A multispecies approach to manage effects of land cover and weather on upland game birds

• Published in: Ecology and evolution 2020-12, Vol.10 (24), p.14330-14345
• Main Authors: Schindler, Alexander R., Haukos, David A., Hagen, Christian A., Ross, Beth E.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Abundance; Agricultural land; Agriculture; Bird populations; Birds; Chickens; Climate change; Conservation; Environmental effects; Environmental factors; Grasslands; Habitats; Land cover; land cover change; Land use; Landscape; Native species; Optimization; Original Research; Population decline; Poultry; Precipitation; Species; threshold models; upland game birds; Weather; weather change; Wildfowl
• ISSN: 2045-7758; 2045-7758
• DOI: 10.1002/ece3.7034

Loss and degradation of grasslands in the Great Plains region have resulted in major declines in abundance of grassland bird species. To ensure future viability of grassland bird populations, it is crucial to evaluate specific effects of environmental factors among species to determine drivers of population decline and develop effective conservation strategies. We used threshold models to quantify the effects of land cover and weather changes in "lesser prairie‐chicken" and "greater prairie‐chicken" (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus and T. cupido, respectively), northern bobwhites (Colinus virginianus), and ring‐necked pheasants (Phasianus colchicus). We demonstrated a novel approach for estimating landscape conditions needed to optimize abundance across multiple species at a variety of spatial scales. Abundance of all four species was highest following wet summers and dry winters. Prairie chicken and ring‐necked pheasant abundance was highest following cool winters, while northern bobwhite abundance was highest following warm winters. Greater prairie chicken and northern bobwhite abundance was also highest following cooler summers. Optimal abundance of each species occurred in landscapes that represented a grassland and cropland mosaic, though prairie chicken abundance was optimized in landscapes with more grassland and less edge habitat than northern bobwhites and ring‐necked pheasants. Because these effects differed among species, managing for an optimal landscape for multiple species may not be the optimal scenario for any one species. We quantified the effects of land cover and weather changes in Galliformes in Kansas. We found evidence of nonlinear, threshold effects of land cover change in abundance of all four focal species, suggesting that the presence of both grassland and cropland is important in the landscape to simultaneously maintain these populations.