| Anthropogenic changes in land use in the form of agriculture, unmanaged livestock grazing, invasive species, and energy development have reduced the viability of wildlife habitat, resulting in population declines. One group of species that may be particularly prone to stochastic and deterministic population impacts of energy development are grouse. Several grouse species native to N. America are located within the Midwest; a region containing high development densities of both wind and oil and gas (O/G). The Lesser Prairie-Chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus; hereafter LPC) is a member of the prairie grouse family that has experienced significant habitat degradation and population decline due to O/G energy development since the early 1900's. For our research, we considered the possibility that sound, produced from O/G pump jack motors, is a causal mechanism driving habitat degradation and avoidance. We collected sound pressure level (SPL) measurements at O/G pumps jack motors, nesting points, matched random, and random points throughout Gove County, KS during the 2015 LPC reproductive season. In addition, we developed an outdoor sound propagation model capable of modeling low frequency sounds from a large number of sources. We found that oil and gas pump jack motor noise had an additive effect on environmental noise out to +3,800m. We found a difference in SPL readings among nest sites, matched random, and random locations on the landscape at both low and high frequencies (p < 0.1), with nest sites and matched random points having lower SPL than random points. In addition, we found sound does not significantly influence nest success or survival. These data indicate that LPC nesting follows a hierarchical selection process where nesting habitat is constrained by sound on the landscape. Our findings suggest that sound is an important factor influencing LPC nesting ecology and the effects of anthropogenic noise are an important component driving LPC habitat suitability. |
