Morrow et al. found that a combination of factors affect the Attwater's prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus cupido attwateri) population. Open areas, needed for prairie-chicken movement between clumps of grass where nesting occurs, were scarce, which could be a contributing factor to prairie-chicken declines. Inadequate grazing may have created this problem when cattle (Bos taurus) were removed from several pastures, leaving dense vegetation. Prairie-chicken population increases and declines were attributed not only to precipitation amounts and off-refuge prairie-chicken declines, but also to the amount of prescribed burning and variable grassland structure due to grazing on the refuge.
Citations and enhanced abstracts for journals articles and documents focused on rangeland ecology and management. RSIS is a collaboration between Montana State University, University of Idaho, and University of Wyoming.