Location matters: evaluating Greater Prairie-Chicken (Tympanuchus cupido) boom chorus propagation

Avian Conservation and Ecology

Cara E. Whalen,¹  Edward J. Raynor,¹  Larkin A. Powell,¹  MaryBomberger Brown,¹ 

[1] School of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA

关键词: anthropogenic noise;    Greater Prairie-Chicken;    lek-mating grouse;    S;    hills;    sound propagation;    Tympanuchus cupido;    wind energy;   

DOI  :  10.5751/ACE-01126-120217

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Resilience Alliance Publications

【 摘 要 】

Anthropogenic disturbances can affect species of conservation concern by influencing their behavior. Of special concern is the possibility that noise from anthropogenic structures in grassland habitats, such as wind turbines and roads, may affect the propagation of the low-frequency boom chorus of lekking male Greater Prairie-Chickens (Tympanuchus cupido). We used sound pressure levels from acoustic recordings taken at 10 leks in the Nebraska Sandhills, USA during 2013 and 2014 in a SPreAD-GIS sound propagation model to make spatial projections of the boom chorus under a variety of conditions including landscape composition, conspecific attendance, and weather. We then used sets of linear mixed models in a model selection process to determine how background noise, female and male lek attendance, time of day, relative humidity, air temperature, and wind speed affected the area of chorus propagation. The predicted area of propagation decreased with increasing background noise (β = -0.09, SE = 0.04) and increased with greater female lek attendance (β = 0.09, SE = 0.03), higher levels of relatively humidity (β = 0.07, SE = 0.03), and higher air temperatures (β = 0.05, SE = 0.03). Our analyses provide new insight on how acoustic, social, and meteorological factors influence an important reproductive behavior in an imperiled prairie grouse.

【 授权许可】

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