DOI: 10.5061/dryad.9s4mw6msz
title: Landscape features and seasonal habitat predicts lek-site selection and lek size of a <em>Tympanuchus</em> grouse

description: The lek hotspot hypothesis predicts that leks will form in areas where
 males are more likely to encounter females, providing wildlife managers
 with a framework supporting the use of leks as the focus for prairie and
 shrubland grouse conservation and monitoring. The lek hotspot hypothesis
 also implies that the number of males attending leks (lek size) will be
 higher in areas where there are more females. We used sharp-tailed grouse
 (Tympanuchus phasianellus) to evaluate if lek locations and lek size were
 more influenced by habitat requirements during different seasons or by
 landscape features that minimized risks to males attending leks or
 increased the probability of detection leks by nearby females. First, we
 evaluated which landscape features influenced habitat selection and
 mortality risk during different seasons: nesting (Apr–Jun), brood-rearing
 (Jun–Aug), early nonbreeding (Sep–Nov), and late nonbreeding (Dec–Mar)
 seasons in south-central Wyoming (n = 213 VHF-marked females; 2017–2020).
 We found that habitat selection and mortality risk varied by season.
 Subsequently, we modeled lek locations and lek size relative to seasonal
 habitat requirements (selection and mortality risk) and landscape features
 to identify key variables explaining lek-site selection and lek size. We
 found that lek-site selection was related to landscape features that
 promoted the detection of leks by females and to seasonal habitat.
 Specifically, leks were located in areas surrounded by more herbaceous
 vegetation and litter, less rugged terrain, and more nesting habitat. We
 found that lek size was related to seasonal habitat, with larger leks
 surrounded by more brood-rearing habitat. Our findings suggest that leks
 were located in areas that increased the probability of detection by
 females and in areas more likely to frequented by females, consistent with
 the lek hotspot hypothesis. Our research supports continuing to use lek
 locations as focal points for habitat management for lekking grouse.
description: # Landscape features and seasonal habitat predicts lek-site selection and
 lek size of a Tympanuchus grouse --- Data prepared by: Jonathan D.
 Lautenbach, Department of Ecosystem Science and Management, University of
 Wyoming, 1000 E University Ave, Laramie, WY 82071. Email:
 [jonathan.lautenbach@gmail.com](mailto:jonathan.lautenbach@gmail.com)
 Associated manuscript: Lautenbach, J.D., A.C. Pratt, and J.L. Beck. 2025.
 Landscape features and seasonal habitat predicts lek-site selection and
 lek size of a Tympanuchus grouse. Ecosphere --- Contains code and data on
 Sharp-tailed Grouse seasonal female habitat selection, seasonal female
 mortality risk, lek-site selection, and lek size. This code and data are
 set up in a .rproj for easy use in Program R and RStudio. All datasets are
 located in the 'Data' folder. NOTE: It is not recommended to
 open CSV files in Excel. Large files extend beyond the allowable number of
 rows and are clipped. Consider loading files directly into Program R or
 elsewhere. --- ## Zip Folder File:
 Lautenbachetal2025_STGR_Lek_Selection.zip Description: This folder
 contains all of the data (within the "Data" folder) and
 R-scripts for the analyses from this manuscript. The data and code are in
 a .zip folder containing a .rproj
 (Lautenbachetal2025_STGR_Lek_Selection.Rproj) for ease of use within
 Program R and R-Studio. ## Code ### Data Preperation File:
 GIS_data_processing.Rmd Description: This code processes RCMAP data
 ([https://www.mrlc.gov/data](https://www.mrlc.gov/data)), NLCD data
 ([https://www.mrlc.gov/data](https://www.mrlc.gov/data)), and a digital
 elevation model and process these datasets for future use. Note, more
 details on where these datasets were obtained from can be found in the
 manuscript. In addition, this code takes raw female use locations (not
 included, but code demonstrates how
 "LocData_Related_noCoords.csv" data frame was created) and lek
 locations (lek location data not included, but code demonstrates how
 "lekCompleteData_noCoords.csv" data frame was created) and
 extracts landscape feature data to point locations and outputs the file
 "LocData_Related_noCoords.csv" and
 "lekCompleteData_noCoords.csv." GIS layers can be downloaded
 from their source files. Because Sharp-tailed Grouse are a sensitive
 species in Wyoming we can not directly share lek locations and female
 locations. Raw lek location and female location data can be requested from
 the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. ### Survival, habitat selection,
 lek-site selection, and lek size analyses File: STGR_Surv_RSF_Lek.Rmd
 Description: This code takes the location output from
 "GIS_data_processing.Rmd" above and analyzes the data to produce
 the results in the manuscript. The code uses the following datasets:
 "LocData_Related_noCoords.csv,"
 "lekCompleteData_noCoords.csv," "broodsurvcomp.csv,"
 "completeNBsurvcomp.csv," and "nestsurvcomp.csv" ###
 Plot Figures in Manuscript and Appendix 1 File: Figures.Rmd Description:
 Code to create partial effects plots for the manuscript and appendix.
