Integrated Management of the Greater Prairie Chicken and Livestock on the Sheyenne National Grassland

Lowlands

• Used as roosting cover year round so long as not too much water is present.
• Used by broods if disturbed by mowing, burning, or grazing the previous year.
• Portions used for nesting if not too wet.
• Preferred orchid habitat.
• Used for grazing if disturbed and livestock have access to the early regrowth.
• A source of hay.
• An "emergency" source of prairie chicken cover/livestock forage during drought.
• Habitat for nongame wildlife.

• Livestock presence seems to deter nesting and brood use, so strive to keep livestock out of managed lowlands until after peak of nesting and brooding.
• Mowing disturbance is generally more flexible, as far as timing, than burning.
• Lowlands supporting willows are of more nesting and brood value than those dominated by bulrush and other more aquatic plants.
• Cattle will tend to graze only in disturbed lowlands and in the regrowth period, creating the possibility for partial lowland management.
• Mowed lowlands can serve as booming ground sites if cover is short in the fall.
• Newell (1988b) found broods used areas with >2.5 dm VOR in all summer months.
• Mow or burn 1/3 each year so that each lowland is disturbed every 3 years?
• Assign highest priority to lowland management in the best prairie chicken areas in order to "secure" the population.