The Attwater's prairie-chicken (APC) (Tympanuchus cupido attwateri) is one of the most imperiled bird species in North America, with fewer than 500 birds currently in the wild. The primary population is located at the Attwater's Prairie-Chicken National Wildlife Refuge (APCNWR), which consists of approximately 4,200 ha of native and restored coastal prairie managed solely for the benefit of the species. Management techniques focus on habitat maintenance and improvement. Patch-burning (a combination of prescribed fire and grazing) is one of the primary management practices at the refuge, and has been credited with increasing landscape heterogeneity in other areas of the Great Plains. As part of the refuge's standard protocol, Attwater's Prairie-Chicken hens were fitted with very high frequency (VHF) radio transmitters prior to the nesting season. These transmitters were then used to locate nests upon initiation, and again to track broods after hatch. We assessed two years of APC nest site selection and brood use relative to patch-burning on the refuge. Attwater's Prairie-Chicken broods were observed predominately in patches burned within the 16 months immediately prior to hatching.
Oral presentation and poster titles, abstracts, and authors from the Society for Range Management (SRM) Annual Meetings and Tradeshows, from 2013 forward.