A Little Bird Told Me…: Habitat Use By Avian Species Following Wildfire in a Disturbed Jack Pine Barrens
Caley Doell, Mark Lesser, and Luke Tyrrell, Center for Earth and Environmental Science, SUNY Plattsburgh
Introduction
Birds are an important part of all ecosystems; they are found on every continent across a wide- range of habitats. The health of bird populations in an area is a crucial indicator of the health of that ecosystem because they are responsive to habitat changes, such as food and breeding area availability. Differences in forest structure (e.g., foliage diversity, canopy height, understory cover, and coarse woody debris and snags) can play a large role in dictating specific habitat requirements and utilization for many bird species.
The Altona Flat Rock, located in Clinton County, New York, is a globally rare ecosystem (it has a New York Natural Heritage Program rating of S1G2, meaning there are less than five sites of similar composition in New York, and less than 20 worldwide). The site sits at the southernmost extent of jack pine (Pinus banksiana) and is also at the northern range limit of pitch pine (Pinus rigida). Both of these species are fire-dependent, requiring wildfire to successfully reproduce. Finally, both of the preceding factors make the Flat Rock ecosystem highly vulnerable to ongoing climate change.
The site is dominated by jack pine, and over the past century, multiple wildfires have burned various areas and extents of the Flat Rock. This has created a mosaic of stand ages intermixed with swaths of unburned northern hardwood forest and wetlands.
Methods
This study occurred in the fall of 2022, with surveys from September 15th to October 16th. Within each forest stand (1957 origin, 2018 origin, and hardwood), eight sampling locations were selected randomly, buffered at least 150m from the surrounding forest and at least 400m from each other to minimize re-detection or detection of individuals using different forests. Each site was visited twice during the duration of the surveys, and each set of fieldwork began around sunrise. Surveys included five minutes of habituation time and five minutes of survey time, and a distance was recorded for each detection using a range finder.
Results & Discussion
Diversity and richness were both lowest in the 1957 stand, and highest in the 2018 stand. Similarity was 0.35 between the 1957 and 2018 stands, 0.3 between the 1957 and hardwood stands, and 0.5 between the 2018 and hardwood stands. These similarity values indicate overall landscape diversity. This is important for many plant and animal communities because it provides variable structure and a wide range of niche spaces and resource availability. This is also shown in the ordination plot, where similarity between sites is relatively low and many species were only found in 1 of the 3 sites.
Richness in each forest type, and overall
Diversity in each forest type, and overall
Ordination showing the relationship between sites and species occurrences
Dark-eyed juncos were the most abundant species, with most observations occurring in the 2018 burn. Black-capped chickadees were the next most abundant, but most observations were recorded in the 1957 Jack Pine stand. Chickadees were found more evenly across stands than juncos, though, with many observations also in the 2018 Jack Pine and hardwood stands. Many species were only recorded in one stand. Eastern phoebe and golden-crowned kinglet were only observed in the 1957 stand. Eastern towhee, sharp-shinned hawk, song sparrow, and yellow-rumped warbler were only observed in the 2018 stand. White-throated sparrow, ruffed grouse, pileated woodpecker were only observed in the hardwood stand.
Coming Next
I will be conducting further rounds of surveys this coming breeding season during May and June 2023. I plan to visit each site 4 times. A source of error in this research is lack of repetition, so I plan to remediate that with more extensive surveying.
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All of the research at the Flat Rock is helping move in the direction of a comprehensive management plan that performs well for the entire ecosystem. Learning how everything from the geology and hydrology to the wildlife and plant communities will help us understand this unique system as best we can.
Acknowledgments
Mary Alldred
Devan Bushey
The Miner Institute
Northern New York Audubon
SUNY Plattsburgh College Foundation & Career Development Center
SUNY Plattsburgh Center for Earth and Environmental Science
