Download Lesser-prairie-chick.. - Endangered Species Coalition

Endangered Species Coalition 2015 Top 10 Report Nominating Form
General Information
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Nominating Organizations: Please use this Column to Provide the Requested Information
Organization & Web address
Contact name for species info
Address
Email & phone
Communications staff contact name
Email & phone
Center for Biological Diversity (www.biologicaldiversity.org)
Tanya Sanerib
PO Box 11374, Portland, OR 97211
[email protected] (971) 717-6407
Andy Parker, Tierra Curry
[email protected], [email protected] 928-522-3681
General Species Information
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Common name, genus, and species
Geographic range
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Conservation status
Remaining population size
Lesser prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus)
Western Oklahoma but southeastern Colorado, western Kansas, eastern New Mexico, and the
Texas Panhandle
Threatened with a 4(d) rule
In 2014 the estimated population size was roughly 22,415 birds. This is down from 35,223 in
2012 and slightly up from the 18,747 estimate in 2013.
Report Questions
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Do you have high-resolution photos that can be
used in the report?
Will you want printed reports? If so, how many?
If your species is selected, will you use the report
as a tool to organize around the species and/or
publicize its plight?
Yes, http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/resourcespace/?c=171&k=e9c1e9b829
no
No
Yes
Public Engagement Questions (Please explain why the species is interesting, why it matters, why decision-makers + the public should care.)0
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Interesting facts about the species
It is a dancing chicken! As with other grouse species, males perform on the lek to attract
females for breeding.
Because lesser prairie-chickens are predated upon, they give a mile wide radius to anything
tall on the landscape. This includes items such as oil rigs, powerlines, and wind turbines that
all serve to fragment the lesser prairie-chickens’ habitat.
Lesser prairie-chickens can fly. Unfortunately, this means they often get entangled in fences
installed for cattle and agricultural fields.
Please cite any substantiating scientific studies
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Additional background information to complete
the species profile in the report
Lesser prairie-chickens have warranted protection under the ESA since 1998 but were not
listed under the Act until 2014.
Lesser prairie-chickens are protected as a threatened species but their threatened listing was
accompanied by significant exemptions – called 4(d) rules. The 4(d) rule allows a host of
activities that pose a threat to the lesser prairie-chicken to continue under the guise of these
activities being part of a program for the species.
Today, lesser prairie-chickens occupy just 16% of their historic range. Remaining populations
of the species are highly fragmented as a result of the species’ range contraction leaving the
remaining small clusters of the species highly vulnerable to drought and genetic inbreeding.
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What are the most important messages that
should be communicated about this species'
decline? Please be sure to indicate your
organization’s lead message that you would like
to be included in the report.
Lesser prairie-chickens serve as a bellwether for short grass prairie ecosystems stretching
from Kansas to Texas.
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Is your NGO working to save the species? If yes,
how? (Optional)
Yes, we have filed a lawsuit along with Defenders of Wildlife and WildEarth Guardians
because the lesser prairie-chicken should be protected as a endangered species instead of as
a threatened species under the ESA. We also are challenging the exemptions for the species
in the 4(d) rule.
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How can individuals help? Please be as specific
as possible.
At a broad level, we need the public to speak out against exemptions for threatened species.
Habitat fragmentation and loss and the resulting isolated remaining populations of the
species, mean the species is highly susceptible to stochastic events – such as drought.
For the lesser prairie-chicken, the public can support programs that remove fences and build
habitat connectivity. The public can also urge the FWS for more protections for the species
that are proven to work, unlike the programs that are covered by the 4(d) rule.
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Is there anything else that governments or
others could/should/are doing to save the
species?
The range states for the lesser prairie-chicken created a range-wide program for the species,
but unfortunately, that program has several significant flaws. It assumes that lesser prairiechickens can be ushered into small patches of habitat and successfully exist crowded together
in limited areas. There is no scientific support for this assumption. The program also provides
for mitigation for impacts to lesser prairie-chicken habitat but not on a 1:1 ratio.
Please cite any substantiating scientific studies
If these flaws with the program were corrected, it would help the lesser prairie-chicken.
Criteria-specific Questions – Please feel free to answer N/A or “see above/below” as appropriate. Please cite any substantiating scientific studies.
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Describe the specific threat(s) to the species.
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Why is it in need of greater connectivity?
Habitat fragmentation has led to isolated remaining populations of lesser prairie-chickens.
The primary causes of habitat fragmentation are oil and gas, grazing, agriculture, and wind
farms.
Currently, populations of lesser prairie-chickens in eastern New Mexico and western Texas
are separated by the Texas panhandle, which poses grave genetic problems for the species
and in particular the continuation of the New Mexico population.
Habitat loss and fragmentation have resulted in small population sizes, low survival rates, and
scattered distribution meaning that lesser prairie-chickens are particularly susceptible to
stochastic events.
Additionally, lesser prairie-chickens require large areas of habitat to complete their life cycles
so habitat loss and fragmentation are a great concern for this species.
Yes, there are indications with our changing climate that lesser prairie-chickens may be
shifting their range northward.
The main concern for lesser prairie-chickens is two-fold. First, protecting sufficient habitat
around leks for successful breeding and two, connecting up the little remaining habitat
patches to ensure genetic integrity and continuity of the species.
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Is its geographic range shifting?
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Is there concern around the cyclical/seasonal life
of the species and its interactions within
ecosystems?
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Does it have isolated populations?
Yes, in particular the populations of lesser prairie-chickens in New Mexico (i.e., south of the
Canadian River) are isolated from the lesser prairie-chickens further north.
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Is it at risk of low genetic diversity?
Yes, due to the isolated nature of the remaining lesser prairie-chicken populations, genetic
loss is a big concern.
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How urgent is the need for greater connectivity
in order to conserve this species? Does it face a
current, imminent, or future threat?
The nearly 50% population drop between 2012 and 2013 was a wake-up call for lesser prairiechicken conservation. This population loss showed that drought could affect the species
throughout its range due to the limited populations remaining after habitat loss and
fragmentation. The on-going threat to the species’ habitat from the oil and gas industry,
agriculture, ranching, and other energy interests also needs to be curtailed.
Please cite any substantiating scientific studies
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Indicate if there is an associated political threat.
For instance, is this species being actively
attacked by an industry group or member of
Congress?
Judge’s Score for Severity and Extent of Threat:
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Yes, this species has been the subject of riders in the House and due to the restrictions it
imposes on the oil and gas industry and ranching interests in particular it suffers from political
threats.
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Detail information on any social or economic
benefits the species provides—e.g., its value for
recreation or as a subject of scientific research.
(Optional)
Detail the ecological importance of the species
(e.g., is it a keystone species?).
Describe how the species could be considered an
"ambassador" or “flagship” species to enlist
public support for conservation.
Birders love to watch lesser prairie-chickens on leks in the spring engaging in courtship dances,
however, after the population reduction of 2013 many leks were closed to viewing and/or no
longer have birds on them.
Yes, as previously noted, lesser prairie-chickens are a bellwether for short grass prairie
ecosystems stretching from Kansas to Texas.
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The dancing grouse of the short grass prairies spurs celebration of this unique and fast
disappearing habitat. It is a bellwether for this region and its loss needs to be curtailed.
Judge’s Score for Importance of Species
Judge’s Final Score
Please submit to [email protected], and thank you for participating in the 2015 Top 10 Report.
Please cite any substantiating scientific studies