Wildlife
Habitat Research
Forest
management practices that manipulate forest structure have significant
impacts, both positive and negative, on wildlife populations and
largely determine the presence, abundance, and productivity of
various wildlife species on a given site. Growing public concern
over the effects of forest fragmentation on biodiversity has led
to substantial changes in the way forest management is conducted.
For example, the reduction in clear-cutting on public lands is
attributable to protests based primarily on such concerns. It is
therefore desirable to devise silvicultural systems and landscape
structures that have minimal negative impacts on wildlife yet allow
for commercially viable and sustainable forest management. The
overall goal of wildlife research at the Center is to assess the
effects of forest management practices on wildlife population dynamics
and behavior, and, ultimately, to use this information to model
wildlife habitat relationships in managed landscapes. The Center
is currently involved in several projects investigating wildlife
habitat relationships in the South Carolina Coastal Plain.
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Effects
of Group Selection Harvest Gaps on Arthropods and Birds of
a Bottomland Hardwood Forest
Funded
by a USDA National Research Initiative grant, this study is being
conducted on the Savannah River Site and is a cooperative effort
between the University of Georgia , North Carolina State University
, and two SRS labs (CFWR and Insects and Diseases of Southern Forests,
Athens , GA ). The study employs an experimental approach to first
identify the patterns of avian use of experimental group selection
harvest gaps and then determine the processes driving those patterns,
focusing on variations in arthropod abundance in time and spaces
as a proximate cause. The study will provide information on optimal
sizes of harvest
Sampling
in the forest adjacent to each gap will provide information on
forest-dwelling species that may not use gaps at all. Finally,
the study will provide a greater understanding of why birds use
harvested areas as they do, and will thereby enhance our knowledge
of the impacts of bottomland forest management on birds.
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Habitat
Use By Wild Turkeys on the Savannah River Site
Increasing
demands for hardwood lumber have produced pressure to harvest bottomland
hardwoods, which are believed to be a key habitat for wild turkeys
because of their hard mast production. This situation has emphasized
the need to determine the extent to which turkeys actually require
these habitats. This study, conducted at SRS, is a cooperative
effort involving the Center, SRI, CU, and the National Wild Turkey
Federation. Radio-telemetry is being used to determine habitat
use and productivity of wild turkeys in a landscape that includes
both bottomland and upland hardwood habitats. Other aspects of
the study include a comparison of the effects of growing season
and dormant season prescribed fire on turkeys and a comparison
of turkey gobbler mortality between hunted and un-hunted populations.
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Effects
of Coarse Woody Debris on Breeding and Wintering Bird Communities
on SRS
Another
cooperative project at SRS involving the Center, SRI, CU, SREL,
and UGA is investigating the effects of various levels of coarse
woody debris on the ecology of loblolly pine stands. Phase I employ
three treatments (a control, removal of downed coarse woody debris
and removal of standing and downed coarse woody debris), replicated
in a randomized complete block design. Phase II will employ two
additional treatments intended to represent catastrophic pulses
of coarse woody debris, one of downed and one of standing wood.
The study will provide information on the effect of removal of
coarse woody debris on avian species richness and abundance, as
well as information on the interactions between availability, size,
and location of coarse woody debris and the spatial arrangement,
size, and density of bird territories.
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Avian
Research on the Coosawhatchie River Study Site
As
part of the Southern Forest Wetlands Initiative, avian populations
are being assessed on Westvaco Corp.'s Coosawhatchie Site. This
is a cooperative effort involving the Biological Resources Division
of the U.S. Geological Survey, the Army Corps of Engineers' Waterways
Experiment Station, the USFS Center for Bottomland Hardwoods Research,
Westvaco, and the Center. The objectives of the study are to measure
long-term population trends and habitat relations for both wintering
and breeding birds. Data from this study will contribute to the
general understanding of avian use of southeastern bottomland hardwood
systems and will serve as a baseline for Phase II of the Coosawhatchie
Bottomland Ecosystem Study, an experimental harvest, including
a clearcut and a clearcut with leave patches. The avian responses
to the Phase II treatments currently is being measured.
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A
Test and Refinement of BIRDHAB: A Model to Predict Bird Habitat
Relationships
BIRDHAB
is a model that runs in the ARC/INFO GIS environment and uses habitat
type and successional stage information for a given mapping unit
to predict that unit's quality as habitat for 270 species of breeding
and wintering birds. It was developed by USFS Region 8 biologists
for use on USFS lands in the Southeast, where it uses the USFS
land management database (Continuous Inventory of Stand Conditions)
to derive the habitat type and successional stage information.
The bird-habitat associations on which the model is built are based
on expert opinions and the accuracy of the model has not been previously
tested. Several research projects recently conducted on birds at
SRS (such as those described above) collectively comprise a large
database. Funded by SRI, Center scientists are using this database
to test the predictions of the model. If necessary, revisions will
be made and may include incorporation of landscape and forest structural
variables. Options for improving portability of the model to lands
other than those of the USFS will be explored. The ultimate utility
of the revised model will be in impact assessment of forest management
activities on birds.
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Effect
of Carolina Bay Restoration and Buffer Management on Bird and
Bat Communities
Isolated
wetlands provide important breeding habitat for many forest birds
and serve as important foraging habitat for many wading birds.
They also are important to aerial foraging species, both birds
and bats. As part of the Center's research on Carolina bay restoration
at the Savannah River Site, Center scientist, in collaboration
with West Virginia University , the University of Tennessee , and
the USFS Northeast Research Station's Ferno lab, are assessing
the response of both bird and bat communities to various management
alternatives.
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For
more information, contact:
Dr. John C. Kilgo
phone:(803)
725-0561
e-mail:jkilgo@fs.fed.us
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