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Effects of pyric herbivory on prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus spp) habitat

The reduction and simplification of grasslands has led to the decline of numerous species of grassland fauna, particularly grassland-obligate birds. Prairie-chickens (Tympanuchus spp.) are an example of obligate grassland birds that have declined throughout most of their distribution and are species...

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Autores principales: Starns, Heath D., Fuhlendorf, Samuel D., Elmore, Robert D., Twidwell, Dirac, Thacker, Eric T., Hovick, Torre J., Luttbeg, Barney
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7310702/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32574224
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0234983
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author Starns, Heath D.
Fuhlendorf, Samuel D.
Elmore, Robert D.
Twidwell, Dirac
Thacker, Eric T.
Hovick, Torre J.
Luttbeg, Barney
author_facet Starns, Heath D.
Fuhlendorf, Samuel D.
Elmore, Robert D.
Twidwell, Dirac
Thacker, Eric T.
Hovick, Torre J.
Luttbeg, Barney
author_sort Starns, Heath D.
collection PubMed
description The reduction and simplification of grasslands has led to the decline of numerous species of grassland fauna, particularly grassland-obligate birds. Prairie-chickens (Tympanuchus spp.) are an example of obligate grassland birds that have declined throughout most of their distribution and are species of conservation concern. Pyric herbivory has been suggested as a land management strategy for enhancing prairie-chicken habitat and stabilizing declining population trends. We assessed differences in vegetation structure created by pyric herbivory compared to fire-only treatments to determine whether pyric herbivory increased habitat heterogeneity for prairie-chickens, spatially or temporally. Our study was performed at four sites in the southern Great Plains, all within the current or historic distribution of either lesser (T. pallidicinctus), greater (T. cupido), or Attwater’s (T. cupido attwateri) prairie-chickens. Key vegetation characteristics of grass cover and vegetation height in pyric herbivory and fire-only treatments were within the recommended range of values for prairie-chickens during their distinct life history stages. However, patches managed via pyric herbivory provided approximately 5% more forb cover than fire-only treatments for almost 30 months post-fire. Additionally, pyric herbivory extended the length of time bare ground was present after fires. Pyric herbivory also reduced vegetation height and biomass, with mean vegetation height in pyric herbivory treatments lagging behind fire-only treatments by approximately 15 months. Canopy cover in fire-only treatments exceeded levels recommended for prairie-chicken young within 12 months post-fire. However, canopy cover in pyric herbivory treatments never exceeded the maximum recommended levels. Overall, it appears that pyric herbivory improves vegetation characteristics reported as critical to prairie-chicken reproduction. Based on our results, we suggest pyric herbivory as a viable management technique to promote prairie-chicken habitat in the southern Great Plains, while still accommodating livestock production.
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spelling pubmed-73107022020-06-26 Effects of pyric herbivory on prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus spp) habitat Starns, Heath D. Fuhlendorf, Samuel D. Elmore, Robert D. Twidwell, Dirac Thacker, Eric T. Hovick, Torre J. Luttbeg, Barney PLoS One Research Article The reduction and simplification of grasslands has led to the decline of numerous species of grassland fauna, particularly grassland-obligate birds. Prairie-chickens (Tympanuchus spp.) are an example of obligate grassland birds that have declined throughout most of their distribution and are species of conservation concern. Pyric herbivory has been suggested as a land management strategy for enhancing prairie-chicken habitat and stabilizing declining population trends. We assessed differences in vegetation structure created by pyric herbivory compared to fire-only treatments to determine whether pyric herbivory increased habitat heterogeneity for prairie-chickens, spatially or temporally. Our study was performed at four sites in the southern Great Plains, all within the current or historic distribution of either lesser (T. pallidicinctus), greater (T. cupido), or Attwater’s (T. cupido attwateri) prairie-chickens. Key vegetation characteristics of grass cover and vegetation height in pyric herbivory and fire-only treatments were within the recommended range of values for prairie-chickens during their distinct life history stages. However, patches managed via pyric herbivory provided approximately 5% more forb cover than fire-only treatments for almost 30 months post-fire. Additionally, pyric herbivory extended the length of time bare ground was present after fires. Pyric herbivory also reduced vegetation height and biomass, with mean vegetation height in pyric herbivory treatments lagging behind fire-only treatments by approximately 15 months. Canopy cover in fire-only treatments exceeded levels recommended for prairie-chicken young within 12 months post-fire. However, canopy cover in pyric herbivory treatments never exceeded the maximum recommended levels. Overall, it appears that pyric herbivory improves vegetation characteristics reported as critical to prairie-chicken reproduction. Based on our results, we suggest pyric herbivory as a viable management technique to promote prairie-chicken habitat in the southern Great Plains, while still accommodating livestock production. Public Library of Science 2020-06-23 /pmc/articles/PMC7310702/ /pubmed/32574224 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0234983 Text en © 2020 Starns et al http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Starns, Heath D.
Fuhlendorf, Samuel D.
Elmore, Robert D.
Twidwell, Dirac
Thacker, Eric T.
Hovick, Torre J.
Luttbeg, Barney
Effects of pyric herbivory on prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus spp) habitat
title Effects of pyric herbivory on prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus spp) habitat
title_full Effects of pyric herbivory on prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus spp) habitat
title_fullStr Effects of pyric herbivory on prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus spp) habitat
title_full_unstemmed Effects of pyric herbivory on prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus spp) habitat
title_short Effects of pyric herbivory on prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus spp) habitat
title_sort effects of pyric herbivory on prairie-chicken (tympanuchus spp) habitat
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7310702/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32574224
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0234983
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