Anthropogenic features increasingly affect ecological processes with increasing human demand for natural resources. Such effects also have the potential to vary depending on the sex and age of an individual because of inherent behavioral and life experience differences. For the lesser prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus), studies on male survival are limited because most previous research has been focused on females. To better understand patterns of lesser prairie-chicken survival in habitat with varying levels of anthropogenic infrastructure associated with oil and natural gas development, we monitored survival of 178 radio-tagged male and female lesser prairie-chickens in eastern New Mexico, USA, from 2013 to 2015. We examined the relationships of shrub cover, proximity to and density of anthropogenic features (i.e., utility poles), displacement of natural vegetation by anthropogenic features (i.e., area of roads and well pads), and individual demographics (i.e., sex, age) with lesser prairie-chicken survival. Furthermore, we categorized the probable cause of mortality and examined its relationship with oil and gas development intensity (indexed by utility pole density) within 1,425 m of an individual's mortality site or final observed location. We predicted that survival would be lower for individuals exposed to greater levels of anthropogenic features, and that males and subadults would be more negatively affected than females and adults because of increased exposure to predators during the lekking season and naiveté. Relationships between survival and utility pole density, sex, and age were supported in our top-ranked models, whereas models including other anthropogenic and natural features (i.e., roads, well pads, shrub cover) received little support. We predicted a substantial decrease in adult and subadult male survival with increasing densities of utility poles. The relationship between survival and utility pole density for females was weaker and not as clearly supported as for males. We did not find a detectable difference in utility pole counts among probable mortality causes. Our findings highlight the importance of including male lesser prairie-chickens in research and conservation planning, and the negative effect that high densities of anthropogenic features can have on lesser prairie-chicken survival. © 2021 The Wildlife Society.

中文翻译：

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不同能源开发密度下的小草原鸡生存

随着人类对自然资源的需求不断增加，人为特征越来越影响生态过程。由于固有的行为和生活经验差异，此类影响也有可能因个人的性别和年龄而异。对于小草原鸡（Tympanuchus pallidicinctus)，对男性生存的研究是有限的，因为以前的大多数研究都集中在女性身上。为了更好地了解与石油和天然气开发相关的人为基础设施水平不同的栖息地中小草原鸡的生存模式，我们从 2013 年起监测了美国新墨西哥州东部 178 只带有无线电标记的雄性和雌性小草原鸡的存活情况到 2015 年。我们检查了灌木覆盖、人为特征（即电线杆）的接近度和密度、人为特征（即道路和井场面积）对自然植被的置换以及个体人口统计（即性别）之间的关系。 ，年龄），草原鸡的存活率较低。此外，我们对死亡的可能原因进行了分类，并检查了其与个人死亡地点或最终观察地点 1,425 m 内的石油和天然气开发强度（以电线杆密度为指数）的关系。我们预测，暴露于更高水平的人为特征的个体的存活率会更低，并且由于在 lekking 季节和天真期间更多地暴露于捕食者，男性和亚成体将比女性和成体受到更大的负面影响。我们排名靠前的模型支持生存与电线杆密度、性别和年龄之间的关系，而包括其他人为和自然特征（即道路、井垫、灌木覆盖）的模型几乎没有得到支持。我们预测随着电线杆密度的增加，成年和亚成年男性的存活率会大幅下降。女性生存率与电线杆密度之间的关系较弱，而且不像男性那样得到明确支持。在可能的死亡原因中，我们没有发现电线杆数量存在可检测的差异。我们的研究结果强调了将雄性小草原鸡纳入研究和保护计划的重要性，以及高密度的人为特征可能对小草原鸡的生存产生负面影响。© 2021 野生动物协会。我们的研究结果强调了将雄性小草原鸡纳入研究和保护计划的重要性，以及高密度的人为特征可能对小草原鸡的生存产生负面影响。© 2021 野生动物协会。我们的研究结果强调了将雄性小草原鸡纳入研究和保护计划的重要性，以及高密度的人为特征可能对小草原鸡的生存产生负面影响。© 2021 野生动物协会。