Avian Community Response to Southern Pine Ecosystem Restoration for Red-Cockaded Woodpeckers

Abstract

The effects of Red-cockaded Woodpecker (Picoides borealis) management on nontarget birds is not widely known. Intensive management for pine specialists such as the Red-cockaded Woodpecker may negatively impact both Nearctic-Neotropical and Temperate Zone migrants associated with hardwood vegetation. To evaluate possible positive and negative associations, we surveyed avian communities from 1995-1997 using point counts within managed Red-cockaded Woodpecker cavity tree clusters and mature forest control sites in longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) and loblolly {P. me<7a)-shortleaf {P. echinata) pine habitats. In general, sites managed for Red-cockaded Woodpeckers supported more diverse and numerous bird populations than mature forest control sites. During the breeding season in loblolly-shortleaf and longleaf pine habitats, respectively, species richness was 47% and 23% greater, avian abundance was 57% and 65% greater, and bird species diversity was 25% and 21% greater within managed Red-cockaded Woodpecker cluster sites than within control sites. During winter, species richness and avian abundance each were 52% higher within managed Red-cockaded Woodpecker cluster sites than control sites in loblolly-shortleaf pine habitat.

Establishing Pine Monocultures and Mixed Pine-Hardwood Stands on Reclaimed Surface Mined Land in Eastern Kentucky: Implications for Forest Resilience in a Changing Climate

“…Shortleaf pine restoration leads to increased levels of plant available nutrients over time [22], in spite of initial loss of nitrogen [23]. Shortleaf pine restoration also provides important habitat for the federally endangered red-cockaded woodpecker (Picoides borealis), and also positively impacts diversity and/or abundance of populations of taxa including butterflies, reptiles, amphibians [24], other birds [25,26] and small mammals [27]. Shortleaf pine stands, characterized by relatively frequent fire maintaining low basal area, also provide important habitat for endangered Indiana bats (Myotis sodalis) [28], as well as a number of other bat species [29].…”

Managed forest landscape structure and avian species richness in the southeastern US

“…Although bird richness can be high in pine-hardwood forests, several authors (Wilson et al, 1995;Gordon et al, 2001;Conner et al, 2002;Provencher et al, 2002) have reported benefits to bird communities from restoring these sites to pine-grassland systems. In plantations, fire applied alone or following herbicide or mechanical treatments can promote more diverse and abundant bird populations (Conner et al, 2002), including breeding birds of high conservation priority (Gordon et al, 2001).…”

Resource selection reflects fitness associations for an endangered bird in restored habitat

“…The red‐cockaded woodpecker requires large tracts of mature pine stands, and it is also a keystone species because it excavates nesting cavities that are often used subsequently by other species (Blanc & Walters, ). Thus, the bird serves as an umbrella species because restoration activities focusing on the red‐cockaded woodpecker have been shown to provide benefits to whole communities (Conner et al ., ).…”