Sage-grouse

The Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative (WLCI) addresses effects of land-use and habitat changes on Southwest Wyoming’s natural resources. In partnership with twelve Federal, State, and local natural resource agencies, and non-governmental organizations– FORT and ten other USGS centers are conducting dozens of integrated science projects to assess the status of Southwest Wyoming’s natural...

This goal of this study is to develop a spatially explicit habitat-population modeling framework to assess the viability of Gunnison sage-grouse and each of the seven populations (Gunnison Basin and six satellite populations).

Loss and fragmentation of sagebrush habitats are among the primary causes of decline in greater and Gunnison sage-grouse. A fundamental need for species conservation is to identify and subsequently maintain a set of connected populations. Landscape genetics combines the fields of population genetics and landscape ecology to investigate how landscape and environmental features affect connectivity...

Sagebrush ecosystems are diverse habitats found throughout western North America that support a variety of flora and fauna. Home to unique wildlife such as Sage-grouse, Sage Thrashers, Brewer's Sparrows, Ferruginous Hawks, and pygmy rabbits, these ecosystems have undergone intense changes since the time when millions of bison roamed the plains. European settlement and intense agricultural...

Increased wildfire-induced loss of sagebrush in North American shrublands are outpacing natural recovery and leading to substantial habitat loss for sagebrush-obligate species like sage-grouse. The products and information developed for this project will help restoration practitioners, biologists, and land managers evaluate the efficacy of sagebrush restoration approaches as well as their ability...

USGS and university researchers analyzed changes in male sage-grouse lek counts in Wyoming from 1984 through 2008, measuring disturbance owing to oil and gas development.

USGS scientists and partners investigated sage-grouse population trends in Wyoming and at multiple spatial scales.

US Geological Survey scientists and collaborators are using genetic information contained in sage-grouse feathers collected at leks to define the rangewide network of breeding populations.

USGS has developed Greater Sage-grouse habitat-selection models for the nesting, summer, late brood rearing, and winter life stages in Wyoming to assess habitat quality and responses change across large landscapes.