Broad-scale changes in lesser prairie-chicken habitat

PLoS ONE
By: , and 

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Abstract

Lesser prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) populations of in the Sand Sagebrush Prairie Ecoregion of southwest Kansas and southeast Colorado, USA, have declined sharply since the mid-1980s. Decreased quality and availability of habitat are believed to be the main drivers of declines. Our objective was to reconstruct broad-scale change in the ecoregion since 1985 as a potential factor in population declines. We assessed temporal change from 1985–2015 in landcover types and calculated landscape metrics using Land Change Monitoring, Assessment, and Projection imagery layers. We also documented presence of anthropogenic structures including oil wells and electrical transmission lines. Landcover type composition changed little since 1990 across the Sand Sagebrush Prairie Ecoregion. However, anthropogenic structures (i.e., oil/gas wells, cell towers, wind farms, and transmission lines) notably increased, potentially causing functional habitat loss at a broad scale. Increased anthropogenic structures may have decreased habitat availability as well as the quality of existing habitat for lesser prairie-chickens, possibly contributing to recent population declines throughout the Sand Sagebrush Prairie Ecoregion.

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Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Broad-scale changes in lesser prairie-chicken habitat
Series title PLoS ONE
DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0304452
Volume 19
Issue 5
Year Published 2024
Language English
Publisher PLoS
Contributing office(s) Coop Res Unit Atlanta
Description e0304452, 20 p.
Country United States
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