Vol. 20, No, 1 
Page 3 
jtesgonses of Pra_i_r_ie Chickens to Habitat Manipulation R. L. Westemeier, 
D. R. Vance 
Administrators in wildlife management agencies often need to know what 
population density a wildlife species can attain on a given acreage of 
managed habitat and how soon newly established habitat will begin to produce 
After 14 years of studying the population responses of pra i rie^h ickens to 
abitat management on gradually acquired sanctuaries, we feel we can now 
provide some answers to those questions. 
Sanctuaries in Jasper County were acquired in scattered tracts in eiqht 
sect.ons fron, 1 9 62 to 1973- These tracts were purchased on the basis of 
Near van ^ "a know " ,P rairie ^ken range, and cover condition. 
Nearly all tracts required grassland establishment. It is now apparent that 
from an estfbl ishldT 1 nd 1 v ' dua ' un 1 ts «as dependent on the unit's distance 
from an established booming ground at the time of acquisition and initial 
management. The Yeatter-Field-HcGraw sanctuary complex (232 acres was 
Tn'a^Pes'was'made^ an establ | shad boomin 9 ground when the first purchase of 
estahn!hmn . r contained a booming ground within 1 year after 
sanctulrv !as ?VmM “T' - the ° ther extreme ’ the ^Cormack 80-acre 
sanctuary was 1.5 miles from the nearest booming ground and did not have a 
booming ground on it until 7 years after establishing nest cover A 
s gnificant, positive correlation (r = 0. 9 48, P<0.0l) was found between 
d tance to an established booming ground and number of years until occuoancv 
ic I s ne 'n's k8 " S ' Apparently, land purchased for management of P ra“rit " 
ne fcove?i f te^T^ £ y ChiC t enS Within ' * ear < afta£ establishment of 
withinT I -r S . tkan about mile from an established booming ground. 
Such a Lia ' f wl 5 hln 0-5 m| l e / end within 5 years if within 1.0 mile, 
prairie chicken.^ 15 SUrpnSin9 for a hi 9 h 'V "» b i'e species like the 
. . J h ® sa "ctuaries at Bogota have maintained an average of 20 prairie 
“? k * pe ; 100 acr ? S of nest “"»■ over £he laa£ '0 ye a rst Ihe 
tht t t d " HC ® raW compie * has ma intained the highest population of all 
nest “iI Zl" JVf? ^ U "' ‘ held ^ P" »acr« of 
in the ran 'oJ^ ''T , thls densi£ V to ba the highest ever recorded 
have abouf 9 i;nn cn u p air ' e cb| cken. At this density, we could theoretically 
3 cocks on the sanctuaries at Bogota during a population high. 
(Yeaut^Fitir mV^V" a f? aS ° f traditional use by prairie chickens 
cocks per \io trai n?’ D ° nne " e V’. a " d « a 'ters) apparently can maintain 20 
(C McCormick nr* r " COVer ,n the worSt V ears - Peripheral sanctuaries 
noi shown JhU 1 r, McCormack, Mark 17 and 40, and Galbreath) have 
It is ZeS ihat w ih V - a x e dr ° Pped tC aS low as 2 cocks P er 100 a ^es. 
we can ^ 
a n:on;'-thr,^ona-:a-u:-:;;-rris;^:-- 
