Livestock grazing is a predominant land use worldwide and can influence wildlife populations by altering grassland composition, structure, and productivity. Conceptually, rest‐rotation livestock grazing could increase pasture‐level heterogeneity that would allow wildlife to balance the need for resources with the risk of predation. Prairie‐grouse (Tympanuchus spp.) are recognized as important indicator species for grassland ecosystems, so identifying management approaches suitable for prairie‐grouse could have implications for other species. We monitored radio‐collared female sharp‐tailed grouse (T. phasianellus) to evaluate the effects of 3 systems of livestock grazing management on the breeding season survival and habitat‐associated mortality risk of adult grouse in the northern mixed‐grass prairie in eastern Montana and western North Dakota, USA, during 2016–2018. Cumulative breeding season survival was 0.65 ± 0.04 (SE) and annual survival varied from 0.28 ± 0.04 to 0.50 ± 0.05. Grazing management did not have a meaningful influence on any aspect of the cumulative breeding season survival of adult female sharp‐tailed grouse, although the seasonal timing of peaks in mortality risk differed among systems. A 10% increase in cropland increased mortality risk of adult female sharp‐tailed grouse by a factor of 1.27. Overall, our results suggest that strategies that preserve economically viable ranching systems in unfragmented grasslands may have greater benefits for sharp‐tailed grouse survival than prescriptive livestock grazing systems. © 2020 The Wildlife Society.

中文翻译：

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可变放牧管理下尖尾松鸡的成活率

放牧是世界范围内主要的土地利用方式，可以通过改变草地的组成，结构和生产力来影响野生动植物种群。从概念上讲，轮流放牧牲畜可增加牧场一级的异质性，这将使野生动植物在资源需求与捕食风险之间取得平衡。草原松鸡（Tempanuchus spp。）被认为是草原生态系统的重要指示物种，因此，确定适合草原松鸡的管理方法可能会对其他物种产生影响。我们监测了放射衣领的女性尖尾松鸡（T. phasianellus）以评估3种牲畜放牧管理系统对2016-2018年美国蒙大拿州东部和北达科他州西部的北部混草草原中成年松鸡的繁殖季节存活和与生境相关的死亡风险的影响。累计繁殖季节生存率为0.65±0.04（SE），年生存率为0.28±0.04至0.50±0.05。放牧管理对成年雌性尖尾松鸡的累积繁殖季节生存的任何方面都没有任何有意义的影响，尽管死亡率风险高峰的季节性时间在各个系统中有所不同。耕地增加10％，会使成年雌性尖尾松鸡的死亡风险增加1.27倍。总体，我们的研究结果表明，在无碎片的草地上保留经济可行的牧场系统的策略可能比规定的牲畜放牧系统对尖尾松鸡的生存具有更大的好处。©2020野生动物协会。