Greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus; sage-grouse) are a sagebrush obligate species and as such an indicator of sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) habitat quality and quantity. Sage-grouse populations have declined across western North America. This decline has been attributed to habitat loss and degradation of the sagebrush ecosystem. To determine factors that may cause localized declines in sage-grouse populations, managers may need site-specific information on the ecology and habitat use patterns of meta-populations. This information is currently lacking for sage-grouse populations that inhabit the Bear Lake Plateau and Valley (BLPV), encompassing parts of Idaho, Utah and Wyoming. I captured, radio-marked and monitored 153 sage-grouse in the BLPV from 2010–2012 to assess nest success, brood survival, mortality factors, and habitat use. Reproductive success was lower than range-wide averages, with especially low success in 2011. Nesting and brood rearing both showed higher success rates in 2012. Survival was very similar to estimates found elsewhere. Females had higher survival rates than males, and yearlings had higher survival probability than adults. Sage-grouse mortality was highest in summer and spring, and lowest in fall. Individual sage-grouse completed large scale movements, often using habitats in Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming. Important factors in sage-grouse habitat selection included distance to major road, distance to habitat edge, distance to vertical structure (i.e., communication towers, wind turbines, and transmission lines), and vegetation cover types. Sage-grouse tended to avoid major road and vertical structures (i.e., communication towers, wind turbines, and transmission lines). They also selected habitat further away from habitat edge. Vegetation types preferred by sage-grouse included shrubland habitats, wet meadows, and grassland. MaxEnt models did not place highest importance on sagebrush habitats, which are critical for sage-grouse presence. This could have occurred because the vegetation layers used in the model did not assess habitat quality. Models produced using the ten landscape variables and BLPV sage-grouse locations ranked good to excellent fits. State-defined habitat covered a larger extent than MaxEnt predicted habitat. MaxEnt predicted habitat areas may be used to further refine state identified core areas to assist in prioritization of conservation efforts to protect the BLPV sage-grouse population.

The decline of greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) populations across western North America has intensified conservation, research, and management efforts. Predator-prey interactions have been the focus of widespread scientific study, but little research has been conducted on the effects of predation and predator removal on sage-grouse ecology. This study had three main objectives: 1) identify the types of predators impacting hen survival and nest success, 2) compare the effect of predator removal on vital rates, and 3) evaluate habitat selection and movement. Over two years (2011-2012), an observational study and field experiment were used to test the effects of predation and predator removal on sage-grouse survival, nest success, and spatial ecology in Bighorn Basin, Wyoming. In year one, I quantified the impacts of predators on sage-grouse demographics and developed a basis for monitoring sage-grouse and predator populations. In year two, predator removal was modified to remove the primary nest and hen predator in this system: coyote (Canis latrans). I evaluated the impact of anthropogenic features and management on sage-grouse home range size, seasonal movement, and habitat selection for potential behavioral responses. Resource selection functions (RSFs) were used to determine habitat selection and identify differences at multiple spatial extents (seasonal and annual scales). Hen survival was improved in sites treated with coyote removal over the nesting period (P = 0.05) but no improvement was seen in annual hen survival (P = 0.19). Observed nest success was higher at the site without coyote removal (P < 0.0001). RSF modeling showed sage-grouse to be sensitive to predator removal, avoiding areas close to roads, with high well density, and steep slopes. While this study suggests predator removal does not benefit observed nest success, provides only short-term enhancement to survival, and may disrupt habitat selection, potentially benefits to other life stages could exist and be detected with more time and monitoring. By taking an experimental approach to examining the effects of predation and predator removal, this study advances our knowledge of sage-grouse ecology by identifying changes in demographic vital rates and habitat selection, propagating the best management possible for sage-grouse populations.

