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The Influence of Land Use and Fences on Habitat Effectiveness, Movements and Distribution of Pronghorn in the Grasslands of North America

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Fencing for Conservation

Abstract

The pronghorn Antilocapra americana is a grassland and shrub-steppe obligate unique to North America. The species was driven to low abundance during agricultural settlement in the West. Extensive conversion of grasslands to crop production early in the twentieth century severely reduced the availability of native habitat. Populations have partially recovered with protective legislation and the species is common again in many areas of its original range. Pronghorn are most abundant in large open native grassland landscapes. Driven by harsh winter conditions (storms and deep snow), large herds in the grasslands of the Canadian Provinces and north-western United Sates may undertake opportunistic long-distance migration to seek forage in favourable areas. In Alberta the largest recorded return movement of a doe in spring was 445 km. Cumulative changes from several types of land use continue to reduce the effectiveness of remaining habitat. Expansion of the transportation network, poorly designed fences, urban expansion, exurban development, water development and energy development are reducing the effectiveness and area of native habitat. In particular, roads combined with fences can impede or block pronghorn movements. Plans that focus on maintaining the ecological coherence of landscapes for common species like the pronghorn should benefit the conservation of other species too. We suggest that the status of pronghorn, including its abundance and distribution and relevant landscape metrics (composition, configuration and connectivity) could serve as indicators for land use and conservation planning at landscape and regional scales.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculaty of Environmental Design, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada

    C. Cormack Gates, Michael Suitor & Andrew Jakes

  2. Alberta Conservation Association, Lethbridge, AB, Canada

    Paul Jones

  3. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada

    Mark S. Boyce

  4. World Wildlife Fund, Northern Great Plains Office, Bozeman, MT, USA

    Kyran Kunkel

  5. Venture North EcoRec Enterprises Ltd, Edmonton, Canada

    Kevin Wilson

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  1. C. Cormack Gates
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  2. Paul Jones
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  7. Kevin Wilson
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Correspondence to C. Cormack Gates .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Wildlife Management, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, 0002, South Africa

    Michael J. Somers

  2. Australian Wildlife Conservancy, PO Box 432, Nichol's Point, 3501, Australia

    Matthew Hayward

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Gates, C.C. et al. (2012). The Influence of Land Use and Fences on Habitat Effectiveness, Movements and Distribution of Pronghorn in the Grasslands of North America. In: Somers, M., Hayward, M. (eds) Fencing for Conservation. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-0902-1_15

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