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Columbian sharp-tailed grouse nesting ecology: wind energy and habitat |
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| Authors: | Matt Proett Shane B Roberts Jon S Horne David N Koons Terry A Messmer |
| Institution: | 1. Idaho Department of Fish and Game, 4279 Commerce Circle, Idaho Falls, ID, 83401 USA
E-mail: matt.proett@idfg.idaho.gov;2. Idaho Department of Fish and Game, 600 South Walnut, Boise, ID, 83716 USA;3. Idaho Department of Fish and Game, 3316 16th Street, Lewiston, ID, 83501 USA;4. Department of Wildland Resources, Utah State University, 5230 Old Main Hill, Logan, UT, 84322 USA Current address: Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology, Colorado State University, 1474 Campus Delivery, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA;5. Department of Wildland Resources, Jack H. Berryman Institute, Utah State University, 5230 Old Main Hill, Logan, UT, 84322 USA |
| Abstract: | The rapid pace of wind-energy development has increased stakeholder concerns regarding the potential effects on wildlife. Locations targeted for wind-energy development frequently overlap prairie grouse and greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) habitats. Research suggests that anthropogenic developments may have negative effects on these species. There is, however, no information published regarding the effect of wind-energy development on Columbian sharp-tailed grouse (Tympanuchus phasianellus columbianus), a subspecies that has twice been petitioned for Endangered Species Act protection. To address this need, from 2014 to 2015 we studied Columbian sharp-tailed grouse nesting ecology across restored grasslands in eastern Idaho, USA, where a 215-turbine wind-energy complex had been developed. We monitored 147 nests from 135 females captured at leks 0.1–13.8 km from wind turbines. We used an information-theoretic approach to evaluate the influence of wind-energy infrastructure and habitat characteristics on nest-site selection and daily nest survival. We did not detect any influence of wind-energy infrastructure on nest-site selection or nest survival. Nest-site selection and daily nest survival were influenced by vegetation structure and composition measured at 2 spatial scales. Females selected nest sites with more restored grassland containing >30% forb cover within the nesting core-use area (i.e., 60 ha around the nest) and exhibited a functional response to the availability of that land cover type. Daily nest survival was best predicted by visual obstruction at the nest site and the amount of restored grassland containing >30% forb cover within the nesting core-use area. We recommend wildlife managers continue to implement management practices that will provide bunchgrass-dominated grasslands with >30% forb cover in restored grasslands (e.g., Conservation Reserve Program fields) within Columbian sharp-tailed grouse range. © The Wildlife Society, 2019 |
| Keywords: | Columbian sharp-tailed grouse Conservation Reserve Program habitat Idaho nest selection nest success Tympanuchus phasianellus columbianus wind energy |