Gunnison Sage-Grouse
Common
Name:
Gunnison
Sage-Grouse (GUSG)
Scientific
Name:
Centrocercus minimus
Global/Continental
Conservation Status: IUCN
2004 Red List – EN (Endangered)
National-level
Conservation Status: U.S. Endangered Species Act
– candidate species; NOT covered by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act
Key
Reference(s):
Gunnison Sage-Grouse Rangewide Conservation Plan (GUSG RCP)
(currently in draft; contact: Mike
Phillips, Colorado Division of Wildlife); BNA No. 425 (Schroeder et al.
1999) NOTE: The BNA was written before Sage Grouse was split into Greater
and
Gunnison
's Sage-Grouse.
Distribution:
Gunnison sage-grouse are found in 8 counties in southwestern
Colorado
and in
San Juan County
,
Utah
. The largest population is in
Gunnison and Saguache counties,
Colorado
(GUSG RCP).
Habitat
Associations:
Sagebrush shrublands, steppe, cold desert shrub (Colorado PIF Bird
Conservation Plan)
Source(s)
of Research/monitoring Needs: Gunnison
Sage-Grouse Rangewide Conservation Plan (GUSG RCP) (currently in draft;
contact: Mike Phillips,
Colorado Division of Wildlife); PIF Monitoring Needs document (Partners in
Flight Science Committee 2004)
PIF
Continental Plan Monitoring Needs Category: **
(Long-term population trend monitoring considered adequate, but some
issues (e.g., bias) may not be accounted for)
RESEARCH/MONITORING NEEDS (source(s) of needs)
Monitoring
- Priority
monitoring action – NOTE: Current
surveys provide acceptable date at the continental level (PIF
Monitoring Needs doc)
- Second
priority monitoring action – Maintain current species-specific
surveys (PIF Monitoring Needs doc)
- Develop
better techniques for estimating populations; need calibration and
refinement of adjusted index based on counting males at leks (GUSG RCP)
Habitat Needs/Ecology/Life History
- evaluate
the effect of habitat quality and quantity on the behavior (e.g.,
reproductive success and dispersal) and population dynamics of
Gunnison Sage-Grouse (GUSG RCP)
Effects of Management Practices
- Effects
of various grazing regimes on GUSG populations; what are the best
management practices to support GUSG populations?
(GUSG RCP)
Predation
- More
information on the predators of GUSG and how they affect the GUSG pop;
are there different predators for different GUSG pops? (GUSG RCP)
Invasives/Exotics/Disease/Parasites/Contaminants
- More
information on the threats posed by West Nile Virus to GUSG (GUSG RCP)
Habitat Restoration
- Information
on the best habitat treatments to restore habitat for GUSG; how
different habitat treatments affect GUSG populations (GUSG RCP)
Genetics/Taxonomy/Systematics
- Evaluate
the effectiveness of population augmentation for maintaining genetic
diversity in each sage-grouse population (GUSG RCP)
[Link
to References]
[Link
to PIF Bird Conservation Plans]
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