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Incremental Temperature Changes for Maximal Breeding and Spawning in Astyanax mexicanus

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Broad-scale changes in lesser prairie-chicken habitat.

Megan P Vhay¹, David A Haukos², Daniel S Sullins³

¹Kansas Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas, United States of America.

|May 31, 2024

Summary

Lesser prairie-chicken populations have declined due to habitat loss. Increased human structures like oil wells and power lines may be reducing habitat quality and availability.

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Area of Science:

Ecology
Conservation Biology
Wildlife Management

Background:

Lesser prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) populations have sharply declined in the Sand Sagebrush Prairie Ecoregion since the mid-1980s.
Habitat loss and degradation are primary suspected drivers of these population declines.
Understanding landscape changes is crucial for lesser prairie-chicken conservation.

Purpose of the Study:

To reconstruct broad-scale landcover and anthropogenic changes in the Sand Sagebrush Prairie Ecoregion from 1985 to 2015.
To assess the potential impact of these changes on lesser prairie-chicken populations.
To identify landscape factors contributing to population declines.

Main Methods:

Utilized Land Change Monitoring, Assessment, and Projection (LCMAP) imagery layers to assess temporal changes in landcover types from 1985-2015.
Calculated landscape metrics to quantify habitat characteristics and changes.
Documented the presence and increase of anthropogenic structures, including oil wells, cell towers, wind farms, and electrical transmission lines.

Main Results:

Landcover type composition remained relatively stable across the Sand Sagebrush Prairie Ecoregion since 1990.
A significant increase in the density and extent of anthropogenic structures was observed.
These structures potentially led to functional habitat loss and fragmentation.

Conclusions:

While landcover composition has not drastically changed, the proliferation of anthropogenic structures is a significant landscape alteration.
Increased human infrastructure may be reducing habitat availability and quality for lesser prairie-chickens.
Anthropogenic development is a likely contributing factor to the observed population declines of the lesser prairie-chicken in this ecoregion.