ABSTRACT
Abstract. Lesser Prairie-Chickens (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) inhabit a wide range of landscape types and environmental conditions on the Southern Great Plains. Populations experience dynamic and frequently extreme environmental conditions, and require large areas of habitat to persist, with estimates of 486 to 20,234 ha necessary for persistence. The currently occupied range has been estimated to be 15% of the perceived historical range, but extant populations of Lesser Prairie-Chickens likely represent much of the historical core areas. Despite population density estimates ranging from <1 to >50 birds/km2, little is known about the carrying capacity of habitats for Lesser PrairieChickens. Lesser Prairie-Chickens select habitats based on vegetation structure rather than composition, requiring mid-and tall grasses and shrubs of greater stature than the vegetation of the shortgrass prairie of the High Plains. In the western portion of their range, Lesser Prairie-Chickens are restricted to the sandy soils that support shrubs and other taller vegetation within the shortgrass prairie matrix. Habitat quality rather than quantity is likely the driver of recent population trends of Lesser Prairie-Chickens. Nest success, annual survival, and home range size can be used to assess habitat quality across the species’ range. Diet information for Lesser Prairie-Chickens is sparse and more than 30 years old, but indicates selection for invertebrates by chicks and adults
throughout much of the annual cycle. Lek sites or communal display grounds, where males display for females, are a focal point for habitat use by both sexes of Lesser Prairie-Chickens, perhaps more so than for other species of prairie grouse. Nest-site selection is primarily related to visual obstruction and height of vegetation structure, rather than plant composition. Few data are available relative to habitat use by broods, but forbs are an important component. The importance of free water to Lesser Prairie-Chickens remains unknown but increasing evidence suggests that access to water is important during drought conditions. Information on habitat use during the nonbreeding season is limited, but indicates selection for residual grass cover. We hypothesize that habitat quality in the form of vegetation structure, habitat patch size and configuration, and food resources are the current dominant limiting factors interacting to exert ecological resistance on the demography and distribution of populations of Lesser Prairie-Chickens. Management practices to increase habitat quality need to be assessed at appropriate spatial and temporal scales for incorporation into an adaptive habitat management framework.