 Figures 2–7 in manuscript and Supplemental Figures S2–S11 in the Appendix
 ## Datasets All datasets are contained within the "Data" folder.
 ### Brood Survival Data File: broodsurvcomp.csv Description: Contains data
 to estimate overall brood survival in the
 "Survival_RSF_lek_location_and_size.Rmd" code above. This data
 is not used for estimating brood mortality risk in relation to landscape
 features. Brood period was considered to be 7 weeks (49 days) Variables: *
 BirdID: ID of bird * Sex: Sex of bird * BroodID: Brood ID (BirdID and
 Year) * BroodFate: Brood fate (0 = survived, 1 = mortality, 2 = missing) *
 enter date: date brood entered study (nest hatch date) * exit date: date
 brood exited study or was last detected * enter: day of brooding period
 that brood was first detected (1 = nest hatch) * exit: day brood fate was
 determined * fate: censored brood fate (0 = survived or censored, 1 =
 mortality) ### Nonbreeding season survival data File:
 completeNBsurvcomp.csv Description: Contains data to estimate overall
 nonbreeding survival in the
 "Survival_RSF_lek_location_and_size.Rmd" code above. Contains
 data for overall nonbreeding season, early nonbreeding season, and late
 nonbreeding season. This data is not used for estimating female
 nonbreeding season mortality risk in relation to landscape features.
 NA's within the 'earlyNB_enter', 'earlyNB_exit',
 'earlyNB_fate', 'lateNB_enter',
 'latedB_exit', and 'lateNB_fate' indicate that this
 row of data is not applicable to that particular variable. For example,
 'NA' in the 'earlyNB_enter', 'earlyNB_exit',
 and 'earlyNB_fate' columns represents that the fate of this bird
 was determined in late nonbreedging season (lateNB) and not during the
 early nonbreeding season (earlyNB). Variables: * BirdID: ID of bird
 ("Band" in "LocData_Related_noCoords.csv") * Sex: Sex
 of bird * Year: year of the study * NB_fate: fate for the entire
 nonbreeding season (1 Sept–31 March). 0 = survived/censored; 1 =
 mortality; 2 = missing * NBweek_entry: week female entered the nonbreeding
 season (1 = week of September 1st) * NBweek_exit: week female exited the
 nonbreeding season (1 = week of September 1st) * earlyNB_enter: week
 female entered the early nonbreeding season (1 = week of September 1st) *
 earlyNB_exit: week female exited the early nonbreeding season (1 = week of
 September 1st) * earlyNB_fate: fate for the early nonbreeding season (1
 Sep–30 Nov). 0 = survived/censored; 1 = mortality * lateNB_enter: week
 female entered the late nonbreeding season (1 = week of December 1st) *
 lateNB_exit: week female exited the late nonbreeding season (1 = week of
 December 1st) * lateNB_fate: fate for the late nonbreeding season (1
 Dec–31 Mar). 0 = survived/censored; 1 = mortality ### Complete Lek Data
 File: lekCompleteData_noCoords.csv Description: Contains all lek data,
 including counts and all seasonal habitat and landscape feature covariate
 data. * Column 1: numbered from 1:end of data, resulted from exporting the
 dataframe from R. When read into R will show up as 'X' * LekID:
 ID code of each lek, leks with "Lek#" are actual leks; leks with
 only numbers are random locations. * count17: lek count during 2017; for
 actual lek locations (rows 2–25), NA represents missing data where lek
 counts did not occur; no lek counts occured for random lek locations (rows
 26–2905), NA represents not applicable. * count18:lek count during 2018;
 for actual lek locations (rows 2–25), NA represents missing data where lek
 counts did not occur; no lek counts occured for random lek locations (rows
 26–2905), NA represents not applicable. * count19:lek count during 2019;
 for actual lek locations (rows 2–25), NA represents missing data where lek
 counts did not occur; no lek counts occured for random lek locations (rows
 26–2905), NA represents not applicable. * AverageCount: average lek counts
 (rounded); average of 2017–2019 lek counts; no lek counts occured for
 random lek locations (rows 26–2905), NA represents not applicable. * ID:
