The Mid‐continent Population (MCP) of sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis) is widely hunted in North America and is separated into the Gulf Coast Subpopulation and Western Subpopulation for management purposes. Effective harvest management of the MCP requires detailed knowledge of breeding distribution of subspecies and subpopulations, chronology of their use of fall staging areas and wintering grounds, and exposure to and harvest from hunting. To address these information needs, we tagged 153 sandhill cranes with Platform Transmitting Terminals (PTTs) during 22 February–12 April 1998–2003 in the Central and North Platte River valleys of south‐central Nebraska. We monitored PTT‐tagged sandhill cranes, hereafter tagged cranes, from their arrival to departure from breeding grounds, during their fall migration, and throughout winter using the Argos satellite tracking system. The tracking effort yielded 74,041 useable locations over 49,350 tag days; median duration of tracking of individual cranes was 352 days and 73 cranes were tracked >12 months. Genetic sequencing of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from blood samples taken from each of our random sample of tagged cranes indicated 64% were G. c. canadensis and 34% were Grus canadensis tabida. Tagged cranes during the breeding season settled in northern temperate, subarctic, and arctic North America (U.S. [23%, n = 35], Canada [57%, n = 87]) and arctic regions of northeast Asia (Russia [20%, n = 31]). Distribution of tagged cranes by breeding affiliation was as follows: Western Alaska–Siberia (WA–S, 42 ± 4% [SE]), northern Canada–Nunavut (NC–N, 21 ± 4%), west‐central Canada–Alaska (WC–A, 23 ± 4%) and East‐central Canada–Minnesota (EC–M, 14 ± 3%). All tagged cranes returned to the same breeding affiliation used during the previous year with a median distance of 1.60 km (range: 0.08–7.7 km, n = 53) separating sites used in year 1 and year 2. Fall staging occurred primarily in central and western Saskatchewan (69%), North Dakota (16%), southwestern Manitoba (10%), and northwestern Minnesota (3%). Space‐use sharing indices showed that except for NC–N and WC–A birds, probability of finding a crane from one breeding affiliation within the home range of another breeding affiliation was low during fall staging. Tagged cranes from WC–A and EC–M breeding affiliations, on average, spent 25 and 20 days, respectively, longer on fall staging areas in the northern plains than did WA–S and NC–N birds. Cranes in the NC–N, WA–S, and WC–A affiliations spent 99%, 74%, and 64%, respectively, of winter in western Texas in Hunting Zone A; EC–M cranes spent 83% of winter along the Texas Gulf Coast in Hunting Zone C. Tagged cranes that settled within the breeding range of the Gulf Coast Subpopulation spent 28% and 42% of fall staging and winter within the range of the Western Subpopulation, indicating sufficient exchange of birds to potentially limit effectiveness of MCP harvest management. Harvests of EC–M and WC–A cranes during 1998–2003 were disproportionately high to their estimated numbers in the MCP, suggesting more conservative harvest strategies may be required for these subpopulations in the future, and for sandhill cranes to occupy major parts of their historical breeding range in the Prairie Pothole Region. Exceptionally high philopatry of MCP cranes of all 4 subpopulations to breeding sites coupled with strong linkages between crane breeding distribution, and fall staging areas and wintering grounds, provide managers guidance for targeting MCP crane harvest to meet management goals. Sufficient temporal or spatial separation exists among the 4 subpopulations on fall staging areas and wintering grounds to allow harvest to be targeted at the subpopulation level in all states and provinces (and most hunting zones within states and provinces) when conditions warrant. Knowledge gained from our study provides decision‐makers in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Russia with improved guidance for developing sound harvest regulations, focusing conservation efforts, and generating collaborative efforts among these nations on sandhill crane research and management to meet mutually important goals. © 2011 The Wildlife Society.