The Columbian sharp-tailed grouse (Tympanuchus phasianellus columbianus; CSTG) has experienced range-wide population declines, primarily as a result of habitat loss or degradation, and currently occupies <10% of its historic range. Expansion of wind energy developments across the remaining occupied CSTG range has been identified as a potential threat to the species. To assess the potential influence of wind energy development on CSTG breeding season ecology, I captured and radio-marked 135 female CSTG during 2014-2015 at leks located between 0.1-13.8 km from wind turbines in restored grassland habitats. I subsequently monitored 147 nests and 68 broods and used an information-theoretic model selection approach to assess the potential influence of wind energy distance and density variables, multi-scale habitat features, temporal factors, and precipitation on CSTG nest site selection, daily nest survival, brood success, and chick survival. The best nest site selection model suggested a positive functional response to the amount of restored grassland habitat with >30% forb cover at the nesting core use (60 ha) scale. Daily nest survival was positively associated with visual obstruction readings at the nest and the amount of restored grassland habitat containing >30% forb cover at the core use (60 ha) scale. Nest site selection and daily nest survival were not influenced by proximity to turbines or turbine density at the core use or breeding season home range (1385 ha) scales. Early (14-day) brood success was positively influenced by post-hatch precipitation and late (42-day) brood success was positively influenced by earlier hatch dates. Chick survival to 42 days post hatch was positively influenced by post-hatch precipitation and earlier hatch dates and negatively influenced by increasing densities of wind turbines at the breeding season home range scale. The probability of an individual chick surviving to 42 days decreased by 50% when there were ≥10 turbines within 2.1 km of the nest. In restored grassland habitats, such as Conservation Reserve Program fields, I recommend plantings and management practices that will result in diverse, bunchgrass-dominated nesting habitat with residual grass cover and >30% forb canopy cover during the nesting season. My results suggest that wind turbines occurring within 2.1 km of nesting habitats (i.e., 4.8 km of occupied leks) may negatively affect CSTG recruitment.

Columbian sharp-tailed grouse (Tympanuchus phasianellus columbianus: hereafter sharp-tailed grouse) populations have been declining. These declines have been attributed to a number of factors, including habitat loss due to agriculture, habitat fragmentation, overgrazing by livestock, and the loss to fire. To gather information about their status in northern Utah, I radio-marked sharp-tailed grouse in 2003 (n=15) and 2004 (n=20) in two research areas. The study areas were located on the south end of Cache County and in eastern Box Elder County. In the Cache study area, I monitored 7 males and 1 female in 2003, and 6 males and 3 females in 2004. In the Box Elder study area, I monitored 6 males in 2003 and 6 males and 5 females in 2004. I then located the radio-marked sharp-tailed grouse using telemetry and collected Visual Obstruction Readings (VOR) and vegetation data on each flush site and on a randomly selected paired point. I completed an unsupervised classification of the two study areas to determine if habitats were used more than would be expected based on availability. I then used a paired point linear regression to determine if vegetation parameters were correlated with sharp-tailed grouse on the landscape. Sagebrush in the Box Elder County study area and forbs in the Cache County study area were significantly correlated with habitat use by sharp-tailed grouse. The VOR readings were higher at the flush sites than at the paired points. The unsupervised classification showed that in Box Elder County, sagebrush was used in greater proportion than is available, while in the Cache County study area there were no habitat types that were used in greater proportion than was available on the landscape. I collected information on nest sites, nest success, broods, and mortality of these 2 populations. Nest success was 75% combined over the 2-year study, and mortality was 72% for both populations over the 2 years. Seasonal habitat use and distance travelled were determined using Global Positioning System points collected at every flush point. The distance traveled ranged from 0.9 km to 14.7 km, with the longest distance being travelled in the winter.

We estimated survival of ~ 1-day-old chicks to 42 days based on radio-marked individuals for the Parker Mountain greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) population. Chick survival was relatively high (low estimate of 0.41 and high estimate of 0.50) compared to other studies. Brood-mixing occurred for 21 % of radio-marked chicks, and within 43 % of radio-marked broods. Our study showed that brood-mixing may be an important ecological strategy for sage-grouse, because chicks that brood-mixed experienced higher survival. Additionally, modeling of chick survival suggested that arthropod abundance is important during the early brood-rearing period (1 - 21 days). We also used life-cycle modeling (perturbation analyses and Life Table Response Experiments) to assess the importance of various vital rates within this population. We determined that adult hen survival and production (chick and fledgling survival) had the most influence on growth rate. Moreover, we assessed various methods (walking, spotlight, and pointing dog) for counting sage-grouse broods. Spotlight and pointing dog methods were more effective than walking flush counts, and the latter may underestimate chick survival.

