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AN INITIAL EVALUATION OF THE ANNUAL MIDCONTINENT SANDHILL CRANE POPULATION SURVEY AARON T. PEARSE, GARY L. KRAPU, and DAVID A. BRANDT , U.S. Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center, Jamestown, ND 58401, USA (apearse@usgs.gov) Progress Report; Expected Completion: Fall 2013 Introduction The midcontinent population of sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis) is among the most widely dispersed populations of game birds in the world; breeding in remote regions from western Quebec to northeastern Russia and wintering across a wide area of the southcentral and southwestern United States and northern Mexico (Krapu et al. 2011). The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has conducted an annual survey of midcontinent sandhill cranes each spring at their major migratory stopover site along the Central and North Platte River Valleys (NPRV and CPRV) in Nebraska for >30 years. Since 1982, estimates of crane abundance have been derived using a probability based sampling design and photo correction of observed crane groups (Benning et al. 1987). The survey is conducted on the fourth Tuesday of March, which generally corresponds to peak abundance of cranes at this staging site (USFWS 1981). Due to annual variation in migration chronology, estimates of crane abundance at the Platte River can be interpreted as indices of midcontinent crane abundance, because an unknown proportion of the population is present in the surveyed area each year. Large annual fluctuations in survey estimates have cast doubt on the survey’s ability to reliably track population abundance (Tacha et al. 1994). This variation may be due to numerous factors, including sampling error, observer bias, and variation in detection probabilities. In efforts to improve the survey, experimental techniques designed to greatly reduce variation due to sampling and visibility have been evaluated, including nocturnal surveys of cranes roosting on the river (e.g., Kinzel et al. 2006). Although promising, updated survey methods that provide more accurate estimates of cranes at the Platte River will only be useful for management if these values are a reliable index of the entire midcontinent population. Yearly variation in the proportion of the population at the Platte River during the spring survey (i.e., cranes available to be sampled in the survey zone) degrades the ability of survey estimates to track changes in population abundance; improved survey methods along the Platte 38 River cannot completely ameliorate this variation. Herein, we assess fundamental assumptions of the midcontinent sandhill crane survey using data from an extensive investigation of spring-staging cranes, which included data from individuals marked with platform transmitting terminals (PTTs), very high frequency (VHF) transmitters, and ground surveys. Specifically, we were interested in estimating variation in the proportion of cranes generally present at the Platte River during the survey period and cranes present within the surveyed area. This information would allow determination of a best time to conduct surveys and how much yearly variation due to these factors could be expected. Determining reliability of survey indices with respect to natural variation in migration chronology will provide insight as to how much improvement in the survey is necessary to consistently meet monitoring objectives given this uncontrolled variation. Methods During late February and early April 1998–2006, we captured and tagged sandhill cranes in the CPRV with VHF transmitters to obtain information on arrival to and departure from the CPRV. We also tagged captured cranes with PTTs during this same time period to determine geographic distributions (Krapu et al. 2011). Trapping and tagging efforts were conducted at numerous sites, and generally included pasture or haylands between Chapman and Lexington in the CPRV and near North Platte in the NPRV (Krapu et al. 2011; Fig. 1). To capture cranes, we used rocket-propelled nets and taxidermy-mounted sandhill crane decoys (Wheeler and Lewis 1972). We attached a VHF transmitter (20-25 g, Advanced Telemetry Systems Inc., Isanti, MN) to the left leg of randomly selected captured cranes using a two-piece leg band. We released most captured birds simultaneously within 30 min (range 15–60 min) of capture to maintain potential group and family bonds. The VHF transmitters were programmable, enabling us to get multiple years of data on individual tagged cranes. All
VHF transmitters were synchronized by simultaneous activation in mid-February to allow us to locate any cranes arriving at the Platte River at the onset of the staging period in subsequent years. Cranes carrying potentially functioning transmitters were searched for each evening throughout the staging period. We did not use data from mark-year birds to reduce potential bias. Newly detected arrivals were located nightly through departure to determine patters of roost-site use, movements, and length of stay in the region. Figure 1. Sandhill crane survey zones in Nebraska and areas within South Dakota where PTT-marked cranes were located during crane surveys, 1999–2004 (A). Locations of cranes during ground surveys in 2009-2011 near the James River in South Dakota (B). Sandhill crane survey zone along the CPRV in Nebraska and 8 north-south transects used during road-based surveys (C). A random sample of adult sandhill cranes were captured and marked with PTTs during 1998-2003, which allowed monitoring of crane distribution during spring migration. The CPRV and NPRV were chosen for trapping and tagging cranes because available information suggests virtually the entire population stops at these sites during March and April (Krapu et al. 2011). We determined distribution of cranes within a 7-day period surrounding scheduled survey dates each year from 1999–2004. We used this information to direct ground-based surveys conducted during springs 2009–2011, where we visited areas of past use, noted current distributions, and enumerated cranes present (Fig 1). We also included any observations of cranes in the general survey area when traveling between survey points and recorded geographic locations. 