Monitoring protocol for greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) at Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve and City of Rocks National Reserve: Narrative version 1.0

Conway, Courtney; Garton, Edward; Dicus, Gordon; Lonneker, Jeffrey

Sagebrush (Artemisia spp.)-steppe vegetation composes approximately half of the vegetated (non-lava) portions of Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve (CRMO) and is also a common land cover at City of Rocks National Reserve (CIRO) (Bell et al. 2009, Erixson and Cogan 2011). Thus, both park units contain substantial greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) nesting habitat. The Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG) statewide lek database includes many leks that occur within or near the boundary of CRMO, and 11 leks within 5km of CIRO. Investigators from the University of Idaho (UI) and National Park Service (NPS) staff collaborated to develop a strategy and protocol for long-term monitoring of greater sage-grouse in and immediately adjacent to CRMO and CIRO. An explicit objective of the field methods for this protocol was compatibility with annual lek counts and lek routes coordinated by the IDFG, because data collected from this NPS protocol is intended to augment (not duplicate or replace) statewide sage-grouse monitoring efforts of IDFG and other agency partners. As the methods outlined in this protocol are implemented at these 2 NPS sites, and lessons are learned through additional field experience and through collaborative discussions with IDFG and BLM partners, revision of methods may be needed and an updated version of this document will be produced if warranted or appropriate. This sage-grouse monitoring protocol, for implementation at CRMO and CIRO, expands upon the current IDFG sage-grouse lek count guidelines (IDFG 2016; Standard Operating Procedure 1: Lek Monitoring Guidelines), providing additional clarifications where needed and some modifications that were necessary to ensure that surveyors could implement/follow all of the guidelines. The protocol provides additional guidance regarding 6 issues: 1) the frequency with which to visit leks along lek routes, 2) revising lek routes so that all routes can be effectively surveyed as consistently as possible to IDFG guidelines, 3) clarification of methods to improve detection of new, unknown, and satellite leks along existing lek routes, 4) instructions for periodically counting leks that are not along lek routes, 5) an optional probabilistic sampling framework for area-based sampling that would provide unbiased estimates of grouse abundance within CRMO and CIRO, and 6) data management.

Monitoring protocol for greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) at Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve and City of Rocks National Reserve: Narrative version 1.0

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