Function over form: The benefits of aspen as surrogate brood‐rearing habitat for greater sage‐grouse
Abstract Species of conservation concern are often habitat specialists, posing significant risk to those species when specific plant communities are threatened. As a result, practitioners habitually focus conservation efforts on these communities while ignoring ecological mechanisms that explain the...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2024-12-01
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| Series: | Ecosphere |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.70060 |
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| author | Michel T. Kohl Charles P. Sandford Paul C. Rogers Renee Chi Terry A. Messmer David K. Dahlgren |
| author_facet | Michel T. Kohl Charles P. Sandford Paul C. Rogers Renee Chi Terry A. Messmer David K. Dahlgren |
| author_sort | Michel T. Kohl |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Species of conservation concern are often habitat specialists, posing significant risk to those species when specific plant communities are threatened. As a result, practitioners habitually focus conservation efforts on these communities while ignoring ecological mechanisms that explain the wildlife–plant relationships. In doing so, practitioners may overlook alternative vegetation communities that could maintain wildlife populations under alternative conditions (e.g., climate change). Here, we term these areas surrogate habitat, defined as vegetation communities or resource sites that provide similar critical resources as conventional sites, and assess their potential for conservation using a case study of greater sage‐grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) on Parker Mountain, Utah (1998–2009). Sage‐grouse are a sagebrush‐obligate species and a species of conservation concern. Range‐wide conservation efforts have long emphasized management of seasonal habitats within semiarid sagebrush ecosystems, specifically management of mesic or wet meadow sites that provide brood‐rearing habitat required for population persistence. Despite this requirement, no conventional mesic habitat exists on Parker Mountain, yet it supports one of Utah's largest sage‐grouse populations. Rather, the Parker sagebrush system abuts quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) stands that may provide brood‐rearing habitat analogous to wet meadow sites. It is unclear, however, to what extent sage‐grouse use these aspen stands because sage‐grouse commonly avoid tall structures (e.g., trees) and their associated avian predators. Thus, we tested whether (1) sage‐grouse selected for surrogate habitat (i.e., aspen edge) and (2) selection behaviors related to surrogate habitat had demographic effects on the population. As we predicted, sage‐grouse selected for these areas, and the sage‐grouse that spent increased time closer to aspen edges did not experience increased mortality. Together, this demonstrates that the aspen–sagebrush edge provided a surrogate for the wet meadows used by other populations. More broadly, this suggests that conservation practitioners should move beyond simplistic wildlife–habitat associations toward a more holistic view of animal ecology focused on the wildlife–resource association, an approach that becomes particularly useful in areas where conventional obligate habitat may be degraded or lost. This work also implores us to examine alternative habitat potential rather than applying one‐size‐fits‐all models to threatened species conservation. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-db9fec5f6cb24e53a54e9d053f918e1c |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2150-8925 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecosphere |
| spelling | doaj-art-db9fec5f6cb24e53a54e9d053f918e1c2025-01-27T14:51:33ZengWileyEcosphere2150-89252024-12-011512n/an/a10.1002/ecs2.70060Function over form: The benefits of aspen as surrogate brood‐rearing habitat for greater sage‐grouseMichel T. Kohl0Charles P. Sandford1Paul C. Rogers2Renee Chi3Terry A. Messmer4David K. Dahlgren5Warnell College of Forestry and Natural Resources University of Georgia Athens Georgia USADepartment of Wildland Resources Utah State University Logan Utah USAEcology Center Utah State University Logan Utah USABureau of Land Management Headquarters Salt Lake City Utah USAIndependent Researcher Logan Utah USADepartment of Wildland Resources Utah State University Logan Utah USAAbstract Species of conservation concern are often habitat specialists, posing significant risk to those species when specific plant communities are threatened. As a result, practitioners habitually focus conservation efforts on these communities while ignoring ecological mechanisms that explain the wildlife–plant relationships. In doing so, practitioners may overlook alternative vegetation communities that could maintain wildlife populations under alternative conditions (e.g., climate change). Here, we term these areas surrogate habitat, defined as vegetation communities or resource sites that provide similar critical resources as conventional sites, and assess their potential for conservation using a case study of greater sage‐grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) on Parker Mountain, Utah (1998–2009). Sage‐grouse are a sagebrush‐obligate species and a species of conservation concern. Range‐wide conservation efforts have long emphasized management of seasonal habitats within semiarid sagebrush ecosystems, specifically management of mesic or wet meadow sites that provide brood‐rearing habitat required for population persistence. Despite this requirement, no conventional mesic habitat exists on Parker Mountain, yet it supports one of Utah's largest sage‐grouse populations. Rather, the Parker sagebrush system abuts quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) stands that may provide brood‐rearing habitat analogous to wet meadow sites. It is unclear, however, to what extent sage‐grouse use these aspen stands because sage‐grouse commonly avoid tall structures (e.g., trees) and their associated avian predators. Thus, we tested whether (1) sage‐grouse selected for surrogate habitat (i.e., aspen edge) and (2) selection behaviors related to surrogate habitat had demographic effects on the population. As we predicted, sage‐grouse selected for these areas, and the sage‐grouse that spent increased time closer to aspen edges did not experience increased mortality. Together, this demonstrates that the aspen–sagebrush edge provided a surrogate for the wet meadows used by other populations. More broadly, this suggests that conservation practitioners should move beyond simplistic wildlife–habitat associations toward a more holistic view of animal ecology focused on the wildlife–resource association, an approach that becomes particularly useful in areas where conventional obligate habitat may be degraded or lost. This work also implores us to examine alternative habitat potential rather than applying one‐size‐fits‐all models to threatened species conservation.https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.70060Artemisia spp.Centrocercus urophasianusmesicPopulus tremuloidessagebrush obligatesurrogate habitat |
| spellingShingle | Michel T. Kohl Charles P. Sandford Paul C. Rogers Renee Chi Terry A. Messmer David K. Dahlgren Function over form: The benefits of aspen as surrogate brood‐rearing habitat for greater sage‐grouse Ecosphere Artemisia spp. Centrocercus urophasianus mesic Populus tremuloides sagebrush obligate surrogate habitat |
| title | Function over form: The benefits of aspen as surrogate brood‐rearing habitat for greater sage‐grouse |
| title_full | Function over form: The benefits of aspen as surrogate brood‐rearing habitat for greater sage‐grouse |
| title_fullStr | Function over form: The benefits of aspen as surrogate brood‐rearing habitat for greater sage‐grouse |
| title_full_unstemmed | Function over form: The benefits of aspen as surrogate brood‐rearing habitat for greater sage‐grouse |
| title_short | Function over form: The benefits of aspen as surrogate brood‐rearing habitat for greater sage‐grouse |
| title_sort | function over form the benefits of aspen as surrogate brood rearing habitat for greater sage grouse |
| topic | Artemisia spp. Centrocercus urophasianus mesic Populus tremuloides sagebrush obligate surrogate habitat |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.70060 |
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