A dickcissel, eastern meadowlark and grasshopper sparrow (Photos courtesy of David A. Rintoul, 1xbet sports betting Division of Biology)

Source: Kimberly With, 785-532-5040, kwith@1xbet sports betting edu
Photos available. Contact media@1xbet sports betting edu or 785-532-6415.
News release prepared by: Erinn Barcomb-Peterson, 785-532-6415, ebarcomb@1xbet sports betting edu

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

GRASSLAND 1xbet sports betting IN FLINT HILLS REGION OF KANSAS, OKLAHOMA FACE POPULATION DECLINE IN SPITE OF LARGE HABITAT AREA, ACCORDING TO FINDINGS BY K-STATE ECOLOGIST

MANHATTAN -- The wide-open spaces of the Flint Hills may no longer provide a secure home on the range for several familiar grassland 1xbet sports betting , according to research by a Kansas State University ecologist and her colleagues.

The researchers found that three bird species common to 1xbet sports betting region of Kansas and Oklahoma are experiencing serious population decline in the face of extensive land-management practices like annual burning and widespread grazing

1xbet sports betting contain the largest remaining tracts of tallgrass prairie, a habitat that once covered much of the Great Plains but of which only 4 percent is now left, mostly in 1xbet sports betting . Far from being pristine prairie, however, 1xbet sports betting region supports a major cattle industry and is intensively managed.

"Because of its size, the Flint Hills is assumed to be a population stronghold for grassland 1xbet sports betting ," said Kimberly With, a K-State associate professor of biology who led the study. "Mostly this has been based on bird counts, but they can be misleading because they don't show what the region is capable of producing. 1xbet sports betting are very mobile and thus 1xbet sports betting could come from elsewhere to give the appearance of a stable population year after year. This is especially true if the region attracts 1xbet sports betting because of its size, but 1xbet sports betting do not breed successfully once they settle here."

With was joined by ecologists Anthony King from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and William Jensen, a former postdoctoral researcher in With's lab at K-State. They conducted a two-year study of regional viability of three grassland 1xbet sports betting : the dickcissel, grasshopper sparrow and eastern meadowlark. With and her colleagues found that none of these bird species is viable in the 4 million-acre Flint Hills region. They estimated population declines of as much as 29 percent per year during the years studied.

The results were published in December 2008 in the journal Biological Conservation, http://tinyurl.com/cza3xy

&1xbet sports betting ;Although considered to be relatively common, all three of these species have been exhibiting declines at a continent-wide level,&1xbet sports betting ; With said.

According to a 2007 report by The National Audubon Society, two of these species -- the grasshopper sparrow and eastern meadowlark -- have lost 62 percent and 75 percent, respectively, of their global population in the past 40 years.

With and her colleagues found that 1xbet sports betting are not breeding successfully in the Flint Hills. With said that more than 80 percent of nests were destroyed by predators. They also found that 1xbet sports betting nesting in native prairie hayfields were more successful than 1xbet sports betting nesting in grazed grassland. She said this might be because in the Flint Hills, the hayfields were mown later than in other prairie regions, enabling 1xbet sports betting to finish nesting before the nests are mowed under.

&1xbet sports betting ;These hayfields are a less disturbed habitat than other managed grasslands in the Flint Hills, 90 percent of which is grazed and up to two-thirds may be burned,&1xbet sports betting ; With said.

The researchers suggest that land-management practices may offer only part of the explanation for declining bird populations.

"There was a drought one of the two years we studied the 1xbet sports betting , and in that year 1xbet sports betting didn't do well anywhere," With said. "Under global climate change, we may see more prolonged droughts and less frequent, but more intense storms. If rain comes as intense storms with hail, that could be just as lethal to the 1xbet sports betting ."

With said that more study is needed before recommendations can be made to help manage these bird populations. But she said that the results are still valuable because -- like a canary in a coal mine -- 1xbet sports betting indicate a region's overall environmental health.

&1xbet sports betting ;The cattle industry is important economically to the region,&1xbet sports betting ; With said. &1xbet sports betting ;The region is also ecologically important. The challenge is to what extent you can successfully achieve these joint aims of agriculture and conservation within the Flint Hills.&1xbet sports betting ;

The research was funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture through the Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service's National Research Initiative Managed Ecosystems Program.