The Effects of Management Practices on Grassland Birds— Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) Chapter B of The Effects of Management Practices on Grassland Birds Professional Paper 1842–B U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey Cover. Greater Sage-Grouse. Photograph by Tom Koerner, 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—Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) By Mary M. Rowland1 Chapter B of The Effects of Management Practices on Grassland Birds Edited by Douglas H. Johnson,2 Lawrence D. Igl,2 Jill A. Shaffer,2 and John P. DeLong2,3 1U.S. Forest Service. 2U.S. Geological Survey. 3University of Nebraska-Lincoln (current). Professional Paper 1842–B 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: Rowland, M.M., 2019, The effects of management practices on grassland birds—Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus), chap. B 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, 50 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/pp1842B. ISSN 2330-7102 (online) iii Contents Acknowledgments .........................................................................................................................................v Capsule Statement.........................................................................................................................................1 Breeding Range..............................................................................................................................................1 Suitable Habitat ..............................................................................................................................................2 Lek Sites .................................................................................................................................................4 Nesting Habitat......................................................................................................................................5 Brood-Rearing Habitat .........................................................................................................................8 Winter Habitat .....................................................................................................................................10 Roosting, Foraging, and Loafing Habitat .........................................................................................11 Water Use ............................................................................................................................................12 Area Requirements and Landscape Associations .................................................................................12 Brood Parasitism by Cowbirds and Other Species ................................................................................14 Breeding-Season Phenology and Site Fidelity .......................................................................................14 Species’ Response to Management .........................................................................................................15 Fire .........................................................................................................................................................17 Grazing ..................................................................................................................................................19 Application of Pesticides and Herbicides ......................................................................................20 Energy and Urban Development ......................................................................................................21 Translocation .......................................................................................................................................24 Management Recommendations from the Literature ...........................................................................25 References ....................................................................................................................................................28 Figure B1. Map showing the current and historical distributions of Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) in the United States and Canada ..........................................2 Table B1. Measured values of vegetation structure and composition in Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) breeding habitat by study ....................................................47 iv Conversion Factors 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 square meter (m2) 0.0002471 acre hectare (ha) 2.471 acre square kilometer (km2) 247.1 acre square centimeter (cm2) 0.001076 square foot (ft2) square meter (m2) 10.76 square foot (ft2) square centimeter (cm2) 0.1550 square inch (ft2) hectare (ha) 0.003861 square mile (mi2) square kilometer (km2) 0.3861 square mile (mi2) Temperature in degrees Celsius (°C) may be converted to degrees Fahrenheit (°F) as °F = (1.8 × °C) + 32. Abbreviations CBM coal-bed methane CRP Conservation Reserve Program n sample size number NWR National Wildlife Refuge SE standard error SGCA Sage-Grouse Conservation Area SMZ Sage-Grouse Management Zone spp. species (applies to two or more species within the genus) ssp. subspecies WNV West Nile virus 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 Potholes Landscape Conservation Cooperative. The editors thank the following cooperators who provided access to their bibliographic files: Louis B. Best, Carl E. Bock, Brenda C. Dale, Stephen K. Davis, James J. Dinsmore, Fritz L. Knopf (deceased), Rolf R. Koford, David R.C. Prescott, Mark R. Ryan, David W. Sample, David A. Swanson, Peter D. Vickery (deceased), and John L. Zimmerman. The editors thank Darrell Pruett for his illustration of the Greater Sage-Grouse and the U.S. Geological Survey and Steve Hanser for providing the range map. The editors thank Courtney L. Amundson, Joel S. Brice, Rachel M. Bush, James O. Church, Shay F. Erickson, Silka L.F. Kempema, Emily C. McLean, Susana Rios, Bonnie A. Sample, and Robert O. Woodward for their assistance with various aspects of this effort. Sydney R. Nelson assisted in compiling literature for this account, and 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. Earlier versions of this account benefitted from insightful comments from Clait E. Braun, Jacqueline B. Cupples, Pat A. Deibert, Douglas H. Johnson, Rosalind B. Renfrew, and Brett L. Walker. The Effects of Management Practices on Grassland Birds—Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) By Mary M. Rowland1 Capsule Statement Keys to Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus uropha- sianus) management are maintenance of expansive stands of sagebrush (Artemisia species [spp.]), especially varieties of big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) with abundant forbs in the understory, particularly during spring; undisturbed and somewhat open sites for leks; and healthy perennial grass and forb stands intermixed with sagebrush for brood rearing. Within suitable habitats, areas should have 15–25 percent canopy cover of sagebrush 30–80 centimeters (cm) tall for nesting and 10–25 percent canopy cover 40–80 cm tall for brood rearing (Connelly and others, 2000b). In winter habitats, shrubs should be exposed 25–35 cm above snow and have Male and female Greater Sage-Grouse. Illustration by Darrell Pruett, used with 10–30 percent canopy cover exposed above snow. In nesting permission. and brood-rearing habitats, the understory should have at least 15 percent cover of grasses and at least 10 percent cover of forbs greater than or equal to (>) 18 cm tall. Greater Sage- Breeding Range Grouse have been reported to use habitats with 5–110 cm aver- age vegetation height, 5–160 cm visual obstruction reading, Since European settlement, the range of Greater Sage- 3–51 percent grass cover, 3–20 percent forb cover, 3–69 per- Grouse has been substantially reduced (Connelly and Braun, cent shrub cover, 7–63 percent sagebrush cover, 14–51 percent 1997; Braun, 1998; Schroeder