Vol. 17, No. I 
Page 3 
Responses of Prairie Chickens to Habitat Manipulation R. L. Westemeier, 
D- R. Vance 
Nesting by prairie chickens in plots in the second through sixth nest seasons 
after prescribed burning in March averaged 18.8 nests per 100 acres for the 5 
years 1 969-73 at Bogota. Only 3-4 nests per 100 acres were found during the nest 
season immediately following burning in March, although nesting in this category 
increased notably in 1973. Nesting in plots in the second through fifth nest 
seasons after burning in August averaged 23*6 nests per 100 acres. As with the 
March burns> limited nesting was noted during the nest season immediately following 
burning in August (4.0 nests per 100 acres). Thus far, there appears to be no 
clear pattern of declining densities of nests for up to the fifth (August) or 
sixth (March) nest season after a burn. Most of the burn and nonburn plots are 
dominated by redtop and timothy. 
The mean nest density of 20.5 nests per 100 acres for burned plots in the 
second through sixth nest season after burning in March or August was significantly 
greater (P^O.Ol) than the density of 13*5 nests per 100 acres for similar but 
unburned fields that were in the second nest season, or later, after seeding. 
However, hatch success for 139 nests in the burned plots averaged only 48.1 percent, 
compared with 63.5 percent hatch success for 162 nests in the nonburn categories. 
Nest success was particularly poor in the March burn plots--40.5 percent of the 
nests hatched, compared with 56.3 percent in August burn plots. Nevertheless, 
from the standpoint of successful nests per 100 acres, burned plots (9*5 hatched 
nests per 100 acres) still exceeded the nonburn plots (8.2 hatched nests per 100 
acres). 
The reason rates of nest success are lower in burn plots than in nonburn 
plots is unknown. Because of the higher densities of nests in the burn plots, the 
lower level of hatch success may be a density-dependent phenomenon. It may also 
be related to the relatively small size (about 5 acres) of our burn plots or to 
the rotational schedule of prescribed burning that we are following. 
