Greater Sage-Grouse
Common
Name: Greater Sage-Grouse
(GRSG)
Scientific
Name:
Centrocercus
urophasianus
Global/Continental
Conservation Status: Not on IUCN 2004 Red List
National-level
Conservation Status:
NOT covered by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (upland game bird);
U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) - candidate (Western Sage Grouse (C.
u. phaios) only);
Canada
- Species at Risk Act (SARA) – Extirpated - (C. u. phaios); Endangered - (C.
u. uirophasianus)
Key
Reference(s):
BNA No. 425 (Schroeder 1999) NOTE: written before split of Sage
Grouse into Greater and
Gunnison
's Sage-Grouse
Distribution:
Resident locally (formerly widespread) from c Washington, Montana,
se Alberta, sw Saskatchewan, sw North Dakota, w South Dakota, and extreme
nw Nebraska south to e California, s-c Nevada, s Utah, and w Colorado,
formerly north to s British Columbia, south to n New Mexico, and southeast
to extreme w Oklahoma (AOU 1998).
Habitat
Associations:
Foothills, plains, rocky plateaus, and mountain slopes where
sagebrush is present (AOU 1998).
Source(s)
of Research/monitoring Needs: Idaho Bird Conservation
Plan; Oregon/Washington Bird Conservation Plan; Montana Bird Conservation
Plan; Canadian Action Plan (Dunn 2002); BNA No. 425 (Schroeder 1999); PIF
Monitoring Needs document (Partners in Flight Science Committee 2004)
PIF
Continental Plan Monitoring Needs Category: Mo2 (BBS trends have very
low precision)
RESEARCH/MONITORING NEEDS (source(s) of needs)
Monitoring
- Priority
monitoring action – Conduct species-specific surveys (PIF Monitoring
Needs doc); Determine how Sage Grouse can be counted accurately &
effectively (BNA)
- Other/Supplemental
Surveys
- Continue monitoring the number of male GRSG on leks as index of
population trends (
Montana
); Continue periodic assessment of Canadian population (Canadian
Action Plan)
- Causes
of population declines
- Focus of future research should be on explaining the long-term
decline in status (BNA); determine why GRSG populations are remaining
stable or declining despite availability of apparently suitable
habitat (
Montana
)
- Habitat
distribution
- Establish & compile information on extent & availability of
suitable GRSG habitat at landscape scale (
Montana
); Statewide inventory to collect baseline data on Big Sagebrush
stands (size, amount & configuration) (
Montana
)
- Identify
current GRSG occupancy of existing sagebrush shrubsteppe habitat
(focus on winter/lek complexes & movement/migration corridors (
Montana
)
- Determine
behavioral, genetic, demographic & population dynamics and
ramifications of dispersal (BNA)
- see
needs in "Effects of Management Practices"
Habitat
Needs/Ecology/Life History
- Habitat
Needs
- Determine critical habitat requirements (cover & understory
requirements) of shrubsteppe obligates including GRSG (
Idaho
, BNA); develop correlations between habitat characteristics &
GRSG uses to identify crucial habitat at landscape scale (
Montana
)
- Habitat
Change
- Determine effects of habitat alteration on GRSG; determine if
changes in plant communities are inhibiting GRSG recolonization (
Montana
)
- Determine
why females select a particular male and how important is it to
reproductive or genetic fitness? (BNA)
Effects
of Management Practices
- Effects
of livestock grazing on shrubsteppe bird communities (including GRSG)
(
Montana
)
- Determine
if GRSG are resilient enough to positively respond to use of fire to
restore ecosystem function (
Montana
)
- Determine
if continued hunting is compatible with recovery of reduced GRSG
populations (
Montana
)
- Identify
sagebrush control methods that won't effect herbaceous cover, with
focus on bird response (including GRSG) (
Montana
)
- Best
Management Practices
- Research should concentrate on info needed to optimize management
plans - including management ramifications of habitat size, quality,
distribution, & fragmentation, seasonal distribution and habitat
use, land use, and genetic & demographic associations w/ minimum
viable population size (BNA); identify economically sustainable
management that creates diversity of cover, to ensure habitat
availability for the full suite of native sagebrush/grassland species
(Canadian Action Plan); evaluate effectiveness of management and
recovery efforts (Canadian Action Plan)
Effects
of Human Development/Disturbance
- Information
on additive or compensatory relationships between hunting and natural
mortality (BNA)
Landscape
- Determine
area requirements & landscape patterns for area-sensitive species
including GRSG (Oregon/Washington)
Species
Interactions
- Test
assumption that managing sagebrush for GRSG (as an umbrella species)
will benefit other sagebrush obligates (
Montana
, Oregon/Washington)
Predation
- Determine
relationship between predation & manageable features of habitat
for GRSG (BNA)
Wintering
- See
needs in “Monitoring”
Captive
Breeding/Reintroduction
- Conduct
GRSG genetic testing to determine risks or compatibility of various
genetic stocks in reintroduction projects (
Montana
)
Demographics
- Conduct
demographic monitoring of GRSG populations to find factors influencing
nesting success (
Montana
)
- Determine
relative importance of adult survival, nest success, & survival of
young chicks (BNA)
- Determine
how biological factors (e.g., invertebrate availability) influence
GRSG production & how habitat manipulation effects invertebrate
availability (
Montana
)
Habitat
Restoration
- Identify
priority areas for restoration of sagebrush shrubsteppe habitat (
Montana
)
- Initiate
restoration of sagebrush communities in historic GRSG habitat (
Montana
)
Genetics/Taxonomy/Systematics
- Determine
if heterozygosity is a factor (BNA)
[Link
to References]
[Link
to PIF Bird Conservation Plans]
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