Manuscript No. 1 Translocations of greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) have been attempted in 7 states and one Canadian province with very little success. To recover a small remnant population and test the efficacy of sage-grouse translocations, we captured and transported 137 adult female sage-grouse from 2 source populations to a release site in Strawberry Valley, Utah during March-April 2003-2005. The resident population of sage-grouse in Strawberry Valley was approximately 150 breeding birds prior to the release. We radiomarked each female and documented survival, movements, reproductive effort, flocking with resident grouse, and lek attendance. We used Program MARK to calculate annual survival of translocated females in the first year after release, which averaged 0.60 (95% CI = 0.515-0.681). Movements of translocated females were within current and historic sage-grouse habitat in Strawberry Valley, and we detected no grouse outside of the study area. Nesting propensity for first (newly translocated) and second (surviving) year females was 39% and 73%, respectively. Observed nest success of all translocated females during the study was 67%. By the end of their first year in Strawberry Valley, 100% of the living translocated sage-grouse were in flocks with resident sage-grouse. The translocated grouse attended the same lek as the birds with which they were grouped. In 2006, the peak male count for the only remaining active lek in Strawberry Valley was almost 4 times (135 M) the 6-year pretranslocation (1998 − 2003) average peak attendance of 36 males (range 24 – 50 M). Translocations can be an effective management tool to increase small populations of greater sage-grouse when conducted during the breeding season and before target populations have been extirpated. Manuscript No. 2 Nesting habitat of resident greater sage-grouse in extant populations across the species range has been thoroughly described in the literature, yet very little is known about the use of nesting habitat by translocated sage-grouse. In order to better understand nesting habitat selection by translocated sage-grouse in a new environment, we trapped grouse during the spring on and near leks of source populations. We placed each female in a cardboard box and translocated them overnight to the Strawberry Valley. Each female was fitted with a radio-transmitter and released near the lek where males were actively strutting. We monitored grouse for nesting activity. We documented nesting attempts, nest success, clutch size and embryo viability. We recorded data on habitat variables associated with nest sites and paired-random sites. We used logistic regression and an a priori information theoretic approach for modeling nest versus paired-random sites and successful versus unsuccessful nest sites. Our data suggested that crown area of the nest shrub and percent grass cover were the two variables that discriminated between nest and paired-random sites. Females that nested successfully selected sites with more total shrub canopy cover, intermediate size shrub crown area, a normal distribution of aspects, and with steeper slopes than unsuccessful nests. Translocated females selected suitable nesting habitat after being moved from source populations with differing habitats. Manuscript No. 3 Equivalence testing in the field of wildlife ecology has been underutilized. Mistakenly, many researchers have concluded that two groups are the same based on failure to reject a null hypothesis of no difference. We used equivalence testing to provide preliminary evidence that resident and translocated bird movements were similar. Translocations are becoming more prominent in the field of conservation biology as a wildlife management tool. We translocated greater sage grouse into a fragmented habitat in order to conserve the metapopulation. We placed radio-transmitters on resident and translocated female greater sage grouse and used the distance moved from the release site or lek as a measure of translocation success and/or site fidelity. If translocated birds did not show site fidelity, the translocations would be judged a failure. The distributions of resident and translocated sage grouse movements for both summer and winter seasons were significantly different, primarily due to differences in the proportions of specific habitat fragments used. Equivalence tests showed that site fidelity was statistically equivalent for translocated and resident grouse,when defined as a difference of ≤3 km, both in summer and winter. In particular, translocated females traveled no farther from the release site than resident females. Equivalence testing was the statistical tool used to determine equivalence of resident and translocated sage grouse movements and thus judge preliminary translocation success.

