Summary
Forty percent of the habitat for the endangered Sonoran pronghorn (Antilocapra americana sonoriensis) in the United States is on the Barry M. Goldwater Range (BMGR), a bombing and gunnery range located in southwestern Arizona, USA. Wildlife and land managers have expressed concerns that military aircraft activity may be detrimental to Sonoran pronhom. We observed the response of Sonoran pronghorn to military jet activity from 4 vantage points, BMGR from February 1998 to June 2000. We obtained behavioral observations on 172 days and obtained 44,773 observation events (i.e., 1 observation / 30 seconds). Pronghorn were exposed to 109 direct military overflights, but only 6 were <305 m above ground level. Overall, behavior of males and females was not significantly different and the presence of military aircraft did not cause changes in behavior.
Zusammenfassung
Vierzig Prozent des Lebensraums des gefährdeten Sonora-Gabelbockes (Antilocapra americana sonoriensis) in den USA liegen auf dem Barry M. Goldwater Range (BMGR), einem militärischen Schiessplatz und Bombenzielgeländc in Südwest-Arizona. Wildbiologen und Landespfleger sind darüber besorgt, dass sich der militärische Flugbetrieb nachteilig auf die Gabelböcke auswirken könnte. Von Februar 1998 bis Juni 2000 beobachteten wir von 4 Beobachtungspunkten auf dem BMGR aus die Reaktion von Sonora-Gabelböcken auf militärischen Düsenflugbetrieb. Die Verhaltensbeobachtungen fanden an 172 Tagen statt, und es wurden 44733 Einzelbeobachtungen gesammelt (1 Bobachtung/30 Sekunden). Die Gabelböcke waren 109 direkten überflügen durch Militärflugzeuge ausgesetzt, wovon allerdings nur 6 in weniger als 305 m Höhe über dem Boden stattfanden. Insgesamt unterschied sich das Verhalten von Männchen und Weibchen nicht signifikant voneinander, und die Anwesenheit von Militärflugzeugen rief keine Verhaltensänderungen hervor.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Altmann, J., 1974: Observational study of behavior: sampling methods. Behavior49, 227–265.
Brown, D. E., 1982: Biotic communities of the American Southwest, United States and Mexico. Desert Plants4, 1–342.
DeVos, J. C., 1990: Selected aspects of Sonoran pronghorn research in Arizona and Mexico. In:Krausman, P. R., Smith, N. S. (eds). Proc. symp. on manage, wildl. in the southwest. Phoenix, Arizona, USA: Arizona Chapter of the Wildlife Society, pp. 46–52.
Hastings, J. R., Turner, R. M., 1972: The changing mile. Tucson, Arizona, USA: The University of Arizona Press.
Hughes, K. S., Smith, N. S., 1990: Sonoran pronghorn use of habitat in southwest Arizona. Tucson, Arizona, USA. Arizona Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit..
Krausman, P. R., Hervert, J. J., 1983: Mountain sheep responses to aerial surveys. Wildl. Soc. Bull.11, 372–375.
Krausman, P. R., Leopold, B. D., Scarbrough, D. L., 1986: Desert mule deer response to aircraft. Wildl. Soc. Bull.14, 68–70.
Krausman, P. R., Wallace, M. C., Hayes, C. L., DeYoung, D. W., 1998: Effects of jet aircraft on mountain sheep. J. Wildl. Manage62, 1246–1254.
Lehner, P. N., 1979: Handbook of ethological methods. Second edition. New York, New York, USA: Cambridge University Press.
Luz, G. A., Smith, J. B., 1976: Reactions of pronghorn antelope to helicopter overflights. Acoust. Soc. Amer.59, 1514–1515.
MacArthur, R. A., Johnston, R. H., Geist, V., 1979: Factors influencing heart rate in freeranging bighorn sheep: a physiological approach to the study of wildlife harassment. Can. J.Zool.57, 2010–2021.
MacArthur, R. A., Geist, V., Johnston, R. H., 1982: Cardiac and behavioral responses of mountain sheep to human disturbance. J. Wildl. Manage.46, 351–358.
Maier, J. A., Murphy, S. M., White, R. G., Smith., M. D., 1998: Responses of caribou to overflights by low-altitude jet aircraft. J. Wildl. Manage.62, 752–766.
Martin, P. R., Bateson, P., 1993: Measuring behavior. Second edition. Cambridge University Press: New York, New York, USA.
Sellers, W. D., Hill., R. H., 1974: Arizona climate 1931–1972. Second edition. Tucson, Arizona, USA: The University of Arizona Press.
United States Fish and Wildlife Service, 1997: Biological opinion for “Use of ground-surface and airspace for military training on the Barry M. Goldwater Range which may affect the endangered Sonoran pronghorn.” Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA: United States Fish and Wildlife Service.
United States Fish and Wildlife Service, 1998: Final revised Sonoran pronghorn recovery plan. Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA: United States Fish and Wildlife Service.
Weisenberger, M. E., Krausman, P. R., Wallace, M. C., DeYoung, D. W., Maughan, O. E., 1996: Effects of simulated jet aircraft noise on heart rates and behavior of desert ungulates. J. Wildl. Manage.60, 52–61.
Workman, G. W., Bunch, T. D., Call, J. W., Evans, R. C., Neilson, L. D. S., Rawlings, E. M., 1992: Sonic boom and other disturbance impacts on pronghorn antelope (Antilocapra americana). Logan, Utah, USA: Air Force Contract: F42650-87-C-0349, Utah State University.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Krausman, P.R., Harris, L.K. Military jet activity and Sonoran pronghorn. Zeitschrift für Jagdwissenschaft 48 (Suppl 1), 140–147 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02192401
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02192401