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Effects of grazing and prescribed fire on resource selection and nest survival of upland sandpipers in an experimental landscape

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Abstract

Context

Conservation of grassland vertebrates requires a mechanistic understanding of the effects of landscape heterogeneity on habitat selection and demographic performance.

Objectives

Our goal was to investigate the effects of rangeland management on resource selection and nest survival of upland sandpipers (Bartramia longicauda).

Methods

We conducted our project at Konza Prairie, a Long-Term Ecological Research site. The station has 60 experimental units with replicated grazing and fire treatments that create a heterogeneous landscape of different habitat patches. We radio-tracked sandpipers for two breeding seasons (2003–2004, n = 37 birds) and monitored sandpiper nests for eight seasons (2001–2008, n = 246 nests). We used resource utilization functions to examine resource selection with respect to five landscape features.

Results

Home ranges of sandpipers were large in contiguous prairie (\(\bar{x} = 8.4\;{\text{km}}^{ 2}\)) and explain area-sensitive occurrence in fragmented prairie. Upland sandpipers selected grazed and burned sites with short vegetation within their home range. In contrast, nest site selection was influenced by fire frequency and birds selected infrequently burned sites with greater vegetative structure. Settlement decisions affected fitness because nest survival was low in burned and grazed sites (0.068), but higher in unburned and ungrazed sites (0.201–0.247).

Conclusions

Our results raise concerns for conservation because private rangelands managed for livestock production are often homogeneous landscapes with heavy grazing and frequent fires. Rotational grazing and fire could be used to restore heterogeneity to grasslands but the duration of rotation, patch size, and optimal configuration require further investigation.

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Acknowledgments

We thank T. Adamson, J. Baumgardt, A. Crouse, C. Gregory, R. Lohnes, J.E. Mendoza, and K. Oberle for assistance with field work. Two anonymous reviewers provided helpful comments on previous versions of the manuscript. Financial support for this study included grants from the National Science Foundation for an REU Site program (DBI-0243890, DBI-0552930) and the Konza Prairie LTER program (DEB-0218210), and the University Small Research Grant program at Kansas State University. Investigators were supported by fellowships from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Ecological Genomics Institute, and the Division of Biology.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Biology, Kansas State University, 116 Ackert Hall, Manhattan, KS, 66506, USA

    Brett K. Sandercock & Ashley E. Casey

  2. Programa de Desarrollo de las Ciencias Básicas, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República, Iguá 4225, CP 11400, Montevideo, Uruguay

    Matilde Alfaro-Barrios

  3. Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, University of Wyoming, 1000 E. University Ave, Box 3166, Laramie, WY, 82071, USA

    Tracey N. Johnson

  4. Wyoming Fish and Game Department, Baggs, WY, 82321, USA

    Tony W. Mong

  5. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD, 21250, USA

    Karan J. Odom

  6. Point Blue Conservation Science, No. 11 - 3820 Cypress Drive, Petaluma, CA, 94954, USA

    Khara M. Strum

  7. Department of Biology, Benedictine College, Atchison, KS, 66002, USA

    Virginia L. Winder

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  1. Brett K. Sandercock
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Correspondence to Brett K. Sandercock.

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Sandercock, B.K., Alfaro-Barrios, M., Casey, A.E. et al. Effects of grazing and prescribed fire on resource selection and nest survival of upland sandpipers in an experimental landscape. Landscape Ecol 30, 325–337 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-014-0133-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-014-0133-9

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