中文翻译：

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沙丘鹤洲中陆种群的地理分布及相关管理应用

沙丘鹤的中部大陆人口（MCP）（丹顶鹤加拿大一枝黄花）在北美被广泛狩猎，出于管理目的，分为墨西哥湾沿岸亚群和西部亚群。要对MCP进行有效的收获管理，就必须详细了解亚种和亚种群的繁殖分布，使用秋天登载区和越冬场的时间顺序以及对狩猎的接触和收获。为了满足这些信息需求，我们在1998年2月22日至4月12日至2003年2月22日至2003年2月22日至2003年间在内布拉斯加州中南部的北普拉特河谷标记了153台带有平台传输终端（PTT）的沙丘起重机。我们使用Argos卫星跟踪系统监控了带有PTT标签的沙丘起重机（以下称为带标签的起重机）从到达场到离开繁殖场，在秋天迁移期间以及整个冬季期间的情况。跟踪工作产生了74，493个可用日内的041个可用位置；单个起重机的中位跟踪时间为352天，其中73台起重机的跟踪时间超过12个月。从我们的带标记的起重机的每个随机样本中采集的血液样本中的线粒体DNA（mtDNA）的基因测序表明，有64％是GC。canadensis和34％是Grus canadensis tabida。在繁殖季节，带标记的起重机定居在北温带，亚弧和北极的北美地区（美国[23％，n  = 35]，加拿大[57％，n  = 87]）和东北亚的北极地区（俄罗斯[20％，n  = 31]）。带标记的起重机按育种隶属关系分布如下：西阿拉斯加-西伯利亚（WA-S，42±4％[SE]），加拿大北部-努纳武特（NC-N，21±4％），加拿大中西部-阿拉斯加（WC–A，23±4％）和加拿大中东部的明尼苏达州（EC–M，14±3％）。所有带标签的起重机均返回上一年使用的相同育种单位，中位距离为1.60 km（范围：0.08–7.7 km，n = 53）将第一年和第二年使用的站点分开。秋季分阶段主要发生在萨斯喀彻温省中部和西部（69％），北达科他州（16％），曼尼托巴西南部（10％）和明尼苏达州西北部（3％）。空间利用共享指数表明，除NC–N和WC–A禽类外，在秋季分期中从一个繁殖隶属的家属范围内的另一繁殖隶属中找到起重机的可能性很低。来自WC–A和EC–M育种联盟的带标记的起重机在北部平原的秋季分期地区分别比在WA–S和NC–N鸟类上分别花费25天和20天更长的时间。NC-N，WA-S和WC-A附属机构中的起重机在德克萨斯州西部狩猎区A的冬季分别花费了99％，74％和64％。EC–M起重机在C狩猎区的德克萨斯州墨西哥湾沿岸度过了83％的冬季。定居在墨西哥湾沿岸亚种群繁殖范围内的带标记的起重机在西部亚种群的范围内花费了秋天分期和冬季的28％和42％，这表明鸟类的足够交换可能限制了MCP收获管理的有效性。1998-2003年EC–M和WC–A起重机的收成与其在MCP中的估计数量不成比例地高，这表明将来这些亚群可能需要更保守的收成策略，而沙丘起重机要占据其主要部分草原坑洼地区的历史繁殖范围。所有4个亚种群的MCP起重机到繁殖地点的异常高的繁殖力，再加上起重机繁殖分布，秋季分期地区和越冬场之间的紧密联系，为经理提供针对MCP起重机收割的指导，以满足管理目标。秋季过渡区和越冬场的4个亚种群之间存在足够的时间或空间分隔，以便在条件允许时，将收获针对所有州和省（以及州和省内的大多数狩猎区）的亚种群水平。从我们的研究中获得的知识为美国，加拿大，墨西哥和俄罗斯的决策者提供了改进的指南，以制定合理的采伐规定，着重保护工作并在这些国家之间开展沙丘起重机研究和管理方面的合作，以达到相互重要的目标。目标。©2011野生动物协会。秋季过渡区和越冬地的4个亚种群之间存在足够的时间或空间隔离，以便在条件允许时，将收获针对所有州和省（以及州和省内的大多数狩猎区）的亚种群水平。从我们的研究中获得的知识为美国，加拿大，墨西哥和俄罗斯的决策者提供了改进的指南，以制定合理的采伐规定，着重保护工作并在这些国家之间开展沙丘起重机研究和管理方面的合作，以达到相互重要的目标。目标。©2011野生动物协会。秋季过渡区和越冬地的4个亚种群之间存在足够的时间或空间隔离，以便在条件允许时，将收获针对所有州和省（以及州和省内的大多数狩猎区）的亚种群水平。从我们的研究中获得的知识为美国，加拿大，墨西哥和俄罗斯的决策者提供了改进的指南，以制定合理的采伐规定，着重保护工作并在这些国家之间开展沙丘起重机研究和管理方面的合作，以达到相互重要的目标。目标。©2011野生动物协会。从我们的研究中获得的知识为美国，加拿大，墨西哥和俄罗斯的决策者提供了改进的指南，以制定合理的采伐规定，着重保护工作并在这些国家之间开展沙丘起重机研究和管理方面的合作，以达到相互重要的目标。目标。©2011野生动物协会。从我们的研究中获得的知识为美国，加拿大，墨西哥和俄罗斯的决策者提供了改进的指南，以制定合理的采伐规定，着重保护工作并在这些国家之间开展沙丘起重机研究和管理方面的合作，以达到相互重要的目标。目标。©2011野生动物协会。