Document: VAN-3-68-27

Prescribed burning to restore mixed-oak communities in southern Ohio: Effects on breeding bird populations.

ARTMAN, V.L.* and J.F.DOWNHOWER

Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, U.S.A. ¹

Abstract:
Fire is being experimentally reintroduced to the forests of southern Ohio to determine its effectiveness in restoring and maintaining mixed-oak forest communities. We studied the effects of repeated burning and recovery on the breeding bird community. Burning resulted in temporary and reversible reductions in the availability of leaf litter, shrubs, and saplings, but did not affect trees, snags, or understory vegetation cover. Habitat characteristics did not differ between areas that were burned twice or four times, indicating that repeated burning did not result in cumulative changes in habitat structure. Densities of three bird species, the ovenbird, worm-eating warbler, and hooded warbler, declined in response to burning. Population declines were incremental and cumulative in response to repeated burning, and populations did not recover within a year after burning occurred, suggesting a lag time in response to the treatments. Densities of three other species, the American robin, eastern wood-pewee, and indigo bunting, increased in response to burning, but these increases were apparent only after burning had been applied on a repeated basis. Overall, there were no changes in the composition of the breeding bird community; no species were eliminated or added as a result of burning. As long as the closed-canopy forest structure is maintained within the context of prescribed burning, it is unlikely that substantial changes in the composition of breeding bird community will occur.

Keywords: forest birds, prescribed burning, habitat structure, recovery, restoration

This abstract is being presented at: 1:15 PM in session:
Oral Session #14: Disturbance Effects on Bird Populations.