Ecology and management of midcontinent sandhill cranes
Midcontinent sandhill cranes occupy a large geographic area of central and western North America and northeastern Asia during breeding, winter, and migration. They are a species representing a unique convergence of multiple user groups with an interest in the continued health of this population. Tens of thousands of people view cranes during spring staging at the Platte River Valley in Nebraska, and hunters pursue and harvest cranes annually in most of their fall and winter range. The overall goal of this project is to provide information that will improve crane management and multiple objectives including, determination of geographic distribution, migration chronology and spring-staging ecology in the Platte River Valley, evaluation of survey methods, estimation of survival and recruitment, and population dynamics modeling. Work completed will provide better-informed harvest management strategies, opportunities for increased international conservation collaboration, conservation of crane habitats at multiple spring stopover sites, and insight into long-term monitoring of habitats and cranes.
Below are publications associated with this project.
Temporospatial shifts in Sandhill Crane staging in the Central Platte River Valley in response to climatic variation and habitat change
Animal movement models for migratory individuals and groups
Sandhill crane roost selection, human disturbance, and forage resources
Wintering Sandhill Crane exposure to wind energy development in the central and southern Great Plains, USA
Midcontinent sandhill cranes occupy a large geographic area of central and western North America and northeastern Asia during breeding, winter, and migration. They are a species representing a unique convergence of multiple user groups with an interest in the continued health of this population. Tens of thousands of people view cranes during spring staging at the Platte River Valley in Nebraska, and hunters pursue and harvest cranes annually in most of their fall and winter range. The overall goal of this project is to provide information that will improve crane management and multiple objectives including, determination of geographic distribution, migration chronology and spring-staging ecology in the Platte River Valley, evaluation of survey methods, estimation of survival and recruitment, and population dynamics modeling. Work completed will provide better-informed harvest management strategies, opportunities for increased international conservation collaboration, conservation of crane habitats at multiple spring stopover sites, and insight into long-term monitoring of habitats and cranes.
Below are publications associated with this project.