Ecological Minimums Required by Greater Sage-grouse

Modeling ecological minimum requirements for distribution of greater sage-grouse leks: implications for population connectivity across their western range, U.S.A.

Habitat similarity index (HSI) values for greater sage-grouse across their western range. HSI values represent the relationship of environmental values at map locations to the multivariate model of minimum requirements for sage-grouse defined by land cover, anthropogenic variables, soil, topography, and climate.

Available at:
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ece3.557/abstract

Download the document as a .pdf

Greater sage-grouse Centrocercus urophasianus (Bonaparte) currently occupy approximately half of their historical distribution across western North America. Sage-grouse are a candidate for endangered species listing due to habitat and population fragmentation coupled with inadequate regulation to control development in critical areas. Conservation planning would benefit from accurate maps delineating required habitats and movement corridors. However, developing a species distribution model that incorporates the diversity of habitats used by sage-grouse across their widespread distribution has statistical and logistical challenges. We first identified the ecological minimums limiting sage-grouse, mapped similarity to the multivariate set of minimums, and delineated connectivity across a 920,000 km2 region. We partitioned a Mahalanobis D2 model of habitat use into k separate additive components each representing independent combinations of species–habitat relationships to identify the ecological minimums required by sage-grouse. We constructed the model from abiotic, land cover, and anthropogenic variables measured at leks (breeding) and surrounding areas within 5 km. We evaluated model partitions using a random subset of leks and historic locations and selected D2 (k = 10) for mapping a habitat similarity index (HSI). Finally, we delineated connectivity by converting the mapped HSI to a resistance surface. Sage-grouse required sagebrush-dominated landscapes containing minimal levels of human land use. Sage-grouse used relatively arid regions characterized by shallow slopes, even terrain, and low amounts of forest, grassland, and agriculture in the surrounding landscape. Most populations were interconnected although several outlying populations were isolated because of distance or lack of habitat corridors for exchange. Land management agencies currently are revising land-use plans and designating critical habitat to conserve sage-grouse and avoid endangered species listing. Our results identifying attributes important for delineating habitats or modeling connectivity will facilitate conservation and management of landscapes important for supporting current and future sage-grouse populations.

Contact the Authors:

Steven T. Knick
USGS Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center
email: steve_knick@usgs.gov
telephone: 208-426-5208

Steven E. Hanser
USGS Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center
email: shanser@usgs.gov
telephone: 208-426-2892

Kristine L. Preston
Center for Conservation Biology
University of California, Riverside