LAUSR

This study quantifies the amount of habitat fragmentation experienced since the introduction of hydraulic fracturing in the Bakken region of North Dakota, using the Little Missouri National Grassland as a study area. All development in and immediately surrounding the Grassland was digitized for successive years between 2003 and 2016, and populations of grassland bird species were used as a proxy for measuring the effects of development within the Grassland during these same years. Results show that hydraulic fracturing has had a measurable but small impact on the Grassland overall; large portions of the Grassland have not yet seen large-scale oil development, whereas the northernmost portion of the Grassland has seen a substantial increase in fragmentation. Of thirteen bird species investigated, the Sprague’s pipit (Anthus spragueii) showed a significant decrease in population as habitat fragmentation increased, whereas the other twelve species did not have a significant relationship to fragmentation. We suggest that further development in the region could result in increased stresses placed on the local ecosystems. Key Words: Bakken, breeding birds, habitat fragmentation, hydraulic fracturing, North Dakota.