Land-Use Patterns Surrounding Greater Prairie-Chicken Leks in Northwestern Minnesota

To better manage wildlife populations, managers must know which combination of land uses creates optimal habitat. We used spatial analysis at a landscape scale to describe land-use patterns and patch characteristics surrounding Irks of greater prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus cupido pinnatus L.) in the Agassiz Beach Ridges (ABR) landscape (2,467 km 2 ) in northwest Minnesota. We hypothesized that types and patterns of land use favorable to greater prairic-chickens would be associated positively with lek versus non-lek points, and particularly more stable (traditional) leks. Using a Geographic Information System (GIS), we analyzed land-use proportions and patch characteristics within an 810-ha area (1.6-km radius) surrounding traditional leks, temporary leks, and randomly located non-lek points. We found locations of greater prairie-chicken leks were strongly dependent on land usc as revealed by a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA; P < 0.001). A discriminant function analysis and univariate analysis of variance (ANOVA ) showed that several land-use characteristics were associated most strongly with leks: smaller amounts of residential-farinstead, sinaller amounts and smaller patches of forest, and greater amounts of Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) lands. Comparisons between traditional and temporary leks revealed that traditional leks were surrounded by a lesser proportion of forest and cropland than were temporary leks (P < 0.001 ). Univariate ANOVAs showed that traditional leks also were associated with larger patches of grassland (P < 0.001), and grassland (P = 0.016) and forest patches (P = 0.017) having more irregular shapes. Our study suggests efforts to manage and conserve greater prairie-chicken populations in the Tallgrass Prairie Region should focus on landscape-scale land-use patterns in addition to local habitat characteristics. Landscape scale efforts could include enlarging grasslands around traditional leks by completing prairie restorations and CRP plantings, while local-scale strategies should seek to improve the quality of habitat in existing and new grassland areas.