 sequential number starting at 1. * ID.1: repeat of ID above * columns
 9–end: columns containing data extracted from landscape features and
 seasonal female habitat data. ### Complete Location Data without
 coordinates and with extracted landscape feature data. File:
 LocData_Related_noCoords.csv Description: Contains all bird locations and
 survival status for all seasons of interest without coordinates. Also
 includes all landscape feature covariate data. Variables: * Column 1: just
 a number resulting from exporting the data from R. When read into R will
 show up as 'X' * Band: Band of bird, BirdID for brood, nest, and
 nonbreeding survival data * date: date of location * year: year of data
 point * NestSurv: fate of nest (0 = survived, 1 = failed); NA represents
 not applicable, the location is not associated with nesting data * Count:
 Count of the number of locations (all 1) * nestsday: day of nesting season
 nest entered study based on incubation start (1 is the earliest incubation
 start date observed); NA represents not applicable, the location is not
 associated with nesting data * nesteday: day of nesting season nest exited
 study based on incubation start; NA represents not applicable, the
 location is not associated with nesting data * Sex: sex of the bird *
 Season: season of the location (breeding or nonbreeding) * broodsday: day
 of brooding season brood entered study based on first nest hatch date; NA
 represents not applicable, the location is not associated with brood data
 * broodeday: day of brooding season brood entered study based on first
 nest hatch date; NA represents not applicable, the location is not
 associated with brood data * BroodSurv: fate of brood (0 =
 survived/censored, 1 = mortality, 2 = missing); NA represents not
 applicable, the location is not associated with brood data * earlynbsday:
 day of early nonbreeding season female entered study (1 = September 1st);
 NA represents not applicable, the location is not associated with early
 nonbreeding data * earlynbeday: day of early nonbreeding season female
 exited study; NA represents not applicable, the location is not associated
 with early nonbreeding data * EarlyNBSurv: fate of female during early
 nonbreeding season (0 = survived/censored, 1 = mortality, 2 = missing); NA
 represents not applicable, the location is not associated with early
 nonbreeding data * latenbeday: day of early nonbreeding season female
 entered study (1 = December 1st); NA represents not applicable, the
 location is not associated with late nonbreeding data * latenbeday: day of
 early nonbreeding season female exited study; NA represents not
 applicable, the location is not associated with late nonbreeding data *
 LateNBSurv: fate of female during late nonbreeding season (0 =
 survived/censored, 1 = mortality, 2 = missing); NA represents not
 applicable, the location is not associated with late nonbreeding data *
 Type: type/season of location * used: was the location used or not (0 =
 no, 1 = yes) * class: class of location (season) * ord_date: ordinal day
 of the year * bird_year: bird year for vegetation data * habitatclass:
 class of location (season) * Columns 26–end of columns: landscape feature
 data ### Nest Survival Data File: nestsurvcomp.csv Description: Contains
 data to estimate overall brood survival in the
 "Survival_RSF_lek_location_and_size.Rmd" code above. This data
 is not used for estimating brood mortality risk in relation to landscape
 features. Brood period was considered to be 7 weeks (49 days) Variables: *
 BirdID: ID of bird * Year: year of nest * Nest_ID: Nest ID (BirdID and
 Year and number of nest [1 = first nest; 2 = second nest]) * enter: day of
 nesting period that brood was first detected (1 = incubation start) *
 exit: day brood fate was determined * fate: censored brood fate (0 =
 survived or censored, 1 = mortality) ### Shapefiles File: folder called
 "shapefiles" Description: Contains the shapefile
 "lek_SA1.shp" which is the 95% Kernal Density Estimate for lek
 locations (study area boundary) used in the analysis.