MONITORING AND HABITAT MANAGEMENT FOR SPECIES OF GREATEST CONSERVATION NEED: ANDERSON COUNTY PRAIRIE PRESERVE Open-file Report No. 164 August 15, 2010 Kansas Natural Heritage Inventory and KU Field Station Kansas Biological Survey 2101 Constant Avenue Lawrence, KS 66047-3759 MONITORING AND HABITAT MANAGEMENT FOR SPECIES OF GREATEST CONSERVATION NEED: ANDERSON COUNTY PRAIRIE PRESERVE Cover Photo: Hay Meadow at Anderson County Prairie Preserve. Photo by Vaughn B. Salisbury, 2009. Citation: Busby, W. H., W. D. Kettle, J. M. Delisle, R. Moranz, S. Roels, and V. B. Salisbury. 2010. Monitoring and Habitat Management for Species of Greatest Conservation Need: Anderson County Prairie Preserve. Open-file Report No. 164. Kansas Biological Survey, Lawrence, KS. 99 pp. TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES...……………………………………………………….…...ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS..…….………………………………………………………………...iii ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................. iiv CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................. 1 1.1. PURPOSE ............................................................................................................... 1 1.2. OBJECTIVES ......................................................................................................... 2 CHAPTER 2: SITE DESCRIPTION ............................................................................................. 6 2.1. SITE DESCRIPTION ............................................................................................. 6 2.2. ECOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE SITE .................................................. 6 2.3. HISTORIC CONDITIONS ..................................................................................... 8 2.4. RECENT LAND USE AND MANAGEMENT ..................................................... 8 CHAPTER 3: METHODS ........................................................................................................... 11 3.1. PHYSICAL AND VEGETATION MONITORING ............................................ 11 3.2. MONITORING: MULT-SPECIES ANIMAL PROTOCOLS ............................. 19 3.3 MONITORING: GCN SPECIES .......................................................................... 19 3.4. HABITAT MANAGEMENT AND INVASIVE SPECIES CONTROL ............. 23 3.5. EDUCATION AND OUTREACH ....................................................................... 23 CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ........................................................................... 24 4.1. MONITORING: VEGETATION AND PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT ............ 24 4.2. MONITORING AND INVENTORY: ANIMALS .............................................. 29 4.3 SPECIES OF GREATEST CONSERVATION NEED ACCOUNTS ................. 38 4.4. HABITAT MANAGEMENT AND INVASIVE SPECIES CONTROL ............. 42 4.5. EDUCATION AND OUTREACH ....................................................................... 43 LITERATURE CITED ................................................................................................................. 44 APPENDIX A. BUTTERFLY MONITORING: REPORT FOR 2008 ....................................... 46 APPENDIX B. BUTTERFLY MONITORING: REPORT FOR 2009 ....................................... 76 i LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Tables Table 1.1. Tallgrass Prairie Species of Greatest Conservation Need……………………………..4 Table 3.1. List of forb species ......................................................................................................19 Table 4.1. Summary data for vegetative structure (vertical) for 2008 and 2009 .........................27 Table 4.2. Summary data for vegetative structure (horizontal) for 2008 and 2009 .....................28 Table 4.3. Frequency of species encountered in conservative forb surveys ................................30 Table 4.4. Greater Prairie-Chicken lek survey results .................................................................33 Table 4.5. June bird survey transect results .................................................................................34 Table 4.6. Summary data for breeding bird survey ......................................................................35 Table 4.7. Summary data for anuran calling surveys ...................................................................37 Figures Figure 1.1. Location of Anderson County Prairie Preserve ...........................................................2 Figure 1.2. Location of the Anderson County Prairie Preserve .....................................................3 Figure 2.1. Untilled landscapes of the Osage Plains/Flint Hills Ecoregion ...................................7 Figure 2.2. Map, designations and summary information for management units .........................9 Figure 3.1. Locations of repeat photography points ....................................................................12 Figure 3.2. Locations of transects for vertical structure of vegetation ........................................16 Figure 3.3. Locations of forb transects on core area ....................................................................17 Figure 3.4. Locations of forb transect on South Tract .................................................................18 Figure 3.5. Locations of forb transect on North Tract .................................................................18 Figure 3.6. Location of breeding bird transects ...........................................................................21 Figure 3.7. Route of breeding bird survey and anuran survey .....................................................22 Figure 4.1. Photopoint photos from Unit 13 (hay meadow) ........................................................25 Figure 4.2. Photopoint photos from Unit 1 (grazed) ....................................................................26 Figure 4.3. Mean values for number of conservative forbs per plot ............................................31 Figure 4.4. Locations of prairie chicken leks ...............................................................................32 Figure 4.5. Bird abundance in 2006-07 and 2008-09 ..................................................................35 ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The work for this project, ―Monitoring and Habitat Management for Species of Greatest Conservation Need: Anderson County Prairie Preserve,‖ was carried out under a subgrant (Project T-22) of the State Wildlife Grants program, a federal program through the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. It was administered by the Kansas Department of Wildlife & Parks. Special thanks to Kansas Department of Wildlife & Parks employees Carl Magnuson and Bob Culbertson. Many individuals worked on or assisted with this project, whether as field workers, preserve management staff, office support personnel or technical advisors. They include Craig Freeman, Bruce Johanning, Hillary Loring, Jim Minnerath, Galen Pittman, Gina Ross and Roger Wells. We are grateful the staff of the Kansas Chapter of the Nature Conservancy for their support and encouragement and to other property owners who gave us permission to visit their land. iii ABSTRACT Management responsibility of the Anderson County Prairie (ACP) Preserve (1370 acres), purchased by The Nature Conservancy (TNC) in 1996 - 2003, was transferred to the Kansas Biological Survey (KBS) in 2006. As part of a plan to initiate conservation management at ACP Preserve, a two-year project was undertaken with three objectives: 1) establish baseline survey and monitoring of Species of Greatest Conservation Need (GCN) and vegetation, 2) control invasive species, and 3) initiate education and outreach with local landowners and natural resource professionals. Three vegetation and habitat-related field protocols were conducted: 1) repeat photography points were established at 63 camera locations across 16 units at the Preserve; 2) vertical and horizontal components of vegetative structure were measured in uplands as a predictor of grassland bird habitat; and 3) floristic quality was measured by quantifying the distribution and abundance of conservative forbs in hay meadow and grazed units. Surveys and monitoring for 19 Species of GCN were conducted on and near the Preserve in 2008 and 2009. Grassland breeding bird abundance was measured using line transects in the core area of the Preserve. Information on summer bird populations in the area surrounding the Preserve was obtained using North American Breeding Bird Survey methodology. Anuran populations were assessed in the spring along a 15-mile driving route. Butterfly populations on and near the Preserve were inventoried with a variety of methods. For GCN Species that were not detectable with the previous methods, species specific inventories were conducted under appropriate field conditions. Overall, 13 GCN Species were documented on the Preserve and 16 GCN Species were observed in the nearby area, most associated with tallgrass prairie habitats. Eight of 12 GCN bird species appear to have healthy populations in the study area, while others, such as Greater Prairie-Chicken and Loggerhead Shrike, have small populations. Non-bird GCN Species with large populations on the Preserve and surrounding area include Crawfish Frog, Massasauga, and Regal Fritillary. Habitat and invasive species management efforts supported by this project were focused on control of the noxious weed, sericea lespedeza. A private contractor and crew surveyed about