Habitat Use and Avoidance by Foraging Red-Cockaded Woodpeckers in East Texas

Macey, John N.; Burt, D. Brent; Saenz, Daniel; Conner, Richard N.

doi:10.1656/058.015.sp910

Cited by 9 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…Animals with stable territories, specialized diets and narrow habitat choices, such as some woodpecker species, are known to adjust their space use and movements based on the spatio-temporal heterogeneity of habitat resources [1,2]. Those animal species concentrate their movements in the habitats of higher foraging quality [3,4], [5,6,7], a behavior known as area-restricted search (ARS) that, in many cases, involves the use of spatial memory to return to suitable sites within territories [8,9]. Determining the areas where animals concentrate their movements and foraging activity not only contributes to understand decision-making behavior or foraging e ciency but also to the identi cation of feeding areas important for the conservation of vulnerable species [10,11,12,13].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Konzentrierte Nahrungssuche bei Magellanspechten: Die Bedeutung von Baumalter, Waldzusammensetzung und Offenhabitaten

et al. 2021

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BackgroundLarge woodpecker species with stable territories, specialized diets and narrow habitat choices, such as the Magellanic Woodpecker (Campephilus magellanicus), are expected to adjust their movements based on the distribution of available resources within territories. Thus, Magellanic Woodpeckers should concentrate foraging activity in areas of higher quality, a behavior consistent with the area-restricted search (ARS) behavior. Although previous studies have deepened the understanding of how Magellanic woodpeckers select habitats, the assessment of ARS behavior would contribute to the identi cation of feeding areas important for their conservation and habitats hindering their movement. MethodsWe addressed the independent effects of tree senescence, forest succession, stand composition and open habitats on the adoption of area-restricted search (ARS) behavior in Magellanic Woodpeckers in a heterogeneous landscape dominated by southern beech forest in southern South America. Using GPS relocations from 24 woodpeckers, we estimated the First-Passage Time (FPT), a measure of the time individuals remain in a given area, with longer FPT values indicating the adoption of an ARS behavior. We

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Konzentrierte Nahrungssuche bei Magellanspechten: Die Bedeutung von Baumalter, Waldzusammensetzung und Offenhabitaten

et al. 2021

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“…Previous simulation and species distribution modeling studies with LPJ-GUESS and HexSim projected changes in the dominant forest type under climate change but did not account for changes in the understory that could negatively affect woodpeckers (Bancroft et al 2016). Increases in mid-story hardwoods have the greatest negative effect on the presence of red-cockaded woodpeckers foraging in the field (Macey et al 2016), so modeling changes in hardwoods is critical to capturing potential changes in future woodpecker habitat. Our projections suggest that woodpecker habitat would level off in 2030, likely because of a saturation of available old pine forests (Figure S11).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Managing for red‐cockaded woodpeckers is more complicated under climate change

et al. 2022

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Open pine (Pinus spp.) savannas are home to the federally endangered red‐cockaded woodpecker (Leuconotopicus borealis). Frequent fires are essential for maintaining the open canopy and wiregrass (Aristida stricta) groundcover preferred by these woodpeckers, which face ongoing threats from climate change, hurricanes, and land use change. Our objective was to project future changes in habitat for red‐cockaded woodpeckers at the Fort Bragg military installation in North Carolina, USA, under different scenarios of climate and disturbances from 2000 to 2050. We used a spatially explicit, forest simulation model (LANDIS‐II) to simulate climate change, hurricanes, and forest management (prescribed fire, thinning, harvesting). We examined the relative risks of climate change and hurricanes to red‐cockaded woodpecker habitat and quantified the capacity of management practices to promote their habitat, given hurricanes and projected changes in climate. Climate change had little direct effect on red‐cockaded woodpecker habitat, but it reduced the capacity of managers to use prescribed fire, as currently practiced. This effect became more pronounced in the scenario with low prescribed fire frequency, which caused a 10% decline in habitat under climate change. Hurricanes had a more substantial impact on red‐cockaded woodpecker habitat than climate change or management, causing an average decline in extent by 41% compared to scenarios without hurricanes. Our work suggests that hurricanes pose a greater threat to red‐cockaded woodpecker habitat than climate change, but despite these threats, overall habitat will likely still increase until 2050, which bodes well for this endangered species. Deployment of prescribed burning became more challenging under climate warming, and if this trend continues, it may threaten red‐cockaded woodpecker conservation efforts over the next century.

