Lek ecology of male greater sage-grouse in Carbon County, Wyoming

Abstract

Greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus, hereafter "sage-grouse") have experienced range-wide population declines for several decades, and as a result they were considered warranted for listing under the Endangered Species Act in 2010. Therefore, wildlife managers need to understand how sage-grouse breeding behavior influences long-term reproductive success, and should be able to accurately relate sage-grouse lek count data to population sizes. Behavior during the breeding season, such as how frequently males visit their leks or move among leks, could relate to a male sage-grouse’s ability to establish dominance at his lek and mate, so it is important to understand how these behaviors may change with environmental conditions. Additionally, some males are not seen by observers performing lek counts, and it is necessary to understand why the individual may not have been seen and counted so managers can improve lek count protocols to maximize detection and relate lek count data to population abundance estimates. We investigated factors influencing the probability of attending a lek (Chapter 1), daily probabilities of moving among leks (i.e. "interlek movements", Chapter 2), and detection probabilities for males during lek counts (Chapter 3).

Citation

Fremgen, Aleshia Lynn. 2014. Lek ecology of male greater sage-grouse in Carbon County, Wyoming. Columbia, MO: University of Missouri-Columbia. 139 p. Thesis.