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Greater sage-grouse population structure (fine-scaled, tier two) in the western United States

Metadata Updated: January 21, 2026

This data, grsg_lcp_ThiessenPoly_mst2, is one of five hierarchical delineations of greater sage-grouse population structure. The data represent Thiessen polygons of graph constructs (least-cost path minimum spanning tree [LCP-MST]) that defined our population structure of sage-grouse breeding sites in the western United States. This data was developed by applying dispersal and genetic rules to decompose the fully connected population structure (graph) into the product presented here. Understanding wildlife population structure and connectivity can help managers identify conservation strategies, as structure can facilitate the study of population changes and habitat connectivity can provide information on dispersal and biodiversity. We developed an approach to define hierarchical population structure (in other words, demarcation of subpopulations) using graph theory (in other words, connectivity) from an amalgamation of biological inferences encompassing dispersal capabilities based on movements and genetic flow, seasonal habitat conditions, and functional processes (for example, selection of habitat at multiple scales) affecting movements. We applied our approach to greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus), an upland gamebird species of conservation concern in western United States. We defined sage-grouse population structure by creating a cost surface, informed from functional processes of habitat characteristics to account for the resistance of inter-patch movements, and developing least-cost paths between breeding habitat sites (leks). The least-cost paths were combined into a multi-path graph construct for which we then used information on potential connectivity (dispersal distances) and functional connectivity (permeability of fragmented landscapes based on selection preferences) to decompose the graph into structures of subpopulations.

Access & Use Information

Public: This dataset is intended for public access and use. License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

Downloads & Resources

Dates

Metadata Created Date January 12, 2026
Metadata Updated Date January 21, 2026

Metadata Source

Harvested from DOI USGS DCAT-US

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Dataset
Metadata Created Date January 12, 2026
Metadata Updated Date January 21, 2026
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Maintainer
Identifier http://datainventory.doi.gov/id/dataset/USGS_62ba26f9d34e8f4977cc9ff0
Data Last Modified 2022-07-25T00:00:00Z
Category geospatial
Public Access Level public
Bureau Code 010:12
Metadata Context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
Metadata Catalog ID https://ddi.doi.gov/usgs-data.json
Schema Version https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
Catalog Describedby https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
Datagov Dedupe Retained 20260121062710
Harvest Object Id 81a99e6b-fb07-4652-a4aa-be748d24cdf0
Harvest Source Id 2b80d118-ab3a-48ba-bd93-996bbacefac2
Harvest Source Title DOI USGS DCAT-US
Metadata Type geospatial
Old Spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": -123.7580, 35.9960, -123.7580, 49.9086, -102.2950, 49.9086, -102.2950, 35.9960, -123.7580, 35.9960}
Source Datajson Identifier True
Source Hash 02fbe6d56d5435a6456e3d6dc28e2882c20b90cc251d12e43ab4ae9ac4214e82
Source Schema Version 1.1
Spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": -123.7580, 35.9960, -123.7580, 49.9086, -102.2950, 49.9086, -102.2950, 35.9960, -123.7580, 35.9960}

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