Sound Intensity of Booming in Lesser Prairie-Chickens

摘要

Wildlife managers traditionally monitored lesser prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) populations using road-based lek surveys and assumed booming can be heard 1.6 km from a lek. To assess this assumption, we measured sound intensity (decibels) of booming lesser prairie-chickens. Our results indicated sound intensity 1.6 km from a lek would be less than or equal to the sound intensity of a whisper. Thus, 1.6 km is probably too great a distance for audible detection of booming in many conditions.