North American sagebrush (Artemisia spp.)‐obligate birds are experiencing steep population declines due in part to increased disturbance, mainly human‐caused, across their range. At the eastern edge of the sagebrush steppe, this issue may potentially be exacerbated because of natural disturbance by black‐tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus). Our goal was to compare local and landscape models of habitat use by greater sage‐grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus), Brewer's sparrow (Spizella breweri), and sage thrasher (Oreoscoptes montanus) with models including effects of natural (i.e., prairie dog) and anthropogenic disturbance. We used a combination of field data collection, and state and national datasets for the Thunder Basin National Grassland, eastern Wyoming, USA, to understand the factors that influence lek attendance by sage‐grouse and habitat use by 2 passerines in this system. For all 3 species, models including big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) cover at local and landscape scales were the most competitive among univariate models, supporting the paradigm that sagebrush is key for these species. Models including anthropogenic disturbance (well density, road density) explained more variation than models of prairie dog disturbance alone for 2 of the 3 species, but long‐term disturbance by prairie dogs did reduce abundance of Brewer's sparrows. Although long‐term prairie dog disturbance has the potential to reduce sagebrush cover for sagebrush‐obligate birds, such events are likely rare because outbreaks of plague (Yersina pestis) and lethal control on borders with private land reduce prairie dog disturbance. Conversely, anthropogenic disturbance is slated to increase in this system, suggesting potentially accelerated declines for sagebrush birds into the future. © 2020 The Wildlife Society.

中文翻译：

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人为干扰和自然干扰对鼠尾草鸟类栖息地使用的影响不同

北美鼠尾草（Artemisia spp。）专科鸟类的种群数量急剧下降，部分原因是整个范围内干扰加剧，主要是人为干扰。在鼠尾草草原的东部边缘，由于黑尾土拨鼠（Cynomys ludovicianus）的自然干扰，这一问题可能会加剧。我们的目标是比较鼠尾草（Centrocerercus urophasianus），布鲁尔的麻雀（Spizella breweri）和鼠尾草（Oreoscoptes montanus）的栖息地利用的本地和景观模型）模型，包括自然（即草原土拨鼠）和人为干扰的影响。我们结合了野外数据收集以及美国怀俄明州东部雷盆地国家草原的州和国家数据集，以了解在该系统中影响鼠尾草和其他栖息地对鼠尾草使用的影响的因素。对于所有3个物种，模型都包括大型鼠尾草（Artemisia tridentata）在单变量模型中，本地和景观尺度的覆盖率最具竞争力，这支持了鼠尾草对于这些物种至关重要的范例。包括人为干扰（井密度，道路密度）在内的模型对这3种物种中的2种比单独对草原狗干扰的模型解释的变化更大，但草原狗的长期干扰确实减少了Brewer麻雀的数量。尽管长期的草原土拨鼠骚扰有可能减少鼠尾草专用鸟的鼠尾草覆盖率，但此类事件可能很少见，因为鼠疫（耶尔森纳瘟疫）和对与私人土地接壤的地区进行致命控制，以减少草原犬鼠的骚扰。相反，人为干扰预计将在该系统中增加，这表明鼠尾草鸟类在未来可能会加速下降。©2020野生动物协会。