ABSTRACT:
Breeding bird responses to an extensive sand sagebrush control program in southwest Kansas were evaluated for 5 years after treatment. Surveys conducted in adjacent treated and untreated sand sagebrush prairie pastures indicated that extreme variations in bird diversity and abundance on the treated pasture were associated with sharp annual changes in the herbaceous community during the first 3 years after chemical treatment. A decline in bird diversity and abundance was observed in the fourth and fifth years after treatment, following structural decay of the dead sagebrush. Bobwhites were no longer present on the treated pasture in the fourth year but remained abundant on the control pasture. If avian diversity and abundance is to be maintained, extensive solid-block treatments of sand sagebrush should be avoided.
Footnotes
Randy D. Rodgers is a wildlife research biologist and Mark L. Sexson is district wildlife biologist with the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, Hays, Kansas 67601 and Garden City. Kansas 67846, respectively. J. P. Crabb provided statistical assistance, and D. Mecklenberg permitted this work on the Cimarron National Grassland. Support for the study was provided by the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks and Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Projects W-23-R and FW-9-P.
- Copyright 1990 by the Soil and Water Conservation Society
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