Project Number: 5360-11630-006-05
Project Type: Specific Cooperative Agreement

Start Date: Sep 30, 2006
End Date: Sep 29, 2011

Objective:
To gain a better understanding of landscape and management impacts on sage-grouse habitat, and to evaluate sage-grouse food availability, specifically rangeland insects.

Approach:
Oregon State University (OSU) and USDA, Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists will cooperate on a project to map rangeland plant communities in a large Great Basin pasture (100,000 + acres). The communities will be rated for suitability as sage-grouse habitat. Livestock grazing behavior will be evaluated to determine the degree of overlap between livestock use and sage-grouse habitat. In the second part of the project, ARS and OSU scientists will quantify the relationships between vegetation structure and rangeland insects (which are a critical food source for sage-grouse chicks). Documents SCA with OSU. Formerly 5360-11630-005-04S (12/09).