Manuscript No. 1 Recent research has indicated that low nest success and juvenile survival of Greater Sage-Grouse may be responsible for population declines. Recent technological advances in micro-transmitters have made radio-telemetry studies on Sage-Grouse chicks more common. Radio-telemetry enables monitoring of individual chicks and broods during a critical period of their life history. The exact cause of low chick recruitment in Strawberry Valley has not been well understood. In 2006, a chick mortality study using micro-transmitters was initiated to (1) determine the causes of chick mortality, (2) calculate overall chick survival, (3) compare chick survival in the Strawberry Valley population to published reports, (4) monitor brood movements, and (5) suggest management strategies for mitigation of chick mortality. Survival data on radio-marked chicks were analyzed using a known fate model in program MARK. Chick survival in Strawberry Valley was greater than all reported estimates from other studies. Our study did not identify any unsuspected causes of chick mortality, and the cumulative effect of stressing chicks, hens, and broods was not deemed worth the benefit, especially in a population recovery setting like Strawberry Valley. We do not recommend the use of radio-telemetry on Sage-Grouse chicks in recovering or sensitive populations. Manuscript No. 2 In 2003, we began translocating Greater Sage-Grouse into the Strawberry Valley of central Utah, in an attempt to recover the dwindling population found therein. Prior to 2006 all translocated Sage-Grouse were released within 250 m of the only active lek in Strawberry Valley while males were actively strutting. A prolonged winter in 2006 delayed normal lekking activity in Strawberry Valley. As a result 61 (59%) of the 103 sage-grouse translocated in 2006 were not released near an active lek. We analyzed the influence that release timing, hen age, body mass, and source population had on mortality, flocking, and dispersal distance of translocated hens in 2006. We found that mortality and flocking rates were not influenced by release timing, hen age, body mass, or source population. Dispersal distances for hens released near a lek with actively strutting males were significantly less than distances of hens released near an inactive lek. We believe that releasing translocated Sage-Grouse near a lek with actively strutting males is an essential technique for Greater Sage-Grouse translocations. We recommend that other Sage-Grouse translocation efforts employ this method to increase the likelihood of success.

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I investigated ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus) population ecology in the southern and central Appalachians as part of the Appalachian Cooperative Grouse Research Project (ACGRP). Several hypotheses have been offered to explain the low abundance of ruffed grouse in the region including inadequate quantity of early-successional forests due to changes in land use, additive harvest mortality, low productivity and recruitment, and nutritional stress. Through the cooperative nature of the ACGRP, researchers tracked >3,000 ruffed grouse between October 1996 and September 2002 and gathered data on reproduction, recruitment, survival, and mortality factors. As part of the ACGRP My objectives were (1) estimate reproductive rates, (2) estimate survival and cause-specific mortality rates, (3) determine if ruffed grouse harvest in the Appalachian region is compensatory, and (4) estimate ruffed grouse finite population growth. Ruffed grouse population dynamics in the Appalachian region differed greatly from the core of ruffed grouse range. In general, ruffed grouse in the Appalachian region had lower productivity and recruitment, but higher survival than reported for populations in the Great Lakes and southern Canada. However, within the southern and central Appalachian region, ruffed grouse population dynamics differed between oak-hickory and mixed-mesophytic forest associations. Productivity and recruitment were lower in oak-hickory forests, but adult survival was higher than in mixed-mesophytic forests. Furthermore, ruffed grouse productivity and recruitment were more strongly related to hard mast (i.e., acorn) production in oak-hickory forests than in mixed-mesophytic forests. The leading cause of ruffed grouse mortality was avian predation (44% of known mortalities). Harvest mortality accounted for only 12% of all known mortalities and appeared to be compensatory. Population models indicate ruffed grouse populations in the Appalachian region are declining, but estimates vary greatly stressing the need for improved understanding of annual productivity and recruitment. We posit ruffed grouse in the Appalachian region exhibit a clinal population structure and changes in life-history strategies due to gradual changes in the quality of food resources, changes in snow fall and accumulation patterns, and predator communities. Recommendations are presented for habitat and harvest management and future research and management needs. / Ph. D.