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“…, Macey et al . ), minimum area requirements to support viable RCW populations (Reed et al . , Zeigler & Walters ) and even retention of translocated RCWs in restored habitat (Cox & McCormick ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Territorial interactions can confound relationships between habitat quality and population density by influencing spacing patterns (Brown & Orians 1970), accessibility of limited resources including cavity trees and foraging habitat (Cox & McCormick 2016), and prospecting for potential dispersal destinations (Kesler & Walters 2012). With the rapid growth of many RCW populations over recent decades, concomitant increases in territorial interactions between neighbouring groups could confound studies of resource selection used to develop standards of habitat quality (Walters 1991, James et al 2001, Macey et al 2016, minimum area requirements to support viable RCW populations (Reed et al 1988, Zeigler & Walters 2014) and even retention of translocated RCWs in restored habitat (Cox & McCormick 2016). Our results suggest habitat delineation for group-living territorial species may be improved by including a metric for intensity of space use within home-range boundaries.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating interactions between space‐use sharing and defence under increasing density conditions for the group‐territorial Red‐cockaded Woodpecker Leuconotopicus borealis

Garabedian

Moorman

Peterson

et al. 2018

Ibis

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Information about how bird species respond to increasing density conditions through either space‐use sharing or increased territoriality, and how those changes affect fitness, is essential for effective conservation planning. We used a case study of endangered Red‐cockaded Woodpeckers Leuconotopicus borealis (RCW) to address these questions. We documented over 36 000 locations from 44 RCW groups in three density conditions on two sites in South Carolina, USA, between April 2013 and March 2015. The frequency of neighbouring group interactions differed among density conditions and was highest for high‐density groups. RCW home‐ranges and core‐areas were larger under low‐density conditions (x¯normalHome‐normalrange = 88.4 ha, x¯normalCore‐normalarea = 21.0 ha) than under medium (x¯normalHome‐normalrange = 68.29 ha, x¯normalCore‐normalarea = 16.6 ha) and high‐density (x¯normalHome‐normalrange = 76.3 ha, x¯normalCore‐normalarea = 18.6 ha) conditions. Neighbouring RCWs maintained overlapping home‐ranges with nearly exclusive core‐areas across density conditions, but overlap tended to increase as neighbouring group density increased. Under high‐density conditions, home‐range overlap correlated inversely with clutch size (β ± se = −0.19 ± 0.09), nestling production (β ± se = −0.37 ± 0.09) and fledgling production (β ± se = −0.34 ± 0.08). Our results indicate that RCWs dedicate more effort to territorial defence under high‐density conditions, potentially at the expense of greater foraging efficiency and time allocated to reproduction, as evidenced by reduced fitness. Large home‐range overlap indicated limited territoriality farther away from cavity trees, but the existence of exclusive core‐areas suggests that RCW groups defend habitat closer to cavity trees. Thiessen partitions used to allocate critical foraging habitat offered comprehensive habitat protection for RCW but appear flawed for spatially explicit habitat assessments because they do not accurately delineate space used by individual RCW groups.

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Habitat Use and Avoidance by Foraging Red-Cockaded Woodpeckers in East Texas

Cited by 9 publications

References 31 publications

Konzentrierte Nahrungssuche bei Magellanspechten: Die Bedeutung von Baumalter, Waldzusammensetzung und Offenhabitaten

Konzentrierte Nahrungssuche bei Magellanspechten: Die Bedeutung von Baumalter, Waldzusammensetzung und Offenhabitaten

Managing for red‐cockaded woodpeckers is more complicated under climate change

Evaluating interactions between space‐use sharing and defence under increasing density conditions for the group‐territorial Red‐cockaded Woodpecker Leuconotopicus borealis

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