Kansas Highlights

• The Lesser Prairie-Chicken has one of the most restricted ranges of North American grouse, having sustained marked reductions in suitable habitat over the past 100 years. What remains is a highly fragmented distribution throughout its range. Despite a slowing in the rate of habitat loss, populations have continued to decline range-wide, and the bird is considered a “warranted but precluded” threatened species by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. FWS managers are concerned that genetic diversity within individual populations might not be sufficient to maintain them. Using mitochondrial DNA sequence and nuclear microsatellite analyses on 3 Kansas populations of Lesser Prairie-Chicken, scientists from the Fort Collins Science Center (Colorado) are determining if this is the case. The results will help managers determine the best conservation practices for these birds at local and regional levels.

• The Conservation Reserve Program is the largest environmental program administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, with enrollment exceeding 34 million acres across all 50 states. In Kansas, more than 2.8 million acres on 26,494 farms are in the CRP. Based on an average rental payment, the CRP brings in over $111 million per year to Kansas’ farm economy. Improvement in program performance is an enduring goal of CRP administrators. For the past 9 years and continuing today, scientists from the, USGS scientists from the Fort Collins Science Center have been working in partnership with the USDA Farm Service Agency to help improve program performance by evaluating program performance both socially (how is it working for CRP contractees) and ecologically (how is wildlife habitat improved?). In June 2004, FORT and the FSA sponsored a national meeting for more than 200 participants and presenters to address and present research on these issues as well as future CRP directions. The proceedings, The Conservation Reserve Program: Planting for the Future, was published in 2006.

• Protecting Playas: Playas are small, isolated wetlands found throughout the central and southern High Plains that support a significant portion of the region's biodiversity. They are also believed to play a vital role in recharging the Ogallala Aquifer. Agricultural activities in the Playa Lakes Region, including western Kansas, have led to severe degradation and loss of playas due to sedimentation. Contaminants in runoff such as nutrients and pesticides also threaten playas. Buffer strips of native grasses can protect playas from runoff that contains sediments and contaminants. The Playa Lakes Joint Venture asked the USGS Fort Collins Science Center to develop a literature synthesis and annotated bibliography summarizing what is known about grass buffers and their protective capabilities for isolated wetlands. Both reports are helping decision makers determine optimal buffer design for the region, assess the potential for buffers to prevent runoff from filling playas, and better understand avian use of grass buffers.