Browsing by Subject "Conservation Reserve Program (CRP)"
Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
Results Per Page
Sort Options
Item A welfare evaluation of post-Conservation Reserve Program alternatives(Texas Tech University, 1993-12) Johnson, Phillip N.The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) is a long-term (10 year) cropland retirement program with natural resource, conservation, and farm income support goals. CRP enrollment totals 36.53 million acres nationally. Texas enrollment totals 4.12 million acres, with 3.12 million acres in the Texas High Plains Region (THPR). Future policy regarding CRP lands will impact CRP land owners, the federal budget, environmental quality, and soil erosion levels. The effect of post-CRP policy on environmental quality and soil erosion should be considered along with the net governmental costs and land owner benefits in determining the appropriate policy toward CRP lands when the current contracts expire. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impacts of specified post-CRP policy alternatives by combining the interest of agricultural producers, land owners, consumers, and environmental quality in a welfare economics framework. The study area chosen for this study was Hale County, Texas. Hale County is located in the central part of the THPR. CRP enrollment in Hale County totals 99,161 acres with an average annual rental rate of $40 per acre. The reduction in crop base acres totaled 91,230 acres for corn, cotton, grain sorghum, and wheat.Item Effects of prescribed fire on small mammals and beetle assemblages in conservation reserve program (CRP) grasslands(Texas Tech University, 1998-05) Davis, Stephen SethThe Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) was established as a portion of the 1985 Food Security Act. The CRP removed highly erodible farmland from production by seeding perennial grasses. Acreage enrolled in CRP could not be grazed or harvested for 10 years. Since 1985, 400,000 ha in the Southern High Plains have been enrolled in CRP providing the unique opportunity for scientists to study a variety of animals in relatively homogenous man-made habitats. The stands of CRP in the Southern High Plains are dominated by weeping lovegrass (Eragrostis curvula). Information on community structure and microhabitat use of small mammals in homogenous CRP grasslands is severely lacking. Therefore, the hypothesis that rodents within CRP grasslands differed in microhabitat use was examined. Small mammals were live-trapped on 12 study plots from 11 to 15 March 1996 in Lynn County, Texas. First captures of small mammals were separated into four vegetation categories based on canopy cover at the trap site. Eight species of small mammals were captured during 6000 trapnights. The deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus) and the hispid pocket mouse rChaetodipus hispidus) differed from the expected distribution of captures (chi square, 3 df, P < 0.001 and P = 0.001) with more captures in open trap sites. In contrast, the cotton rat (Sigmodon hispidus) and the western harvest mouse (Reithrodontomys megalotis^ differed from the expected distribution of captures (chi square, 3 df, P < 0.001 and P = 0.058) with more captures in densely vegetated trap sites. Results suggest rodents living in weeping lovegrass monocultures select different microhabitat cover. The effects of prescribed fire on small mammals and beetle assemblages in CRP grasslands have yet to be documented. Small mammals and beetles were sampled on six burned and six non-burned areas over the summers of 1996 and 1997. Small mammal trapping revealed 2532 captures of 1380 individuals of 10 species. R. megalotis and S. hispidus decreased dramatically following fire (P = 0.001 and P = 0.003). The northern grasshopper mouse (Onychomys leucogaster) increased following fire ( P = 0.044). Three other species, the spotted ground squirrel (Spermophilus spilosoma). P. maniculatus. and C. hispidus. all exhibited burn by time interactions and increased in at least one time period on burned areas. Rodent postfire succession in CRP grassland is a dynamic process. Habitats are continually being optimized by changing groups of rodents even when grasses return to preburn densities. Beetle trapping revealed 13 different beetle families, with six families captured in sufficient numbers for statistical analysis. Scarabaeidae, Tenebrionidae, and Meloidae beetles were not affected by fire. Carabidae and Cicindelidae, although not significant at the P < 0.05 level, had trends which suggested possible fire effects. Elateridae beetles decreased 16 months postburn but did not differ in previous samples. Beetles seem to be resilient to fire and families that are affected most are those depended on litter and detritus for habitat.Item The over-winter ecology of lesser prairie-chickens (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) in the northeast Texas Panhandle(2010-12) Kukal, Curtis A.; Ballard, Warren B.; Wallace, Mark C.; Butler, Matthew J.; Gipson, Philip S.; Whitlaw, Heather A.; Fish, Ernest B.Since the 1800s, lesser prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus; LPC) populations have exhibited range-wide declines. Most aspects of the LPC?s over-winter ecology are poorly understood across the species? range, but especially in the northeast Texas Panhandle. We investigated space-use, habitat selection, and survival patterns for over-wintering LPCs between 1 September 2008 and 28 February 2010. We captured and monitored 41 LPCs (34 males and 7 hens) from 8 leks during the course of the study. We collected 1,229 locations from 19 LPCs during the over-winter of 2008?2009, and 1,984 locations from 29 LPCs during the over-winter of 2009?2010. We observed that ?98% of LPC locations were within 5.0 km of their leks-of-capture and ?98% were within 2.4 km of a known lek. We did not observe LPCs utilizing agricultural fields, possibly because most agriculture near leks was dominated by wheat (Triticum aestivum). Both genders consistently selected grassland landcover over shrubland landcover types. Our results underscore the need to conserve grassland landcover for over-wintering LPCs. We agree with previous management recommendations that rangelands within 5.0 km should be managed for over-wintering LPCs, but we further recommend prioritizing rangeland within 2.4 km of all the leks in an area. We found that cause-specific mortality rates were equally attributable to mammalian (M = 0.133, SE = 0.056) and avian (M = 0.198, SE = 0.063) predators. We evaluated 22 competing survival models using the second-order Akaike?s Information Criterion (AICc). Model selection indicated that mean patch size of shinnery oak (Quercus havardii) rangelands best explained over-winter survival. However, limited sample size likely contributed to uncertainty in our models. Our results suggested that managing for large, contiguous patches of shinnery oak could be counter-productive for LPC over-winter survival.