Birds of shortleaf pine forests in Missouri: an historical and contemporary perspective (2007)Eddleman, W. R., Clawson, R. L., & Eberly, J. (2007). Birds of shortleaf pine forests in Missouri: an historical and contemporary perspective. Northern Research Station, General Technical Report NRS-P-15 proceedings of a symposium; 2006 November 7-9; Springfield, MO. Retrieved from https://www.nrs.fs.fed.us/pubs/gtr/gtr_p-15%20papers/31eddleman-p-15.pdf Knowledge of the original bird communities in Missouri's shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata) is limited to accounts of early travelers, and infrequent observations between 1907 and 1946. Prior to logging and fire protection, red-cockaded woodpecker (Picoides borealis), pine warbler (Dendroica pinus), and Bachman's sparrow (Aimophila aestivalis) were common in shortleaf pine forests; while the sycamore warbler (yellow-throated warbler) (D. dominica) was uncommon. Two brown-headed nuthatches (Sitta pusilla) collected in 1907 represent the only records for the region. Recent information on the composition of breeding bird communities in Missouri shortleaf pine forests is available from a point count data set collected in 1984 from a search for red-cockaded woodpeckers in a 15-county area, and from Breeding Bird Survey-type routes through the 4,400-ha Pineknot Shortleaf Pine Restoration Project in the Mark Twain National Forest in Carter County. Contemporary second-growth pine forests are invaded by hardwoods and lack the open nature of the original forests. Consequently, pine warbler, yellow-throated warbler, and chipping sparrow are the only species unique to pine habitats that remain in Missouri pine forests; other birds breeding in pine forests are also found in deciduous forests. The Pineknot site has greater species richness than other Missouri pine forests, had higher detection rates of pine warblers and chipping sparrows, and is beginning to attract small numbers of bird species characteristic of open habitats. As this habitat improves over the next couple of decades, reintroduction of red-cockaded woodpecker and brownheaded nuthatch might be feasible using methods developed in other areas, but there are currently no reintroduction methods for the migratory Bachman's sparrow
https://www.nrs.fs.fed.us/pubs/gtr/gtr_p-15%20papers/31eddleman-p-15.pdf |
