Slide deck for a woody encroachment study exploring grassland bird response to mesquite invasion. Bonus slides on CRP and gamebird habitat changes in the Great Plains.
2. Mesquite Off-year Study Update 1.Is your organization
managing for
mesquite? How can
this better inform that
work?
2.Are there other staff in
your organization that
we should include on
our mesquite outreach
in addition to the
advisory committee?
3. Mesquite Strata Effort
1. Low cover (7-13%) 35 grids
2. Mid-low (14-22%) 25 grids
3. Mid (22-29%) 15 grids
4. Mid-high (29-41%) 15 grids
5. High (41-80%) 10 grids
Mesquite Off-year Study Update
• 100 grids sampled across
three PLJV states in 2019
(NM/TX/OK)
• Spatially-balanced sampling
across five levels of mesquite
density (LANDFIRE)
• Designed to capture
thresholds of mesquite
density that lead to exclusion
of grassland birds
4. 100 grids
• 16 point-count stops
• 6 minute sampling at
each stop
• Distance, vegetation,
and bird counts
collected
• Grid-level abundance is
modeled using habitat
covariates
IMBCR Sampling Design
5. Total Area of Mesquite
Density(Birds/km)
Density(Birds/km)
Total Area of Grass
Summarize densities of I-
Plan birds in TX/NM/OK
across thresholds
(categories) of mesquite
density
Merge the mesquite
study grids with the
'baseline' IMBCR
dataset to
represent continuous
response to mesquite in
habitat models
Density(Birds/km)
7. • BCR is working on land owner contacts and hiring
technicians right now
• Mesquite land cover modeling in the works
• Initial results of mesquite analyses ready at next
winter meeting (January of 2020)
• Eastern redcedar in our Northern JV states is on-
deck (2020)
• Coordinating delivery with regional partners through
the advisory committee
Summary
& Thank You
8. Photo with permission by Tom Grey (201
1.What are the other
levers we pull to
manage for
gamebird habitat?
2.Is there interest in
tracking the non-
gamebird side of
habitat
management?
9. Habitat Condition Effect
Warm-season Grassland (w/o
shrubs) +0.17
Small grains (w/o shrubs) +0.88
Grassland (w/shrubs, w/o trees) +0.38
Row crops (w/o small grains) -0.002
Cool-season Grassland (w/o
• Tolerates range of grassland conditions, but
prefers taller grasses
• Likes landscapes with a mosaic of small
grains and grasses
• Negative response to woody encroachment
• CRP decreases will affect populations, but
not as strongly as other gamebirds
D SE
Pow
er
1.91 0.12 82%
Trend : +0.7%
10. Habitat Condition Effect
Warm-season Grassland (w/o
shrubs) -0.67
Small grains (w/o shrubs) -0.07
Grassland (w/shrubs, w/o trees) +0.55
Row crops (w/o small grains) -0.17
Cool-season Grassland (w/o
• Prefers tall grasses without small
grains or row crops
• Positive response to grassland habitat
with a shrubby component
• Assume large-scale CRP changes will
strongly affect populations
D SE
Pow
er
2.24 0.25 99%
Trend : +1%
11. Habitat Condition Effect
Warm-season Grassland (w/o
shrubs) -0.67
Small grains (w/o shrubs) -1.45
Grassland (w/shrubs, w/o trees) +5.05
Row crops (w/o small grains) +0.62
Cool-season Grassland (w/o
• Tolerates a range of grassland
conditions, but prefers short
grasses with a shrubby component
• Woody encroachment will probably
benefit scaled quail
• Large-scale CRP changes will
probably not affect quail
D SE
Powe
r
2.25 0.14 99%
Trend : +5%
12. Summary
& Thank You
• CRP work will benefit Northern bobwhite and ring-
necked pheasant
• CRP acres are declining, but there's room to be
strategic about what good CRP looks like to optimize
habitat for gamebirds
• The levers we pull on habitat will be different for
each gamebird. So will the secondary effects on
grassland birds
Editor's Notes
Good afternoon, I’d like to take the opportunity to tell you about some breeding grassland bird monitoring which is taking place in the Panhandle of NE, in BCR 18. PLJV is partnering with the Bird Conservancy of the Rockies to complete this data collection
