ABSTRACT
Abstract. Sand shinnery oak (Quercus havardii) prairie is a unique ecosystem endemic to sandy soils of eastern New Mexico, northwestern Texas, and western Oklahoma. The prairie system provides important habitat and overlaps with the historic and current distribution of Lesser PrairieChickens (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus). Populations of Lesser Prairie-Chickens in sand shinnery oak prairie of the Southern Great Plains have declined substantially since the late 1980s, following conversion of nesting and brood-rearing habitat to row crop agriculture and extended periods of drought. In addition to the universal threats throughout the species distribution, populations in sand shinnery oak are susceptible to a changing climate in an ecoregion that is already an extreme environment for ground-nesting birds. Recent studies of Lesser Prairie-Chicken ecology in sand shinnery oak prairie have expanded our knowledge on the ecology and management of the species, but a thorough review of the historic and current literature is lacking. Current management guidelines focus on Lesser Prairie-Chickens in mixed-grass and sand sagebrush prairie, but recommendations are lacking for the species in sand
shinnery oak prairie. Different approaches might be required for management given the unique aspects of the vegetation community, relative ecosystem drivers, and environmental variation in sand shinnery oak prairie and recent listing of Lesser Prairie-Chickens as a threatened species under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. We provide a new synthesis of available information on the life history, habitat requirements and management, and population management for Lesser Prairie-Chickens in sand shinnery oak prairie. We also provide specific management suggestions for the species in the ecoregion and highlight current and future research needs. We focus on two recent long-term investigations into the ecology of Lesser Prairie-Chickens in the Sand Shinnery Oak Prairie Ecoregion including a 6-year population study of Lesser Prairie-Chickens in Roosevelt County, New Mexico, and Cochran, Hockley, Terry, and Yoakum counties, Texas, 2006-2012, and a 10-year vegetation dataset collected in Roosevelt County, New Mexico, 2001-2011.
