Greater prairie-chicken reproductive ecology across a precipitation gradient in Kansas and Nebraska
Investigators: Malia Agee
Project Supervisors: Dr. Dan Sullins, Dr. David Haukos, Dr. Sarah Sonsthagen
Funding: USDA
Cooperators: Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks, and Tourism; Nebraska Game and Parks Commission
Objectives: Evaluate how CRP, landscape structure, and an east-west precipitation gradient influence nest-site selection and survival, brood movement and survival, and the relationship between female morphometrics, genetic diversity, and reproductive success of greater prairie-chickens in Kansas and Nebraska.
Location: Flint Hills and northwest Kansas; Sandhills, northeast, and southwest Nebraska
Completion: May 2027
Status: In progress, initiated March 2025
Progress and Results
The greater prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus cupido) is an obligate grassland species and indicator of grassland conditions across their range. Reproductive success of this species is influenced by vegetation structure and landscape configuration at different life stages; nesting females select sites with greater visual obstruction to reduce predation risk, while broods require more open, forb-rich sites that support arthropod prey. The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) provides grassland habitat in agricultural landscapes, but CRP fields vary widely in vegetation composition, structure, and management, and this variability may interact with regional precipitation gradients to shape nesting and brood rearing site availability. This project evaluates these relationships across seven sites spanning a precipitation gradient in Kansas and Nebraska, integrating nest-site selection and survival, brood movement and survival, and individual morphometrics and genetic diversity into a multi-scale assessment of reproductive success.
Female greater prairie-chickens were captured at leks during March and April using walk-in traps and drop nets, banded, and marked with solar-powered GPS/UHF transmitters to track nests, broods, and movements. Nest locations are identified from GPS data and monitored to determine fate, with vegetation surveys conducted at nests and available locations to quantify visual obstruction, vegetation height, and cover composition. Following successful hatches, broods are monitored using fecal and flush count surveys to estimate survival and resource selection across early life stages. Blood samples collected during capture are used for genetic analyses of individual heterozygosity, which will be evaluated alongside morphometrics as predictors of reproductive success.
During the 2025 field season, we marked 160 female greater prairie-chickens with GPS/UHF transmitters across five study sites in Kansas and Nebraska. In total, we monitored 166 nests to estimate nest survival. Of those 166 nests, 53 successfully hatched at least one egg. Broods were subsequently followed using flush count surveys to estimate brood survival. 40 broods in total were located in 2025. We conducted vegetation surveys at nest, brood, and available locations to support future resource selection analyses. Two additional field seasons are planned for 2026 and 2027, with two sites added in the Flint Hills.
Preliminary nest survival modeling indicated that nest attempt number (first, second, third nest attempt) was the strongest predictor of nest survival, receiving the majority of the model support (AICc weight = 0.61), outperforming models based on site or CRP status alone. Overall nest survival ranged from 0.24 (SE = 0.07) in the Flint Hills to 0.54 (SE = 0.16) at the northwestern Kansas site. Other regions had survival of 0.33 (northeastern Nebraska), 0.39 (southeastern Nebraska), and 0.39 (Sandhills). Notably, nest survival at the site with the lowest amount of CRP had the lowest survival, while the site with the greatest General CRP enrollment among the CRP sites had the greatest nest survival. However, this may reflect regional management practices beyond just CRP, as well as variable interannual weather trends. Future analyses will incorporate vegetation measurements, landscape metrics, precipitation, and CRP characteristics to better understand the differences between regions.
Preliminary brood movement analyses were conducted for broods confirmed alive 7 days post-hatch (n=23). Across all study sites, broods moved an average cumulative distance of 4,059 m during the first 7 days post-hatch, with an average net displacement of 961 m from the nest site by day 7. Broods occupied an average area of 0.106 km² (10.6 ha; 26 acres) during this period. Movement patterns varied among study sites. Average cumulative movement distances ranged from ~3,300 m in the Nebraska Sandhills and 3,400 m in northwestern Kansas to over 4,500 m in southwestern Nebraska and ~4,800 m in the Flint Hills during this 7-day period. Average net displacement from the nest at 7 days ranged from ~790 m in northeastern Nebraska to 1,290 m in the Sandhills. These results suggest regional variation in brood movement and space use that may reflect differences in habitat availability and landscape configuration. Additional field seasons in 2026 and 2027, along with two more field sites, will provide a better understanding of brood movement during this critical life stage.
Continued data collection and analysis will provide insight into how CRP enrollment, vegetation structure, landscape configuration, and individual condition influence nesting and brood-rearing success, informing future grassland conservation and management efforts for greater prairie-chickens.
Products
Presentations
Sonsthagen, S. A., D. S. Sullins, M. B. Agee, R. Giordanelli, K. Travis, E. Watson, Z. Whaley, D. A. Haukos. 2025. Influence of the Conservation Reserve Program on population structure, demography, and space use by greater prairie-chickens in Kansas and Nebraska. Prairie Grouse Technical Council Meeting, Valentine, Nebraska. (Oral presentation).
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Sucharski, R., M. B. Agee, S. A. Sonsthagen, D. S. Sullins, D. A. Haukos. 2025. Evaluating Nest to Lek Distances Among CRP and Non-CRP Landscapes in Nebraska and Kansas. Prairie Grouse Technical Council. Valentine, Nebraska. (Poster presentation).
Agee, M. B., D. S. Sullins, D. A. Haukos, S. A. Sonsthagen. 2025. Greater Prairie-Chicken Nest Survival and Placement in Kansas and Nebraska. Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit Annual Meeting. Lincoln, Nebraska. (Oral presentation).
Agee, M. B., D. S. Sullins, D. A. Haukos, S. A. Sonsthagen. 2026. How Landscape Structure Shapes Early Post-Hatch Movements of Greater Prairie-Chickens. Kansas Natural Resources Conference. Manhattan, Kansas. (Oral presentation).
