The Wildlife Society recognizes UW scientists for sage grouse research

A group of University of Wyoming (UW) researchers has been recognized by The Wildlife Society for a multi-faceted study on the effects of sagebrush reduction on Greater sage grouse.

The Wildlife Society is an international association for professionals involved in wildlife management, conservation and research. The society’s annual awards program recognizes scientists, wildlife managers, educators and others who have made outstanding contributions to wildlife science and management.

Best Monograph Award 

UW researchers, collaborators and former students received the 2024 Best Monograph Award for their paper titled “Response of Greater sage grouse to sagebrush reduction treatments in Wyoming big sagebrush,” published in the journal Wildlife Monographs.

“It’s a great honor to be recognized with this award, that highlights studies which have long-term, robust datasets asking both broad and specific questions,” says Jeff Beck, UW professor of ecosystem science and management.

Beck’s coauthors include Kurt Smith, a UW alum and now senior research scientist with the UW Department of Zoology and Physiology; Jason LeVan, a UW alum and now rangeland management specialist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service in Pinedale; Anna Chalfoun, UW associate professor and assistant unit leader of the U.S. Geological Survey’s Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit; Thomas Christiansen, retired Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD) sage grouse program coordinator; WGFD Wildlife Biologist Stanley Harter and Sue Oberlie, retired Bureau of Land Management wildlife biologist.

Paper details

The award-winning paper details the results of a nine-year study in central Wyoming which found sagebrush reduction strategies, such as mowing and herbicide applications, did not benefit local sage grouse populations. 

While sagebrush reduction is a common management practice in Wyoming, researchers found effects on the birds were neutral at best. 

“Our results may challenge a historic paradigm for sagebrush management,” says Chalfoun.

For six years, after sagebrush reduction treatments were applied, the scientists tracked behaviors and survival rates of more than 600 female Greater sage grouse. They also monitored effects on invertebrate populations and herbaceous forbs, both of which sage grouse rely on for food.

Results indicated neither mowing nor application of the herbicide tebuthiuron influenced nest success, brood success or female survival. Instead, the researchers observed a slight avoidance of habitat which had undergone sagebrush reduction treatments. 

The treatments also did not appear to positively affect sage grouse food sources.  

“We were able to answer questions about whether or not specific habitat treatments consistent with the Wyoming Sage Grouse Core Area Policy were beneficial, benign or harmful to sage grouse, thereby ensuring future conservation efforts and dollars are more effectively spent,” says Christiansen.

Brooke Ortel is a writer and editor for UW Extension and can be reached at bortel@uwyo.edu. This article was originally published by the University of Wyoming’s College of Agriculture, Life Sciences and Natural Resources on Nov. 25.