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Evaluation of population monitoring strategies for greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) in northwestern Colorado

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dc.contributor.authorShyvers, Jessica E., author
dc.contributor.authorNoon, Barry R., advisor
dc.contributor.authorWalker, Brett L., advisor
dc.contributor.authorAldridge, Cameron L., committee member
dc.contributor.authorCrooks, Kevin R., committee member
dc.date.accessioned2017-09-14T16:06:04Z
dc.date.available2017-09-14T16:06:04Z
dc.date.issued2017
dc.description.abstractPopulation monitoring programs are essential for the proper management of wildlife species but, despite recent advances in methodologies, generating accurate and defensible estimates of population size and trend remains a key challenge for wildlife biologists and managers and effective monitoring programs generally require considerable resources, effort and funding. For this reason, managers often turn to the use of population indices to monitor species. The greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) is a species of conservation concern throughout its range in western North America. Since the 1950s, high counts of males at leks have been used as an index for monitoring populations and are often assumed to represent overall population trend. However, the relationship between the lek-count index and true population size is unclear, resulting from a reliance on numerous untested assumptions, and the reliability of these counts for monitoring population trend has been questioned. In addition, lek-count data do not provide information about the female population, a crucial component for assessing a population's growth potential. There is a need for development and evaluation of alternative methods to obtain reliable estimates of population trend and test assumptions underlying the lek-count index. We tested two novel methods for monitoring a small greater sage-grouse population in Northwest Colorado. We found that a large and variable proportion of the lekking male population was missing from lek-count data each year when not all leks were known and counted, the lek-count index poorly represented true annual male abundance in small populations, and the possibility of large annual variation in male-to-female sex ratio should be considered when extrapolating female abundance from male count data. Our results suggest that, while lek-count data may be useful for detecting large changes in the abundance of lekking males over time, observations of trend based on annual lek-count index data may misrepresent true population trend in relatively small populations.
dc.format.mediumborn digital
dc.format.mediumdoctoral dissertations
dc.identifierShyvers_colostate_0053A_14375.pdf
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10217/184003
dc.languageEnglish
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisherColorado State University. Libraries
dc.relation.ispartof2000-2019
dc.rightsCopyright and other restrictions may apply. User is responsible for compliance with all applicable laws. For information about copyright law, please see https://libguides.colostate.edu/copyright.
dc.subjectflock composition
dc.subjectgreater sage-grouse
dc.subjectsex ratio
dc.subjectgenetic mark-recapture
dc.subjectdual-frame surveys
dc.subjectlek-count index
dc.titleEvaluation of population monitoring strategies for greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) in northwestern Colorado
dc.typeText
dcterms.rights.dplaThis Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights (https://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/). You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).
thesis.degree.disciplineEcology
thesis.degree.grantorColorado State University
thesis.degree.levelDoctoral
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

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