Otii l.iviiii; Rc'\{>urces — The Great Plains 



SOS 



The most recent Breeding Bird Surveys indi- 

 cate that these grassland species, which had 

 been declining for a long time, appear to be 

 increasing (Reynolds et al. 1994). 



Overall, daily survival rates of nests were 

 similar in CRP fields and WPA fields (Table 2). 

 In North Dakota there was some indication that 

 nests of grasshopper span'ows and western 

 meadowlarks (Stiimella neglecta) had higher 

 daily survival rates in CRP fields than in WPA 

 fields. Differences between states and among 

 years, however, make generalizing difficult. 

 Predation caused 80% of the nest failures. 



Implications 



These studies show that federal agricultural 

 programs can have an enormous effect on 

 wildlife resources over broad areas. In addition, 

 with the restoration of suitable habitat, in this 

 case mostly a mixture of introduced grasses and 

 legumes rather than native prairie, populations 

 of grassland birds can flourish. The similar 

 daily survival rates of nests in CRP and WPA 

 fields indicate that the habitat quality of CRP 

 fields and WPA fields is roughly comparable. 



More information is needed to provide a 

 fuller picture of how the CRP is affecting trends 

 in grassland birds. Information on temporal and 

 spatial effects is especially useful. As CRP 

 fields age, their attractiveness to certain species 

 may change. Daily survival rates of nests also 

 may change. Spatial effects are apparent in our 

 censuses and undoubtedly e.xist on a wider 

 scale. Finally, we need to integrate results from 

 field studies with trend data from the Breeding 

 Bird Sur\ey. 



Table 1. Densities (pairs per 100 tia) of most common birds in Cc 

 llelds and in cropland fields in North Dakota, 1992-93. and trends 

 lor the Central Reaion of North America. 1966-90. 



inservation Reserve Program 

 from the Breeding Bird Survey 



Species 



CRP fields 



1992 



1993 



Cropland 



1992 



1993 



Trend 



Lark bunting (Ca/amosp/zame/anoco/ys) 24 54 9 14 2,01 



Red-winged blackbird {Agelaius phoeniceus) 21 .50 



Grasshopper sparrow (/Immodramus sai/annawm) 21 14 



Savannah sparrow {Passerculus sandwichensis) 7.28 



Brown-headed cowbird {Mololhrus alef) 7 11 



Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzimrus) 7.74 



Western meadowlark {Stumella neglecta) 5 43 



Clay-colored sparrow {Spizella pallida) 5.07 



Common yellowthroal (Geolhlypis Inchas) 2,49 



Horned lark (Eremophila alpestris) 2.38 



Sedge wren {Cislolttorus plalensis) 0,73 



Dickcissel {Spiza americana) 1 .37 



Baird's sparrow {Ammodramus bairdii) 0,26 0,68 0.34 



Upland sandpiper (6a*am;a tong/cauda) 0.40 0.13 0.92 



1,28 



0.90 



0,58 



1.48 



2,51 



2.11 



1,16 



0.02 



0.02 



9.18 











0,02 



0.65 



-64,5 

 -1.0 

 -67,5 

 16.3 

 -6-1 

 -48.7 

 -78 

 -39.6 

 -7.4 

 -3.5 

 •15,5 

 -29.4 

 ■46 6 

 145.7 



Table 2. Daily survival rates of nests in Conservation Reserve Program fields and on Waterfowl 

 Production Areas. North Dakota and Minnesota. Numbers of nests are in parentheses. 



Species 



North Dakota 



Minnesota 



CRP 



WPA 



CRP 



WPA 



References 



Johnson. D.H.. and M.D. Schwartz. 1993. The Conservation 

 Reserve Program and grassland birds. Conservation 

 Biology 7:934-937. 



Reynold's. R.E.. T.L. Shaffer, J.R. Sauer. and B.C. 

 Peterjohn. 1994. Conservation Reserve Program: benefit 

 for grassland birds in the northern plains. Transactions of 

 the North American Wildlife and Natural Resources 

 Conference 59:328-336. 



For further information: 



Douglas H. Johnson 



National Biological Ser\'ice 



Northern Prairie Science Center 



8711 37th SfSE 



Jamestown. ND 58401 



Several prairie fishes that were once wide- 

 spread and abundant in riverine ecosystems 

 of the south-central Great Plains have declined 

 markedly in their distributions and abundances. 

 Declines of such species likely reflect degrada- 

 tion of riverine ecosystems, particularly in the 

 Arkansas River basin. At a 1994 interregional 

 meeting, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 

 representing various regions, considered eight 

 riverine aquatic species in the Arkansas and 

 Missouri river basins as Category 2 species (i.e., 

 more data needed to determine appropriateness 

 of listing as federally endangered or threatened 

 species). Four of the eight species were small 

 prairie fishes, including the Arkansas River 

 shiner (Notropis girardi) and the Arkansas 

 River speckled chub (Macrhybopsis aestivalis 

 tetraneiinis). 



We recently investigated distribution and 

 reproductive status of the Arkansas River shiner 

 and the Arkansas River speckled chub in rela- 



tion to human alterations of river flows within 

 the Arkansas River basin. Human impacts were 

 identified that are detrimental to the long-term 

 stability of native prairie fish assemblages. 



Historical distributions of the Arkansas 

 River shiner and the Arkansas River speckled 

 chub were determined by reviewing collection 

 records from appropriate museums. Current dis- 

 tributions of both species were assessed with 

 intensive seine samples throughout historical 

 ranges in Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, 

 Oklahoma, and Texas (153 collections at 116 

 localities for the shiner; 223 collections at 159 

 localities for the speckled chub). River dis- 

 charges throughout the year were evaluated rel- 

 ative to the reproductive cycles of the fish. 



Arkansas River Shiner 



This shiner is endemic to the Arkansas River 

 basin; it was widespread in the basin before 



Decline of 

 Native Prairie 

 Fishes 



by 



Anthony A. Echelle 



Geffery R. Luttrell 



Oklahoma State University 



Robert D. Larson 



New Mexico Department of 



Game and Fish 



Alexander V. Zale 



William L. Fisher 



David M. Leslie, Jr. 

 National Biological Service 