39 We established 8 road-based transects in the CPRV (Fig. 1) to estimate distances cranes foraged from the river and temporal use of the CPRV by cranes. We conducted ground surveys each week on Tuesdays beginning the third week of March and continuing through the first week of April 1998–2002, and 2009– 2011. Each transect extended 16.1 km north and south from the main channel of the Platte River and was 440 m on each side of maintained roads (2,834 ha/transect; Fig. 1). Beginning at 0800 hours, a field technician drove the survey route, enumerated cranes in each transect, and recorded their distance from the river channel. We calculated percentage of cranes observed on transects outside of survey bounds used by the USFWS to conduct the aerial crane survey (Fig. 1) for each year. Results Over 7 years, we monitored locations of 167 PTTtagged cranes in the CPRV and NPRV. A total of 74 sandhill cranes carried functioning PTTs while on their wintering grounds and returned to the CPRV and NPRV in spring. During 7-day periods surrounding scheduled survey dates, most cranes were located along the Platte River, and the remainder resided in the James River Valley in east-central South Dakota (Fig 1A). Based on this distribution, we selected 159 sections to visit during springs 2009–2011 concurrent with the Platte River crane survey. During these surveys, we enumerated 17,082 cranes during 24-26 March 2009, 8,671 cranes during 23-24 March 2010, and 15,104 cranes during 21-22 March 2011 (Fig 1B). We marked 456 cranes with VHF transmitters during springs 1998–2006. Number of cranes reported staging in the CPRV ≥1 year after marking varied from 16 in 2001 to 86 in 2006 (Table 1). Between 2001 and 2007, the scheduled survey date (4 th Tuesday of March) varied between 22 and 28 March. The greatest percentage of marked cranes were present on the scheduled survey date during 2001 and 2006 (94%), whereas only 71% of marked cranes were present in 2007 (Table 1). On average, 85% of cranes were present during the scheduled survey date and the standard deviation due to annual variation was 9%. In each year, a portion of cranes had yet to arrive in the CPRV (2-17%); in 5 of 7 years, some cranes departed before the survey date (≤27%; Table 1). By date, the greatest mean percentage of cranes present during 2001–2007 occurred on 26 March, and 22–26 March corresponded with the lowest estimated annual variation (Fig. 2).
Page 1 and 2: U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Webles
Page 3 and 4: CONTENTS Development and History of
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Page 7 and 8: Program Administration The USFWS Pr
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Page 19 and 20: Table 5. Detection probability and
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Page 23 and 24: Currently laboratory measurements o
Page 25 and 26: Band-tailed Pigeons BAND-TAILED PIG
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Page 31 and 32: unripe], cascara, and blue elderber
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Page 35 and 36: that Interior birds tended to retai
Page 37 and 38: Sandhill Cranes POPULATION GENETIC
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Page 45 and 46: Alternatively, a different survey m
Page 47 and 48: (Bennett and Bennett 1990, Nesbitt
Page 49 and 50: Spatial Data Landscape-scale data
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Page 55 and 56: McWethy, D. B., and J. E. Austin. 2
Page 57 and 58: Recent advancements in technology a
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Page 87 and 88: Beyer, H. L. 2004. Hawth's Analysis
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nests to account for repeated measu
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Literature Cited Bogner, H. E. and
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a common nest substrate. Tall forms
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EVALUATION OF AN EXPERT-BASED LANDS
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IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NATIONAL MARS
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truthed before the actual survey. H
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IMPLEMENTATION OF A NATIONAL MARSHB
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Table 1. Numbers of individuals of
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was required because it was not rea
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ESTIMATING POPULATION TRENDS, RELAT
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This abstract represents a final ab
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Virginia Rail (Rallus limicola), So
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volunteers to cover new sites in la
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Plain of Louisiana (Figure 1). We s
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for concentrations of wintering sni
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Table 1. Model selection results an
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DEVELOPING OPTIMAL SURVEY TECHNIQUE
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Conway, C. J., and J. P. Gibbs. 201
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Figure 1. Red Slough Wildlife Manag
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Table 3. Habitat measurements recor
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Thesis, South Dakota State Universi
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Reproductive Success and Survival i
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The goal of the study is to address
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When interacting with private lando
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