Swift action increases the success of population reinforcement for a declining prairie grouse

Translocations have become an increasingly valuable tool for conservation in recent years, but assessing the successfulness of translocations and identifying factors that contribute to their success continue to challenge biologists. As a unique class of translocation, population reinforcements have received relatively little attention despite representing a substantial portion of translocation programs. Here, we conducted population viability analyses to quantify the effects of 216 reinforcement scenarios on the long-term viability of four populations of Greater Prairie-Chickens (Tympanuchus cupido pinnatus) in Wisconsin, USA, and used multiple linear regression to identify factors that had the greatest relative influence on population viability. We considered reinforcements from outside of the study area in addition to translocations among Wisconsin populations. We observed the largest decreases in site-specific extinction probability and the largest increases in the number of sites persisting for 50 years when more vulnerable populations were targeted for reinforcement. Conversely, reinforcing the most stable sites caused the greatest reduction in regional extinction probability. We found that the number of translocated hens was a comparatively poor predictor of changes in long-term population viability, whereas the earlier onset of reinforcement was consistently associated with the greatest increases in viability. Our results highlight the value of evaluating alternative reinforcement strategies a priori and considering the effects of reinforcement on metrics of long-term population persistence.