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THE WILSON JOURNAL OF ORNITHOLOGY • Vol. 123, No. 3, September 2011 
W-c G complex. Unfortunately, the poorly 
defined resulting classification does not seem to 
offer a firm platform for further study or 
management of these important birds. Wildlife 
managers and waterfowl biologists will want to 
have this volume in their libraries, for the sake of 
completeness, along with Hanson's volumes. 
Those interested in evolution and biogeography 
will find some interesting ideas. This is not it 
volume I would recommend for the general 
reader.—RICHARD C. BANKS, Department 
of Vertebrate Zoology, National Museum of 
Natural History, P. O. Box 37012, Washington, 
D.C. 20013, USA; e-mail: banksr@si.edu 
GREATER SAGE-GROUSE: ECOLOGY AND 
CONSERVATION OF A LANDSCAPE SPECIES 
AND ITS HABITATS. Edited by Steven T. Knick 
and John W. Connelly. Studies in Avian Biology 
Number 38. University of California Press, Berke¬ 
ley, USA, xvii and 646 pages. ISBN: 978-0-520- 
26711-4. $95.00 (cloth).—Several of us discussed 
preparing a book on Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus 
spp.) and developed a prospectus a number of years 
ago. That prospectus was declined hy a publisher. 
That was not the case with this present work as 
multiple petitions to list Sage-Grouse under the 
Endangered Species Act and state and federal 
agency support "forced' the issue. Presently, both 
species of Sage-Grouse are listed as "Candidates’ 
for Federal listing in the United States (and one 
species is listed in Canada). Actual listing has not 
happened (too political?) and they arc considered 
'warranted but precluded’ because of higher 
priority species. 
This book consists of 24 chapters on factors 
that affect Greater Sage-Grouse ( Centrocercus 
urophasiaiuts). There is an extensive Literature 
Cited section at the end of the hook and a useful 
Index prepared by Leslie A. Robb. The 38 
contributors include many of the leading scientists 
working with Sage-Grouse over the last 25+ years 
with significant contributions by authors of recent 
(~ 10 years) studies. The authors represent most 
(7) of the states (and Canadian provinces) where 
the species occurs and includes state (Colorado 
Idaho. Montana, Nevada. Oregon, Washington.’ 
Wyoming) and federal (USFWS, USGS, USES 
BLM) agency personnel as well as scientists from 
universities, NGOs, and consultants. This is 
definitely a peer-reviewed book (63 reviewers 
were involved as well as at least four editors. 
Steve Knick and Jack Connelly were the major 
organizers and editors and made the process work. 
It is difficult to know where to start in 
reviewing a book of 646+ pages chock full of 
everything possible Lhat could affect listing of 
Sage-Grouse as T or E. The first sorting might he 
by what is most important: habitat or population 
dynamics. My view is that without habitat, one 
does not have to worry about population dynamics 
as there would be no populations to study. Thus, 
the most important knowledge logically would 
concern what is needed for the species to persist 
including in winter, spring (breeding), summer 
(early and late), and fall. Connelly et al. (Chapter 
4) cover this material and lead the reader through 
the habitats used seasonally. We know from 
reading the chapters that about 50% of the 
original sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) shnibsteppe 
has been convened to other uses or is too 
degraded to support numerically strong popula¬ 
tions ol Sage-Grouse, We also know that Sage- 
Grouse are dependent upon sagebrush for all 
important life processes. Thus, one would expect 
that emphasis would be placed on maintaining 
what remains and trying to restore what has been 
lost or is too degraded by numerous factors (oil, 
gas. coal, and other mineral development; efforts 
to remove sagebrush by federal agencies over the 
last 80 years, and inappropriate livestock grazing 
easily come to mind). One should not be too 
shocked to learn from the chapters in tliis book 
that habitat loss continues due to the factors just 
mentioned as well as cumulative effects of roads, 
power lines, lences, etc. The useful habitats 
continue to be nibbled away by multiple uses 
and fragmented by every conceivable disturbance 
of the surface vegetation. 
We would expect that scientists are working 
hard to restore and improve sagebrush habitats as 
Sage-Grouse clearly need shrubsteppe communi¬ 
ties dominated by .sagebrush and native grasses 
and forbs. In reviewing the chapters in this book, 
one learns there are only two that discuss 
restoration of sagebrush habitats. Chapter 23 by 
D. A. Pyke reviews what has been done, mostly 
unsuccessfully, to restore sagebrush rangelands to 
a semblance of their former condition. Chapter 22 
by M. A. Schroeder and W. M. Vander Haegen 
reviews Sage-Grouse use of Conserv ation Reserve 
Program (CRP) lands in eastern Washington. The 
latter is promising, until one realizes the CRP 
lands are only temporary and can be returned to 
agricultural production with the next Federal 
