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Sharp-tailed Grouse increase site use after prescribed fire but not mechanical treatments during the fall

Charlotte Roy,John Giudice,L. Shartell

Published 2024 in Avian Conservation and Ecology

ABSTRACT

. In the Great Lakes Region, Sharp-tailed Grouse ( Tympanuchus phasianellus ) use open habitats of grass and brush that require frequent management. Wildlife managers expressed concern that Sharp-tailed Grouse were not responding to management throughout the year, so we examined responses to prescribed fire and mechanical treatment (mowing or shearing) conducted during the fall. We surveyed Sharp-tailed Grouse use and vegetation at 15 mechanical treatments, 10 prescribed burns, and 25 control sites in a before-after-control-impact-paired design. We surveyed Sharp-tailed Grouse use before management, and one week, one month, one year, and three years after management by conducting fecal pellet surveys along transects at each site. Sharp-tailed Grouse responses, as indicated by differences between fecal pellet counts at treatments and paired controls during each survey, increased following prescribed fire, but did not change after mechanical treatments. However, increased Sharp-tailed Grouse use following prescribed fire was temporary, thus management should be conducted at least once every three years at each site. Changes in vegetation metrics at managed sites were also temporary and most metrics returned to pre-treatment levels after one year, although shrub height at sites that received mechanical treatments and the forb response following prescribed fire persisted for > 3 years. We suggest that fall prescribed fire is more effective at increasing Sharp-tailed Grouse use of sites than fall mechanical treatment, which could be due to differences in vegetation

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