Vol. 15, No. 7 
Page 3 
Responses of Prairie Chickens to Habitat Manipulation R. L. Westemeier, 
D. R. Vance 
Prescribed burning in March or August is proving to be beneficial in the 
rejuvenation of redtop and timothy sods, as nest densities up to one nest per 
0.8 acre were found in some plots at Bogota during the second nesting season 
after a burn (MWRL 14(12) :2). Production of grass seed is also increased 
as a result of burning. The mean nest density of one nest per 5.9 acres for 
burned plots in the second, third, or fourth nest season after burning in 
March or August was significantly greater (j^<0.05) than the density of one 
nest per 9.3 acres for similar but unburned fields that were in the second 
nest season, or later, after seeding. 
In 1970 and 1971, 17 fields at least 1 acre in size on sanctuaries at 
Bogota contained more than one nest and had a deni sty greater than one nest 
per 5 acres. Each field represented a small percentage of the total cover 
searched, but each contained a disproportionately high percentage of the 
total numbers of nests found on each sanctuary. Twelve of these 17 fields 
were in the second (9 fields), third (2 fields), or fourth (1 field) nest 
season after prescribed burning in March or August. These data are significant, 
because each sanctuary contained 10 to 28 different cover types involving 
various age-classes, species, burn and nonburn categories, and uses prior to 
nesting--71 percent of the 17 fields with the high densities were burn types. 
Because of the high densities of nests and the high levels of nest 
success in plots 2 to 4 years after burning, the conclusion can be drawn that 
prescribed burning has played a significant role in the dramatic population 
increase that this endangered species has shown in the past 4 years at Bogota. 
