Predicting Greater Prairie-Chicken Lek Site Suitability to Inform Conservation Actions

PloS One
Torre J HovickJames C Pitman

Abstract

The demands of a growing human population dictates that expansion of energy infrastructure, roads, and other development frequently takes place in native rangelands. Particularly, transmission lines and roads commonly divide rural landscapes and increase fragmentation. This has direct and indirect consequences on native wildlife that can be mitigated through thoughtful planning and proactive approaches to identifying areas of high conservation priority. We used nine years (2003-2011) of Greater Prairie-Chicken (Tympanuchus cupido) lek locations totaling 870 unique leks sites in Kansas and seven geographic information system (GIS) layers describing land cover, topography, and anthropogenic structures to model habitat suitability across the state. The models obtained had low omission rates (<0.18) and high area under the curve scores (AUC >0.81), indicating high model performance and reliability of predicted habitat suitability for Greater Prairie-Chickens. We found that elevation was the most influential in predicting lek locations, contributing three times more predictive power than any other variable. However, models were improved by the addition of land cover and anthropogenic features (transmission lines, roads, and oil and ...Continue Reading

References

Jan 9, 2004·Nature·Chris D ThomasStephen E Williams
Jan 24, 2004·The Quarterly Review of Biology·A Townsend Peterson
Jun 9, 2009·Conservation Biology : the Journal of the Society for Conservation Biology·Christin L PruettDonald H Wolfe
Dec 18, 2009·Ecological Applications : a Publication of the Ecological Society of America·Hall SawyerJon S Horne
Mar 15, 2011·Environmental Management·Catherine S Jarnevich, Murray K Laubhan
Mar 30, 2011·PloS One·Enfeng WangResham Bhattacharya
Mar 19, 2014·Conservation Biology : the Journal of the Society for Conservation Biology·Lance B McNewBrett K Sandercock
Mar 1, 2004·Wildlife Society Bulletin·Christian A HagenTerry Z Riley

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Citations

Jun 24, 2020·PloS One·Heath D StarnsBarney Luttbeg

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Software Mentioned

ArcGIS
Maxent
ArcToobox
ArcToolbox

Related Concepts

Related Feeds

Ataxia telangiectasia (MDS)

Ataxia telangiectasia is a rare neurodegenerative diseases caused by defects in the ATM gene, which is involved in DNA damage recognition and repair pathways. Here is the latest research on this autosomal recessive disease.