@article {KNZ001807,
	title = {Space use of female greater Prairie-Chickens in response to fire and grazing interactions},
	journal = {Rangeland Ecology \& Management},
	volume = {70},
	year = {2017},
	pages = {165{\textendash}174},
	abstract = {Ecological interactions between fire and grazing have shaped the evolutionary history of grassland ecosystems. Currently, grassland birds have experienced ongoing population declines, following widespread implementation of intensive rangeland management practices that reduce habitat heterogeneity. Patch-burn grazing is an alternative rangeland management strategy that promotes habitat heterogeneity and biodiversity. We conducted a 3-yr. field study in the central Flint Hills of Kansas to compare the spatial ecology of female Greater Prairie-Chickens (Tympanuchus cupido) in rangelands managed with intensive rangeland management versus patch-burn grazing. This is the first study on the effects of patch-burn grazing on the space use decisions of Greater Prairie-Chickens at the home range scale. We used seasonal estimates of home range for 6-mo breeding and nonbreeding periods, as well as resource utilization functions to investigate the response of female prairie chickens to landscape metrics describing fire, grazing, and proximity to anthropogenic structures or lek sites. In our analysis of all radio-marked females, distance to lek was consistently the strongest predictor of space use during both breeding and nonbreeding seasons. Females captured at properties managed with patch-burn grazing selected areas with low stocking rates and high fire frequencies, and they avoided recently burned areas. Our study provides new evidence that patch-burn grazing can improve grassland habitat for Greater Prairie-Chickens, an umbrella species in the tallgrass prairie ecosystem. Patch-burn grazing created preferred habitats for female Greater Prairie-Chickens, with a relatively frequent fire return interval, a mosaic of burned and unburned patches, and a reduced stocking rate in unburned areas avoided by grazers. Widespread implementation of patch-burn grazing could result in significant improvements in habitat quality for wildlife in the tallgrass prairie ecosystem.},
	keywords = {LTER-KNZ, Home range, intensive early stocking, patch-burn grazing, prescribed fire, resource utilization function, Tympanuchus cupido},
	doi = {10.1016/j.rama.2016.08.004},
	url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1550742416300720?via\%3Dihub},
	author = {Winder, Virginia L. and McNew, Lance B. and Pitman, Jim C. and Sandercock, B.K.}
}
@article {KNZ001508,
	title = {Spatial heterogeneity in habitat selection: nest site selection by Greater Prairie-Chickens},
	journal = {Journal of Wildlife Management},
	volume = {77},
	year = {2013},
	pages = {791 -801},
	abstract = {<p>Ecological relationships of animals and their environments are known to vary spatially and temporally across scales. However, common approaches for evaluating resource selection by animals assume that the processes of habitat selection are stationary across space. The assumption that habitat selection is spatially homogeneous may lead to biased inference and ineffective management. We present the first application of geographically weighted logistic regression to habitat selection by a wildlife species. As a case study, we examined nest site selection by greater prairie-chickens at 3 sites with different ecological conditions in Kansas to assess whether the relative importance of habitat features varied across space. We found that 1) nest sites were associated with habitat conditions at multiple spatial scales, 2) habitat associations across spatial scales were correlated, and 3) the influence of habitat conditions on nest site selection was spatially explicit. Post hoc analyses revealed that much of the spatial variability in habitat selection processes was explained at a regional scale. Moreover, habitat features at local spatial scales were more strongly associated with nest site selection in unfragmented grasslands managed intensively for cattle production than they were in fragmented grasslands within a matrix of farmland. Female prairie-chickens exhibited spatial variability in nest site selection at multiple spatial scales, suggesting plasticity in habitat selection behavior. Our results highlight the importance of accounting for spatial heterogeneity when evaluating the ecological effects of habitat components. \&copy; 2013 The Wildlife Society.</p>},
	keywords = {LTER-KNZ, geographically weighted regression (GWR), greater prairie-chicken, Habitat selection, nest site selection, resource selection function (RSF), Tympanuchus cupido},
	doi = {10.1002/jwmg.493},
	url = {https://wildlife.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/jwmg.493},
	author = {McNew, L.B. and Gregory, A.J. and Sandercock, B.K.}
}
@article {KNZ001407,
	title = {Effects of rangeland management on the site occupancy dynamics of prairie-chickens in a protected prairie preserve},
	journal = {Journal of Wildlife Management},
	volume = {76},
	year = {2012},
	pages = {38 -47},
	abstract = {<p>We investigated the site occupancy dynamics of greater prairie-chickens at Konza Prairie Biological Station, a protected site in northeastern Kansas that is managed for ecological research. We surveyed the site during mid-Mar to mid-May, 1981\&ndash;2008, and recorded detections of birds in a grid of 6.3\&thinsp;ha survey plots (n\&thinsp;=\&thinsp;187 plots). We used multiseason occupancy models to estimate the probabilities of occupancy (ψ) and detection (p), and tested whether land cover in woody vegetation, and land use with prescribed fire or grazing management influenced the dynamic processes of site colonization and local extinction. Probability of detection per site was consistently \&lt;1 and varied among years (p\&thinsp;=\&thinsp;0.12\&ndash;0.82). Site occupancy of prairie-chickens declined 40\% over the study period from a high of ψ\&thinsp;=\&thinsp;0.19\&thinsp;\&plusmn;\&thinsp;0.02\&thinsp;SE in 1981 to a low of 0.11\&thinsp;\&plusmn;\&thinsp;0.03 in 2008, despite protection from disturbance at leks and losses to harvest. We found that different sets of environmental factors impacted the probabilities of colonization and local extinction. Probability of colonization for an unoccupied site was negatively associated with the proportion of site occupied by woodland cover (β\&thinsp;=\&thinsp;\&minus;1.25), and was lower for grazed sites (β\&thinsp;=\&thinsp;\&minus;0.62). In contrast, probability of local extinction was affected by a weak interaction between grazing and average frequency of prescribed fire (β\&thinsp;=\&thinsp;\&minus;1.01), but model-averaged slope coefficients were not statistically different than 0. To conserve prairie-chickens, we recommend prairies be managed with combinations of prescribed fire and grazing that maintain a heterogeneous mosaic of prairie habitats, while preventing woody encroachment. To assess biotic responses to land management practices, field sampling should be based on occupancy models or similar techniques that account for imperfect detection. \&copy; 2011 The Wildlife Society.</p>},
	keywords = {LTER-KNZ, colonization, detection probabilities, greater prairie-chicken, Kansas;Konza Prairie Biological Station, local extinction, occupancy modeling, Tympanuchus cupido},
	doi = {10.1002/jwmg.237},
	url = {https://wildlife.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/jwmg.237},
	author = {McNew, L.B. and Prebyl, T.J. and Sandercock, B.K.}
}
