Rangeland Ecology & Management

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MOVEMENTS AND HABITAT USE OF PRONGHORN IN THE PANHANDLE AND TRANS-PECOS ECOREGIONS OF TEXAS.
Author
Ward, Caroline L.
DeYoung, Randy
Hewitt, David G.
Fulbright, Timothy E.
Gray, Shawn S.
Perotto-Baldivieso, Humberto L.
Publisher
Society for Range Management
Publication Year
2016
Body

Pronghorn antelope (Antilocapra americana) have large home ranges and are capable of making long-distance movements. Fences and highways are known to influence pronghorn movements. However, little is known about seasonal movements or habitat use in the high plains. We are studying pronghorn habitat use and movements in a mosaic of irrigated agriculture, livestock production, and open shrub and grassland in the Panhandle and Trans-Pecos ecoregions of Texas. We captured and fitted 50 pronghorn in 2014 with Global Positioning System (GPS) collars at two sites in the Panhandle. Locations were recorded from April to September 2014, resulting in 103,334 locations total. Preliminary analysis of the Panhandle data revealed that major highways with high traffic volume, such as U.S. Highways 385 and 87 in Dalhart and Texas Highway 70 in Pampa, are barriers to movement. All Panhandle pronghorn crossed smaller, low traffic county and farm-to-market roads readily. Pronghorn habitat use in the Panhandle consisted of 76.3% grassland or pasture, 15.9% shrubland, 7.1% agriculture, and 0.7% developed space, on average. Fifteen out of 25 pronghorn in Dalhart and 8 out of 25 pronghorn in Pampa used agricultural fields. The agricultural fields used consisted of 53.3% winter wheat, 39.4% fallow fields, 4.2% sorghum, 1.7% corn, and 1.5% double crop of winter wheat and sorghum, on average. The mean home range size of male and female pronghorn in Dalhart was 1,343.8 ha and 1,097.4 ha, respectively. For Pampa, the mean home range size for male pronghorn was 1,231.6 ha and 1,260.8 ha for females. Collars were recently collected from the Trans-Pecos field season, and data will be downloaded, analyzed, and compared to the Panhandle data. This information can increase understanding of pronghorn habitat use and improve pronghorn management through delineation of herd units and placement of pronghorn-friendly fencing in Texas.

Language
English
Resource Type
Text
Document Type
Conference Proceedings
Conference Name
SRM Corpus Christi, TX