Structural and functional landscape connectivity for lesser prairie-chickens in the Sand Shinnery Oak Prairie Ecoregion

Journal of Wildlife Management
By: , and 

Links

Abstract

The lesser prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) is a species of conservation concern on the Southern High Plains of Texas and New Mexico, USA. Because fragmentation and isolation have increased since pre-settlement, dispersal through this heterogeneous landscape may be constrained, with serious implications for conservation and management of this species. Our objectives were to quantify landscape connectivity for lesser prairie-chickens within a patch network of potentially isolated leks (breeding display grounds), and examine effects of land use change on modeled lesser prairie-chicken movements through the landscape. We used graph theory to quantify structural landscape connectivity and circuit theory to quantify functional landscape connectivity for lesser prairie-chickens in the Sand Shinnery Oak Prairie Ecoregion of the Southern High Plains. There was a high degree of clustering among leks (n = 1,023 leks), with a 41.9-km coalescence distance of the network. We identified 3 leks as cutpoints within the network, meaning if the habitat patches containing these leks were fragmented, the remaining leks would become isolated from each other. We also identified several leks that were important for maintaining overall population connectivity for lesser prairie-chickens on the Southern High Plains. Conservation Reserve Program land was important for maintaining connectivity among leks to the north and west of the main lek core area located in New Mexico, but wind energy development constrained pathways to the north and south of this main lek core area. Our results suggest that landscape connectivity was reduced by row-crop agriculture and energy production and facilitated by the Conservation Reserve Program within the Sand Shinnery Oak Prairie Ecoregion.

Study Area

Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Structural and functional landscape connectivity for lesser prairie-chickens in the Sand Shinnery Oak Prairie Ecoregion
Series title Journal of Wildlife Management
DOI 10.1002/jwmg.22146
Volume 86
Issue 1
Year Published 2022
Language English
Publisher The Wildlife Society
Contributing office(s) Coop Res Unit Atlanta
Description e22146, 17 p.
Country United States
State New Mexico, Texas
Other Geospatial Sand Shinnery Oak Prairie ecoregion
Google Analytic Metrics Metrics page
Additional publication details