Counts of greater sage‐grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) at leks have been used in harvest management, Endangered Species Act listing decisions, and land management policies for over half a century. Lek count sampling methods focus on counting male sage‐grouse at known leks, primarily those observed visually from roads or vantage points, but leks are likely missed that are unknown prior to the survey and are difficult to detect while driving between known lek sites. One way to ameliorate this shortfall may be to conduct short point‐count surveys at multiple stops along lek‐survey routes or while driving between lek counts, thereby detecting newly established or unknown leks. To evaluate the feasibility of this approach, we estimated aural and visual detection probability of active sage‐grouse leks during 1‐minute point‐count surveys at known distances and examined the effects of environmental factors on aural lek detection in southern Idaho, USA, 2016–2017. Our results demonstrate that field observers can aurally detect sage‐grouse leks at approximately 3 times greater distances compared to detecting leks visually. The probability of hearing an active lek was highest near the peak of male and female attendance (8 Apr), within an hour of sunrise, on relatively calm and cold days, when the observer was at a higher elevation relative to the lek, and during conditions with no background noise. Detection probability declined with distance and the probability of aural detection was 0.59 at 1 km from a lek when other variables were held at their means. Hence, conducting ≥3 1‐minute surveys along a lek route would be expected to detect ≥93% of all leks within 1.5 km of each survey under the average environmental conditions in our study. Our results suggest that surveys could greatly improve detection of unknown or newly established leks and can facilitate a more accurate assessment of sage‐grouse population trends through lek counts. Moreover, our results demonstrate how environmental factors influence the detection of leks during surveys, and therefore which variables should be considered for inclusion in any future revisions of lek count protocols or in analyses of lek count data. © 2021 The Wildlife Society.

中文翻译：

---

鼠尾草大韭菜的听觉和视觉检测：人口趋势估计的含义。

鼠尾草数量增加的计数（Centrocerercus urophasianus）在过去的半个多世纪中，韭葱用于收割管理，《濒危物种法》的上市决定和土地管理政策中。韭菜计数采样方法着重于对已知韭菜的雄鼠贤counting进行计数，主要是从道路或有利位置目测观察到的，但在调查之前未知的韭菜很可能会漏掉，并且在已知的韭菜站点之间行驶时很难检测到。缓解这一不足的一种方法可能是在沿途测量路线的多个站点或在途经计数之间行驶时进行短点计数调查，从而检测到新近建立的或未知的近程。为了评估这种方法的可行性，我们估算了在已知距离进行的1分钟点数调查中鼠尾草活动性韭菜的听觉和视觉检测概率，并研究了环境因素对美国爱达荷州南部2016-2017年听觉韭菜检测的影响。我们的结果表明，与目视观察到的韭菜相比，野外观察者可以在远处以3倍的距离探测鼠尾草的韭菜。在相对平静和寒冷的日子中，当观察者相对于韭菜海拔较高时，在日出和日出期间，在一个小时内，在男性和女性出勤高峰期（4月8日）附近听到活跃的韭菜的概率最高。没有背景噪音的情况。当保持其他变量不变时，检测到的概率随着距离的增加而下降，并且距沥水1 km处的听觉检测概率为0.59。因此，在我们研究的平均环境条件下，沿着一次韭菜路线进行≥3次1分钟的调查，预计会在每次调查的1.5公里内检测到≥93％的所有韭菜。我们的结果表明，调查可以大大改善对未知或新近建立的韭菜的检测，并可以通过韭菜计数来促进对鼠尾草种群趋势的更准确评估。此外，我们的结果表明，在调查过程中环境因素如何影响韭菜的检测，因此在将来的韭菜计数协议的任何修订版或韭菜计数数据的分析中应考虑包括哪些变量。©2021野生动物协会。我们的结果表明，调查可以极大地改善对未知或新近建立的韭菜的检测，并可以通过韭菜计数来促进对鼠尾草种群趋势的更准确评估。此外，我们的结果表明，在调查过程中环境因素如何影响韭菜的检测，因此在将来的韭菜计数协议的任何修订版或韭菜计数数据的分析中应考虑包括哪些变量。©2021野生动物协会。我们的结果表明，调查可以极大地改善对未知或新近建立的韭菜的检测，并可以通过韭菜计数来促进对鼠尾草种群趋势的更准确评估。此外，我们的结果表明，在调查过程中环境因素如何影响韭菜的检测，因此在将来的韭菜计数协议的任何修订版或韭菜计数数据的分析中应考虑包括哪些变量。©2021野生动物协会。因此，在将来的计数计数协议的任何修订版或计数计数数据的分析中应考虑包括哪些变量。©2021野生动物协会。因此，在将来的计数计数协议的任何修订版或计数计数数据的分析中应考虑包括哪些变量。©2021野生动物协会。