NPSS Webinar: Comparing The Population Benefits of Habitat Restoration Options: Greater Sage-grouse in Alberta

Speaker: Julie Heinrichs, Research Scientist, Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, Colorado State University

Presentation Summary: Model-based analyses are well suited to evaluating how alternative habitat improvements could
benefit wildlife, particularly when there are too few individuals or time remaining for field
experimentation. In this presentation, Julie describes how she linked habitat conditions with
population outcomes to compare habitat restoration options and benefits for Greater Sagegrouse
in Canada. By digitally improving source and sink conditions for sensitive life stages and
simulating grouse fates through time, she tested the importance of spatially targeting habitat
improvements. Population benefits depended on whether source or sinks were the target of
habitat improvement, the degree of subsequent use by Sage-grouse, and the magnitude of
restoration efforts. She outlines potentially limiting demographic conditions and emphasizes
the need for multiple simultaneous conservation actions.