Editing Sharp-tailed grouse (section)

==Habitat fragmentation==
[[Habitat fragmentation]] has been one of factors driving the decline of all subspecies of sharp-tailed grouse across its entire range throughout North America.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Silvy|first1=Nova J.|last2=Hagen|first2=Christian A.|date=2004-03-01|title=Introduction: Management of imperiled prairie grouse species and their habitat|url=http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.2193/0091-7648%282004%2932%5B2%3AIMOIPG%5D2.0.CO%3B2|journal=Wildlife Society Bulletin|language=en|volume=32|issue=1|pages=2–5|doi=10.2193/0091-7648(2004)32[2:IMOIPG]2.0.CO;2|s2cid=86022197 |issn=0091-7648|url-access=subscription}}</ref> The type of habitat fragmentation varies from ecological succession, as shrub/grassland areas transition into forested areas. Fire suppression, tree plantings, limiting logging practices, and an increase of invasive woody species have also led to habitat fragmentation. The largest contributor to habitat fragmentation has been the agriculture industry.

The Homestead Act 1862 opened up great expanses of virgin prairie in the west to early settlers. By 1905 about 41 million hectares of the west had been homesteaded.<ref name="Olsen">Olsen, E. 1997. National Grassland Management A Primer. Natural Resource Division Office of the General Council USDA. pp.&nbsp;1–40.</ref> Much of this land was in semi-arid rangelands with sub-marginal [[precipitation]] to support crop production.<ref name="Olsen" /> The plowing of this land represented a permanent change in the nature of the land. Another contributor to habitat fragmentation for grouse is unmonitored and excessive cattle grazing.<ref>Giesen, K. M. and J.W. Connelly. 1993. Guidelines for Management of Columbian Sharp-Tailed Grouse Habitats. Wildlife Society Bulletin, Vol. 21 Issue 3, p325-333.</ref><ref>Kirsch, L. M., A.T. Klett, and H. W. Miller. 1973. Land Use and Prairie Grouse Population Relationships in North Dakota. The Journal of Wildlife Management, Vol. 37, No. 4 (Oct., 1973), pp.&nbsp;449–453.</ref><ref>Reece, P.E., J.D. Volesky, and W.H. Schacht. 2001. Cover for Wildlife after Summer Grazing on Sandhills Rangeland. Journal of Range Management. Vol. 54, No. 2 pp.&nbsp;126–131.</ref> Cattle can be an important tool to manage habitat structure for sharp-tailed grouse when managed properly (Evens 1968). The habitat of sharp-tailed grouse was severely affected by early settlers before cattle grazers understood the impact to the environment from [[overgrazing]].

A secondary effect of early agriculture during the years of the Dust Bowl and Great Depression in the late 1920s and early 1930s was when homesteaders abandoned the unproductive land.<ref name="Olsen" /> The United States government bought up much of this land through the [[Land Utilization Program]], with management eventually controlled by the United States Forest service and the Bureau of Land Management.<ref>Wooten, H. H. "The Land Utilization Program 1934 to 1964 Origin, Development, and Present Status," in Appendix C of National Grassland Management Primer (1965).</ref><ref name="Olsen" /> During the drought years of the 1930s, these agencies re-vegetated some of these areas with non-native highly competitive vegetation such as smooth brome (''[[Bromus inermis]]'') and crested wheatgrass (''[[Agropyron cristatum]]'').<ref name="USFS land management plan for the Dakota Prairie Grasslands Northern Region 2001">USFS land management plan for the Dakota Prairie Grasslands Northern Region 2001.</ref> These plants served their purpose by re-vegetating and protecting the soil. But these invaders became great competitors and directly affected native vegetation. In some instances crested wheatgrass and smooth brome have forced out native vegetation, creating monoculture habitats. Monoculture habitats are not favored by sharp-tailed grouse, as they prefer sites with high heterogeneity. Hamerstrom (1939) was quoted as saying "More important than the individual cover plants is the fact that most of the nests of all species were in cover mixtures rather than pure stands."