Demographic Measurements to Inform a Brood Translocation Integrated Population Model

Wildlife managers translocate greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus; sage-grouse) to augment small populations, but translocated sage-grouse often fail to reproduce post-release, sometimes hampering conservation objectives. We performed two distinct sage-grouse translocation projects in California and North Dakota from 2017-2020 and employed two translocation methods at both sites: an established method of translocating females prior to the nesting season (i.e., a pre-nesting translocation), and a novel method wherein females were translocated with chicks after successfully hatching a nest in the source population (i.e., a brood translocation). Using an integrated population model (IPM), we estimated recruitment by females translocated with each method. We also estimated the finite rate of change in abundance in recipient and source populations that underwent brood and pre-nesting translocations to evaluate each method using a cost-benefit metric.