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Grassland Birds—An Introduction to North American Grasslands and the Practices Used to Manage Grasslands and Grassland Birds

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Grassland Birds—An Introduction to North American Grasslands and the Practices Used to Manage Grasslands and Grassland Birds The Effects of Management Practices on Grassland Birds—An Introduction to North American Grasslands and the Practices Used to Manage Grasslands and Grassland Birds Chapter A of The Effects of Management Practices on Grassland Birds Professional Paper 1842–A U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey A E B F C G D H Cover. A, Upland Sandpiper, by Rick Bohn, used with permission. B, Burrowing Owl, by David O. Lambeth, used with permission. C, Greater Sage-Grouse, by Tom Koerner, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. D, Baird’s Sparrow, by Rick Bohn, used with permission. E, Chestnut-collared Longspur, by Rick Bohn, used with permission. F, Cattle grazing in McPherson County, South Dakota, by Lawrence D. Igl, U.S. Geological Survey. G, Hay baling and raking, by Rick Bohn, used with permission. H, Prescribed burn, by Jennifer Jewett, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Background photograph: Northern mixed-grass prairie in North Dakota, by Rick Bohn, used with permission. The Effects of Management Practices on Grassland Birds—An Introduction to North American Grasslands and the Practices Used to Manage Grasslands and Grassland Birds By Jill A. Shaffer1 and John P. DeLong1,2 Chapter A of The Effects of Management Practices on Grassland Birds Edited by Douglas H. Johnson,1 Lawrence D. Igl,1 Jill A. Shaffer,1 and John P. DeLong1,2 1U.S. Geological Survey. 2University of Nebraska-Lincoln (current). Professional Paper 1842–A U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey U.S. Department of the Interior DAVID BERNHARDT, Secretary U.S. Geological Survey James F. Reilly II, Director U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia: 2019 For more information on the USGS—the Federal source for science about the Earth, its natural and living resources, natural hazards, and the environment—visit https://www.usgs.gov or call 1–888–ASK–USGS. For an overview of USGS information products, including maps, imagery, and publications, visit https://store.usgs.gov. Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. Although this information product, for the most part, is in the public domain, it also may contain copyrighted materials as noted in the text. Permission to reproduce copyrighted items must be secured from the copyright owner. Suggested citation: Shaffer, J.A., and DeLong, J.P., 2019, The effects of management practices on grassland birds—An introduction to North American grasslands and the practices used to manage grasslands and grassland birds, chap. A of Johnson, D.H., Igl, L.D., Shaffer, J.A., and DeLong, J.P., eds., The effects of management practices on grassland birds: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1842, 63 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/pp1842A. ISSN 2330-7102 (online) iii Contents Acknowledgments .........................................................................................................................................v North American Grassland and Wetland Habitats ...................................................................................1 Characteristics of the North American Great Plains ......................................................................1 Major Ecological Forces in the Great Plains prior to European Settlement ...............................5 North American Grassland and Wetland Habitats after European Settlement ..................................7 Anthropogenic Changes to the Major Ecological Forces of Grazing and Burning ....................7 Factors Contributing to the Loss and Degradation of Grassland and Wetland Habitats ........10 Conservation of Grassland and Wetland Habitats ........................................................................15 North American Sagebrush Habitats Before and After European Settlement .................................18 Grassland Birds ............................................................................................................................................19 Use of Human-Created Grassland Habitats by Grassland Birds ................................................20 Use of Agricultural Lands by Grassland Birds ...............................................................................23 Maintaining and Managing Grasslands for Grassland Birds ...............................................................25 Factors to Consider when Choosing a Management Approach .................................................26 Restoration ...........................................................................................................................................28 Management Tools for Grasslands ..................................................................................................29 Seasonality, Intensity, and Frequency ....................................................................................30 Burning, Grazing, and Mowing ................................................................................................32 Other Management Concerns ..........................................................................................................35 Considerations in Grassland Reserve Design ................................................................................38 Predators and Brood Parasites ...............................................................................................40 Final Thoughts ..............................................................................................................................................41 Summary........................................................................................................................................................41 References ....................................................................................................................................................42 Figure A1. Map showing distribution of major grassland ecosystems in North America prior to European settlement ....................................................................................................................2 iv Conversion Factors U.S. customary units to International System of Units Multiply By To obtain Length mile (mi) 1.609 kilometer (km) International System of Units to U.S. customary units Multiply By To obtain Length centimeter (cm) 0.3937 inch (in.) meter (m) 3.281 foot (ft) kilometer (km) 0.6214 mile (mi) Area hectare (ha) 2.471 acre square kilometer (km2) 247.1 acre hectare (ha) 0.003861 square mile (mi2) square kilometer (km2) 0.3861 square mile (mi2) Mass kilogram (kg) 2.205 pound (lb) Temperature in degrees Celsius (°C) may be converted to degrees Fahrenheit (°F) as °F = (1.8 × °C) + 32. Abbreviations CRP Conservation Reserve Program DNC dense nesting cover FWS U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service NGO non-governmental organization PCP Permanent Cover Program spp. species (applies to two or more species within the genus) ssp. subspecies USDA U.S. Department of Agriculture WPA Waterfowl Production Area v Acknowledgments Major funding for this effort was provided by the Prairie Pothole Joint Venture, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the U.S. Geological Survey. Additional funding was provided by the U.S. Forest Service, the Nature Conservancy, and the Plains and Prairie Potholes Landscape Conser- vation Cooperative. We thank Peter D. Vickery for permission to use the illustration in figure 1. We thank Rachel M. Bush, Shay F. Erickson, Emily C. McLean, and Susana Rios for their assis- tance with various aspects of this effort. Lynn M. Hill and Keith J. Van Cleave, U.S. Geological Survey, acquired many publications for us throughout this effort, including some that were very old and obscure. We thank David D. Dewald, Edward S. DeKeyser, Steve R. Dyke, Kevin Kading, Jeffrey L. Printz, Christine A. Ribic, Mary M. Rowland, Karen A. Smith, and Marsha A. Sovada for information they provided. Earlier versions of this account benefitted from insightful com- ments from Deborah A. Buhl, Neal D. Niemuth, and Brian A. Tangen. Northern mixed-grass prairie. Photograph by Rick Bohn, used with permission. The Effects of Management Practices on Grassland Birds—An Introduction to North American Grasslands and the Practices Used to Manage Grasslands and Grassland Birds By Jill A. Shaffer1 and John P. DeLong1,2 North American Grassland and 1981; Trimble, 1990). A renewal of the Rocky Mountain uplift during the Tertiary Period and glaciation events that occurred Wetland Habitats about 10,000 years ago in the northern Great Plains fostered the replacement of forests by herbaceous vegetation, to the The grasslands of North America can be divided into extent of about 1.5 million square kilometers (km2) (Weaver, several major biogeographic regions, including the tallgrass, 1954; Risser and others, 1981; Axelrod, 1985; Trimble, 1990; mixed-grass, and shortgrass prairies of the Great Plains; Samson and others, 1998). Periodic drought, recurrent fires, the desert grasslands of the southwestern United States and and extensive browsing and grazing by large mammals also Mexico; the California grasslands; the Palouse prairie in the played pivotal roles in determining the distribution of grass- Intermountain Region (that is, the area between the Rocky lands and forests prior to European settlement (Sauer, 1950; Mountains and the Cascade and Sierra mountain ranges) of Axelrod, 1985). northwestern United States and British Columbia; the fescue The word prairie is often used to refer to the North prairie of northern Montana, southern Alberta,
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