jeff Gagnon, Arizona Game and Fish Department Use of GPS Collared Pronghorn to Inform Fence Modification Efforts in Northern Arizona ............................51 Paul F. Jones, Alberta COnservation Association Evaluating the Use of Modified Fence Sites by Pronghorn in the Northern Sagebrush Steppe 5. Grasslands and Pollinators....................................................53 All Hands on Deck: Conserving a Flagship Species.......................................................................................53 Laura Lukens & Kyle Lasten, Monarch Joint Venture Mid-America Monarch Conservation Strategy.............................................................................................54 Claire Beck and Ed Boggess, MAFWA Providing Urban Planners with Tools to Position Grassland Habitats for Social and Ecological Values................54 Gwen White, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service ......................................................................................................57 Ryan Diener, Pheasants Forever, Inc. & Quail Forever TheUSD AEff Practicesects of Cattle that BenefitGrazing Pollinators on Prairie Pollinators and Floral Resources: A Review.........................................58 Ray Moranz, Xerces Society 6. Conservation strateGies & CollaBorative PartnershiPs........ 59 Recovering the American Serengeti in the Southern Plains...........................................................................59 Nicole Rosmarino, Southern Plains Land Trust A Community-based Approach to Conserving North Dakota’s Badlands.........................................................62 Martha Kauffman, World Wildlife Fund, Northern Great Plains Program iii FOURTH BIENNIAL CONFERENCE ON THE CONSERVATION OF AMERICa’s Grasslands: Conference Proceedings Thirty Years of Species Conservation Banking in the U. S.: Comparing Policy to Practice...................................64 Ted Toombs, Environmental Defense Fund Native First - A Native Vegetaion Standard for the Conservation Title of the Farm Bill......................................64 Jeff Hodges, National Bobwhite Conservation