OpportunityTitle: Assessment of Impacts of Feral Horses and Livestock Grazing on Sage-Grouse and their Habitats
AdditionalInformationOnEligibility: This is a Notice of Intent to award a Single Source Cooperative Agreement to Dr. Jim Sedinger (Professor at the University of Nevada Reno) for the purpose of sage-grouse demographic responses to grazing by horses and livestock and to relate these responses to key vegetation variables.
Description: This research project will test the following hypothesis in order to provide management recommendations on the effects of feral horses to sage-grouse: 1. Nest survival will be influenced by shrub cover and understory vegetation. 2. Understory vegetation will be shorter and provide less ground cover in the presence of feral horses and feral horses and livestock. 3. Brood survival will be lower when understory vegetation or shrub cover are reduced. 4. Survival of adult female sage-grouse will be lower when understory vegetation or shrub cover are lower. 5. Riparian areas will support greater primary productivity in the absence of grazing by nonnative ungulates. 6. Vegetation in riparian meadows will continue to recover during 2017-2020.
GrantorContactEmailDescription: FWS Project Officer
GrantorContactText: Project Officer Kevin Doherty 303-921-0524&lt;br/&gt;kevin_doherty@fws.gov&lt;br/&gt;
CloseDateExplanation: This is a notice of intent to issue a Single Source Cooperative agreement to the University of Nevada Reno under the terms of the Great Basin Cooperative Ecosystems Study Unit (CESU).