title: Strategic Grassland Bird Conservation throughout the Annual Cycle: Linking Policy Alternatives, Landowner Decisions, and Biological Population Outcomes.
abstract: Grassland bird habitat has declined substantially in the United States. Remaining grasslands are increasingly fragmented, mostly privately owned, and vary greatly in terms of habitat quality and protection status. A coordinated strategic response for grassland bird conservation is difficult, largely due to the scope and complexity of the problem, further compounded by biological, sociological, and economic uncertainties. We describe the results from a collaborative Structured Decision Making (SDM) workshop focused on linking social and economic drivers of landscape change to grassland bird population outcomes. We identified and evaluated alternative strategies for grassland bird conservation using a series of rapid prototype models. We modeled change in grassland and agriculture cover in hypothetical landscapes resulting from different landowner decisions in response to alternative socio-economic conservation policy decisions. Resulting changes in land cover at all three stages of the annual cycle (breeding, wintering, and migration) were used to estimate changes in grassland bird populations. Our results suggest that successful grassland bird conservation may depend upon linkages with ecosystem services on working agricultural lands and grassland-based marketing campaigns to engage the public. With further development, spatial models that link landowner decisions with biological outcomes can be essential tools for making conservation policy decisions. A coordinated non-traditional partnership will likely be necessary to clearly understand and systematically respond to the many conservation challenges facing grassland birds.
authors.affiliation: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bloomington, MN, United States of America.
authors.forename: Ryan G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Drum
authors.affiliation: U.S. Geological Survey, Wisconsin Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit, Madison, WI, United States of America.
authors.forename: Christine A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Ribic
authors.affiliation: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Division of Migratory Birds, Marquette, MI, United States of America.
authors.forename: Katie
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Koch
authors.affiliation: Franklin and Marshal College, Lancaster, PA, United States of America.
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lonsdorf
authors.affiliation: U.S. Geological Survey, Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, SO Conte Anadromous Fish Laboratory, Turners Falls, MA, United States of America.
authors.forename: Evan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Grant
authors.affiliation: The Nature Conservancy, Brookings, SD, United States of America.
authors.forename: Marissa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ahlering
authors.affiliation: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Inventory and Monitoring, Athens, GA, United States of America.
authors.forename: Laurel
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Barnhill
authors.affiliation: National Bobwhite Conservation Initiative, Columbia, MO, United States of America.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Dailey
authors.affiliation: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Anchorage, AK, United States of America.
authors.forename: Socheata
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lor
authors.affiliation: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Waubay Wetland Management District, Waubay, SD, United States of America.
authors.forename: Connie
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mueller
authors.affiliation: Bird Conservancy of the Rockies (formerly Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory), Brighton, CO, United States of America.
authors.forename: David C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Pavlacky
authors.affiliation: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, East Gulf Coastal Plain Joint Venture, Auburn University, AL, United States of America.
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rideout
authors.affiliation: Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Madison, WI, United States of America.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sample
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture / Q000379:methods; D025041:Animal Migration; D000818:Animals; D001717:Birds; D003198:Computer Simulation; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000379:methods*; D003657:Decision Making; D065948:Grassland; D011157:Population Dynamics; D011640:Public Policy; D012621:Seasons; D014481:United States