Influence of microhabitat characteristics on sage-grouse nest site selection and nest survival depends on ecological site potential

We examined nest survival of Greater Sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus; hereafter, sage-grouse) in relation to fine-scale habitat patterns that influenced nest site selection, using data from nests of telemetered females at 17 sites across 6 years in Nevada and northeastern California, USA. Importantly, sites spanned mesic and xeric average precipitation conditions and concomitant vegetation community structure across cold desert ecosystems of the North American Great Basin. Vegetative cover immediately surrounding sage-grouse nests was important for both nest site selection and nest survival, but responses varied between mesic and xeric sites. For example, while taller perennial grass was selected at xeric sites, we found no evidence of selection for perennial grass at mesic sites indicating a functional response to availability of habitat features between hydrographic regions. Furthermore, perennial grass height and forb height both had positive effects on nest survival at xeric sites, but we found varying effects at mesic sites. We emphasize that precipitation conditions driving ecosystem productivity vary regionally among sagebrush communities and shape vegetation characteristics facilitating suitable habitat conditions for nesting sage-grouse. These data support the following publication: Brussee, B.E., Coates, P.S., O'Neil, S.T., Ricca, M.A., Dudko, J.E., Espinosa, S.P., Gardner, S.C., Casazza, M.L. and Delehanty, D.J., 2023. Influence of fine-scale habitat characteristics on sage-grouse nest site selection and nest survival varies by mesic and xeric site conditions. Ornithological Applications. https://doi.org/10.1093/ornithapp/duac052 These data can be used with the following code: Brussee, B.E., and Coates, P.S., 2023, Code to examine how the influence of fine-scale habitat characteristics on Greater Sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) nest site selection and nest survival varies by mesic and xeric site conditions version 1.0: U.S. Geological Survey software release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P9EWKWJ3.