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An Analysis of Greater Prairie-Chicken Demography in Kansas

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An Analysis of Greater Prairie-Chicken Demography in Kansas AN ANALYSIS OF GREATER PRAIRIE-CHICKEN DEMOGRAPHY IN KANSAS: THE EFFECTS OF HUMAN LAND USE ON THE POPULATION ECOLOGY OF AN OBLIGATE GRASSLAND SPECIES by LANCE B. MCNEW, JR. B.S., Eastern Illinois University, 2001 M.S., Southern Illinois University, 2003 AN ABSTRACT OF A DISSERTATION submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Division of Biology College of Arts and Sciences KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY Manhattan, Kansas 2010 Abstract Greater prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus cupido) populations have been reduced by >70% since the turn of the 20th century due to large-scale conversion of native prairie habitats to cultivated agriculture and other human development. Although Kansas is considered a stronghold for greater prairie-chickens, statewide populations have declined >30% in the last 30 years. Goals of this dissertation were to determine the demographic mechanisms for apparent population declines and evaluate how regional variations in landscape composition and grassland management affect the demography, habitat use, life-history, and population viability of three populations of greater prairie-chickens. First, I found that, despite high reproductive potential, poor reproductive success prevented populations from being self-sustaining. All three populations were projected to decline but finite rates of population declines were different among populations (λ = 0.49, 0.54, and 0.74). I found that grassland fragmentation and rangeland management practices influence nearly every aspect of greater prairie-chicken population ecology and dynamics. A population in a contiguous prairie landscape managed with annual spring burning and intensive early stocking of cattle (South) was characterized by delayed breeding, low nest and brood survival (0.08–0.18 and 0.27, respectively), high annual survival of mature females (0.64–0.71), projected age-ratios heavily skewed toward adults, and longer generation times. Conversely, a population in grasslands heavily fragmented by cultivation and managed with longer fire-return intervals and moderate grazing (Smoky) initiated nests earlier, had higher nest and brood survival rates (0.16–0.31 and 0.34, respectively), produced significantly larger eggs, and had low annual survival (0.34–0.42) and shorter generation times. A site with intermediate levels of fragmentation, burning and grazing (North) had intermediate demography. Finite population change was more sensitive to changes in adult survival at all sites, but the relative influence of fecundity parameters on projected population change was not similar among study populations. Data indicate that differences in rates of decline among populations were largely due to variation in adult survival mediated by human landscape alteration. Human-mediated changes to grasslands impact the demography and viability of prairie-chicken populations, influence population sensitivities to changes in vital rates, and mediate changes in the life-history strategies of a grassland-sensitive species. AN ANALYSIS OF GREATER PRAIRIE-CHICKEN DEMOGRAPHY IN KANSAS: THE EFFECTS OF HUMAN LAND USE ON THE POPULATION ECOLOGY OF AN OBLIGATE GRASSLAND SPECIES by LANCE B. MCNEW, JR. B.S., Eastern Illinois University, 2001 M.S., Southern Illinois University, 2003 A DISSERTATION submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Division of Biology College of Arts and Sciences KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY Manhattan, Kansas 2010 Approved by: Major Professor Brett K. Sandercock Copyright LANCE B. MCNEW, JR. 2010 Abstract Greater prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus cupido) populations have been reduced by >70% since the turn of the 20th century due to large-scale conversion of native prairie habitats to cultivated agriculture and other human development. Although Kansas is considered a stronghold for greater prairie-chickens, statewide populations have declined >30% in the past 30 years. Goals of this dissertation were to determine the demographic mechanisms for apparent population declines and evaluate how regional variations in landscape composition and grassland management affect the demography, habitat use, life-history, and population viability of three populations of greater prairie-chickens. First, I found that, despite high reproductive potential, poor reproductive success prevented populations from being self-sustaining. All three populations were projected to decline but finite rates of population declines were different among populations (λ = 0.49, 0.54, and 0.74). I found that grassland fragmentation and rangeland management practices influence nearly every aspect of greater prairie-chicken population ecology and dynamics. A population in a contiguous prairie landscape managed with annual spring burning and intensive early stocking of cattle (South) was characterized by delayed breeding, low nest and brood survival (0.08–0.18 and 0.27, respectively), high annual survival of mature females (0.64–0.71), projected age-ratios heavily skewed toward adults, and longer generation times. Conversely, a population in grasslands heavily fragmented by cultivation and managed with longer fire-return intervals and moderate grazing (Smoky) initiated nests earlier, had higher nest and brood survival rates (0.16–0.31 and 0.34, respectively), produced significantly larger eggs, and had low annual survival (0.34–0.42) and shorter generation times. A site with intermediate levels of fragmentation, burning and grazing (North) had intermediate demography. Finite population change was more sensitive to changes in adult survival at all sites, but the relative influence of fecundity parameters on projected population change was not similar among study populations. Data indicate that differences in rates of decline among populations were largely due to variation in adult survival mediated by human landscape alteration. Human-mediated changes to grasslands impact the demography and viability of prairie-chicken populations, influence population sensitivities to changes in vital rates, and mediate changes in the life-history strategies of a grassland-sensitive species. Table of Contents List of Figures................................................................................................................................. x List of Tables ................................................................................................................................ xii Acknowledgements...................................................................................................................... xiv Dedication.................................................................................................................................... xvi CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................. 1 Literature Cited........................................................................................................................... 4 CHAPTER 2 - REPRODUCTIVE CHRONOLOGY AND BREEDING ECOLOGY OF GREATER PRAIRIE-CHICKENS IN KANSAS................................................................... 9 Abstract....................................................................................................................................... 9 Introduction............................................................................................................................... 10 Study Sites ................................................................................................................................ 12 Methods .................................................................................................................................... 12 Lek Attendance ..................................................................................................................... 12 Egg-laying and Incubation.................................................................................................... 13 Nest and Brood Chronology ................................................................................................. 14 Results....................................................................................................................................... 15 Lek Attendance ..................................................................................................................... 15 Timing of Clutch Initiation and Renesting ........................................................................... 16 Egg-Laying and Incubation................................................................................................... 17 Discussion................................................................................................................................. 17 Timing of Lek Attendance and Nesting................................................................................ 18 Egg-Laying and Incubation................................................................................................... 20 Acknowledgements................................................................................................................... 22 Literature Cited......................................................................................................................... 22 CHAPTER 3 - EFFECTS OF EXPERIMENTAL RANGELAND MANAGEMENT AND LANDCOVER CHANGE ON THE OCCUPANCY OF GREATER PRAIRIE-CHICKENS ..............................................................................................................................................
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