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Does Wyoming’s Core Area Policy Protect Winter Habitats for Greater Sage-Grouse?

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Abstract

Conservation reserves established to protect important habitat for wildlife species are used world-wide as a wildlife conservation measure. Effective reserves must adequately protect year-round habitats to maintain wildlife populations. Wyoming’s Sage-Grouse Core Area policy was established to protect breeding habitats for greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus). Protecting only one important seasonal habitat could result in loss or degradation of other important habitats and potential declines in local populations. The purpose of our study was to identify the timing of winter habitat use, the extent which individuals breeding in Core Areas used winter habitats, and develop resource selection functions to assess effectiveness of Core Areas in conserving sage-grouse winter habitats in portions of 5 Core Areas in central and north-central Wyoming during winters 2011–2015. We found that use of winter habitats occured over a longer period than current Core Area winter timing stipulations and a substantial amount of winter habitat outside of Core Areas was used by individuals that bred in Core Areas, particularly in smaller Core Areas. Resource selection functions for each study area indicated that sage-grouse were selecting habitats in response to landscapes dominated by big sagebrush and flatter topography similar to other research on sage-grouse winter habitat selection. The substantial portion of sage-grouse locations and predicted probability of selection during winter outside small Core Areas illustrate that winter requirements for sage-grouse are not adequately met by existing Core Areas. Consequently, further considerations for identifying and managing important winter sage-grouse habitats under Wyoming’s Core Area Policy are warranted.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the American Colloid Company, the Wyoming Sage-Grouse Conservation Fund of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department; Bates Hole, Big Horn Basin, Southwest, South-Central and Wind River/Sweetwater River Local Sage-Grouse Working Groups; the Margaret and Sam Kelly Ornithological Research Fund; and the Wyoming Wildlife and Natural Resource Trust for supporting other facets of this research. We thank K. Lawson for assistance with spatial analyses. This work would not have been possible without the help of many research technicians who assisted with captures. We thank three anonymous reviewers for providing comments and improving earlier versions of our paper.

Funding

Funding for this analysis was provided by the State of Wyoming Legislature through the Wyoming Wildlife and Natural Resource Trust on behalf of the Wyoming Sage-Grouse Implementation Team.

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  1. Department of Ecosystem Science and Management, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Wyoming, Dept. 3354, 1000 E University Ave, Laramie, WY, 82071, USA

    Kurt T. Smith, Jeffrey L. Beck & Aaron C. Pratt

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  1. Kurt T. Smith
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  2. Jeffrey L. Beck
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Correspondence to Kurt T. Smith.

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Smith, K.T., Beck, J.L. & Pratt, A.C. Does Wyoming’s Core Area Policy Protect Winter Habitats for Greater Sage-Grouse?. Environmental Management 58, 585–596 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-016-0745-8

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