Nest and Brood Site Selection and Survival of Greater Prairie-Chickens in the Eastern Sandhills of Nebraska

Greater Prairie-chickens (Tympanuchus cupido pinnata) are a grassland species of conservation concern. Although greater prairie-chickens have experienced decline over much of their range, the Nebraska Sandhills has the largest and most stable population in North America. However, the responses of nest site selection and survival to vegetation characteristics in the Sandhills is unknown. We studied prairie-chickens on private rangelands in Rock and Brown Counties from 2010 to 2011. We fitted 107 females with radio collars to examine the relationship between prairie-chickens and the habitat used for nesting in the Sandhills. Females were trapped on leks during the breeding season and we monitored them from May through July. At nest sites and random locations, we collected microscale-level vegetation structure and composition data at multiple scales to assess the effect of heterogeneity on nest site selection and survival. Plant composition was estimated by functional groups using a quadrat method and vegetation structure was measured using a Robel pole and coverboard. We identified the ecological site and plant community at each nest site. We then sampled to determine the relative availability of ecological sites and plant communities in each pasture to assess preference at a macroscale level. We also collected weather related data throughout the nesting season to assess variation in nest survival. Prairie-chicken 1 Formatted for submission to the Journal of Wildlife Management. Co-Authors: W. Schacht, L. Powell, J. Lusk, and W. Vodehnal.