Evaluation of alternative population monitoring strategies for greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) in the Parachute-Piceance-Roan population of northwestern Colorado

Evaluation of alternative population monitoring strategies for greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) in the Parachute-Piceance-Roan population of northwestern Colorado

Robust estimates of population size and population trends provide the scientific basis for managers to make appropriate and defensible recommendations regarding land-use decisions, harvest regulations, and mitigation efforts for wildlife. When linked with environmental variables, robust monitoring programs also allow managers to examine wildlife responses to disease, land-use patterns, habitat treatments, weather, ecological succession, and disturbance. However, many wildlife monitoring programs continue to use untested population indices that may not provide reliable information on population status or trends. For this reason, it is essential to evaluate alternative approaches to population monitoring in terms of estimator precision, cost, practicality, and level of disturbance. Lek counts are the primary index used by state wildlife agencies to monitor changes in greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) abundance, but lek counts rely on untested assumptions about lek attendance, detectability, inter-lek movement, sex ratio, and proportion of leks counted. Given the availability of new methodological and statistical approaches to estimate wildlife populations, it is worth comparing the performance of lek counts against other monitoring methods.

Walker, Brett L.

Brauch, J. S.

Greater sage-grouse

Parachute-Piceance-Roan (PPR) region

Wildlife management

Northwestern Colorado

various pages

2014-2016

Text

application/pdf

English

Cost Center 3420 Avian Research. Work Package 0660 Greater Sage-grouse conservation