Radio telemetry nest monitoring of Gunnison Sage-Grouse (Animalia)

Knowledge graph centered on Radio telemetry nest monitoring of Gunnison Sage-Grouse (Animalia) with 70 nodes and 170 connections. Top connected: Artemisia tridentata, climatological variability, Artemisia, Climate Change Impacts, Aphaenogaster tridentata.

Method synopsis

Daily tracking of radio-marked female grouse to locate nests and determine nest success through triangulation and minimal-disturbance monitoring until nest fate determination.

Synthesized from method descriptions across 2 papers using this protocol.

Procedure from a recent peer-reviewed implementation

Steps below were extracted from the most recent peer-reviewed implementation of this protocol in the corpus — Nest Success of Gunnison Sage-Grouse in Colorado, USA (2015), PLOS ONE. Implementations in other papers (listed below) may differ.

1. Capture grouse using spot-lighting
   Trapped GUSG using spot-lighting techniques from 2005-2010 in Gunnison Basin and 2007-2010 in San Miguel during mid-March through early-May period
   Quantities: Total of 192 females tracked (181 in Gunnison Basin, 11 in San Miguel)Duration: Annual trapping during mid-March through early-MayConditions: Early breeding season timing
   Equipment: spot-lighting equipment, 17g necklace-style radio transmitter, numbered leg band
2. Fit radio transmitters and determine age
   Fitted each captured grouse with a 17g necklace-style radio transmitter and numbered leg band. Categorized birds as adult (second breeding season or later) or yearling (first breeding season) using plumage characteristics
   Quantities: Radio transmitter weight <2% of average adult female body weight (1270g SD 90g)Duration: During initial captureConditions: At time of capture
   Equipment: Advanced Telemetry Systems Inc. radio transmitter, National Brand and Tag Company leg band
3. Daily tracking and nest location
   Tracked females daily through breeding season to ascertain nesting status. Determined female was nesting if located in same place for ≥3 consecutive days. Recorded locations at different times of day (0800-1700 hrs). Used triangulation to estimate nest location using maximum likelihood estimates

Typical Equipment

• spot-lighting equipment
• 17g necklace-style radio transmitter
• numbered leg band
• Advanced Telemetry Systems Inc. radio transmitter
• National Brand and Tag Company leg band
• LOCATE II triangulation software
• radio telemetry equipment

Output Measurements

• nest locations
• nest initiation dates
• nest success
• nest age
• daily survival rates

Papers Using This Protocol (2)

Species Studied With This Protocol

Places Where Used